Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind

Citation

Reisberg, D. (2025). Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (9th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.

Chapter Summary

The ninth edition has fifteen chapters in five parts, and runs to 736 pages in paperback. The publisher describes it as an application-based text by a single author, Daniel Reisberg of Reed College, whose purpose is to show how cognitive psychology matters outside the classroom, written in a style it calls clear, concise and easy to understand. The edition is packaged with the Norton Illumine Ebook, InQuizitive, ZAPS and an online reader, "Applying Cognitive Psychology."

Among the changes the publisher lists for this edition: a new "Cognition Outside the Lab" feature in Chapter 9, "Computer Intelligence," on AI and large language models such as ChatGPT; a case study in Chapter 12 on the Seekers, a 1950s conspiracy-theorist group, used to examine how misinformation comes to be accepted as fact; "Are Our Results W.E.I.R.D.?" features, begun in Chapter 1 and extended through the book, on the difficulty of generalising from research on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic populations; and more than 250 new scholarly references.

Part 1, Chapters 1–2: The Science of the Mind; The Neural Basis for Cognition

The foundations part opens with the field itself and its methods, where the W.E.I.R.D. discussion begins, and then turns to the brain as the physical basis of cognition.

Part 2, Chapters 3–5: Visual Perception; Recognizing Objects; Paying Attention

Part 2, titled "Observing the World Around Us," moves from vision, to the recognition of what is seen, to the role of attention in selecting what is processed.

Part 3, Chapters 6–8: The Acquisition of Memories and the Working-Memory System; The Many Types of Memory; Remembering Complex Events

Memory takes three chapters: how memories are acquired and the working-memory system, the different types of memory, and the remembering of complex events.

Part 4, Chapters 9–11: Concepts and Generic Knowledge; Language; Visual Knowledge

Part 4 covers what people know and how it is organised: concepts and generic knowledge (the chapter with the new AI feature), language, and visual knowledge.

Part 5, Chapters 12–15: Judgment and Reasoning; Problem Solving and Creativity; Intelligence; Conscious Thought, Unconscious Thought

The final part is about thinking. Judgment and reasoning includes the Seekers case study; the remaining chapters take up problem solving and creativity, intelligence, and the relation between conscious and unconscious thought.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–5: foundations, perception and attention

• Cognitive psychology as a science of the mind: the aims and methods of the field, introduced in Chapter 1.
• Neural basis of cognition: how brain structure and activity relate to mental function.
• Perception, recognition and attention: the stages from seeing to selecting what to process.

Chapters 6–8: memory

• Acquisition and working memory: how information enters memory and is held for use.
• Types of memory: the distinct kinds of remembering treated in Chapter 7.
• Remembering complex events: memory for everyday experience.

Chapters 9–15: knowledge and thinking

• Concepts and generic knowledge: how general knowledge is organised and used.
• Language and visual knowledge: two further forms of knowledge.
• Judgment, reasoning and problem solving: how people decide, infer and solve problems.
• Conscious and unconscious thought: the closing chapter's subject.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Application throughout. The publisher stresses real-world connections, including the "Cognition Outside the Lab" features, and a clear route from laboratory findings to everyday life.
• A clear arc from the brain to thought. The five parts move from foundations and the brain through perception, memory and knowledge to thinking, and memory is given three chapters.
• Critical thinking about method. The W.E.I.R.D. features ask readers to consider whom research findings describe and how far they generalise.
• Current and interactive. The edition adds over 250 new references and ships with an interactive ebook, assignable quizzes and demonstrations ("Cognitive Phenomena Interactives") and "Dynamic Data Figures."

Limitations

• Single chapters for large areas. Language, judgment and reasoning, and the neural basis of cognition each have one chapter, so deeper work needs a separate text.
• Digital features are tied to purchase. Several of the edition's selling points are online products packaged with new copies, which matters to readers using a used or library copy.
• Chapter detail differs from the eighth edition. The part and chapter titles are mostly the same as the previous edition, but examples, features and part names have changed, so notes made from the eighth edition cannot be assumed to match.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the mid-length main text for a first course in cognitive psychology. Eysenck and Keane's Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook is the more comprehensive reference, better for a second pass or a course that wants depth in a single area. Eysenck and Brysbaert's Fundamentals of Cognition and Taylor and Workman's Cognitive Psychology: The Basics are gentler introductions; Reisberg can follow either when a reader wants more detail.

For readers who already know the core topics, Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind offers a biological account of the same processes, and Griffiths, Chater and Tenenbaum's Bayesian Models of Cognition is a graduate treatment of the probabilistic approach to the mind.

How to Use This Book

The book suits an undergraduate meeting cognitive psychology for the first time. Earlier study of psychology helps but is not essential.

A practical plan:

• Read Parts 1–3 in order, because attention and memory rest on the perception and brain material.
• Then take Part 4 and Part 5, where the chapters on language, judgment and reasoning, and consciousness can be read in any order once the earlier parts are done.
• For a short course, treat Chapters 1–10 as core and take the later chapters selectively.
• Use the features: read the "Cognition Outside the Lab" and W.E.I.R.D. features as prompts for discussion, and use the interactive demonstrations and quizzes to test understanding before moving on.