How We Reason

Philip Nicholas Johnson-Laird

Oxford University Press, 2006 - Reasoning (Psychology). - 573 pages

Good reasoning can lead to success; bad reasoning can lead to catastrophe. Yet, it's not obvious how we reason, and why we make mistakes. This book looks at the mental processes that underlie our reasoning. It provides the most accessible account yet of the science of reasoning.

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Contents

• 1 Introduction: 1
• The World in Our Conscious Minds: 19
• The World in Our Unconscious Minds: 49
• How We Make Deductions: 103
• How We Make Inductions: 163
• What Makes us Rational: 211
• How We Develop Our Ability to Reason: 245
• Knowledge Beliefs and Problems: 293
• Expert Reasoning in Technology Logic and Science: 367
• Glossary: 424
• Notes on the Chapters: 431
• Acknowledgements: 494
• References: 497
• Name Index: 545
• Subject Index: 557

About the author

Phil Johnson-Laird was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1936. He left school at the age of 15 and spent ten years in a variety of occupations until he went to University College London to read psychology. He later gained his Ph.D. there under the supervision of Peter Wason, and he joined thefaculty in 1966. In 1971, he was a visiting member of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, where he began a collaboration with George A. Miller. Subsequently, he held positions at the University of Sussex (1973-1981) and at the Medical Research Council's Applied Psychology Unit (1981-1989) inCambridge, where he was also a Fellow of Darwin College. He returned to Princeton in 1989 to be a member of the faculty at the University, where he is the Stuart Professor of Psychology. His research concerns thinking, emotions, creativity, and music.

Bibliographic information

• Title: How We Reason
• Author: Philip Nicholas Johnson-Laird
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006
• ISBN: 0198569769, 9780198569763
• Length: 573 pages