Mind

Thagard has written an engaging introduction to cognitive science, which will appeal to students with a wide range of backgrounds. Mind highlights both the core ideas about mental representation that guide the field, and the intellectual challenges that fuel current debates.

Keith J. Holyoak, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Paul Thagard sets out to introduce undergraduates to the complex field of cognitive science: to write a book which appeals to students of widely different backgrounds, competencies, and interests; and to focus on a central concern of cognitive science, namely, how to develop, refine, and detail an account of mental representation. He succeeds admiarably. This is a clearheaded, pedagogically sound, and well-written introduction. He deploys engaging examples. He amusingly offers bits of humor. And various charts and figures season the text, enhancing its pedagogical utility without washing out its conceptual content.

George Graham, Chair and Professor, Philosophy; Professor of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Any introduction to cognitive sciences requires presenting a wide variety of topics approached from different perspectives. Paul Thagard's book accomplishes this in a very fair and balanced way. It will be a valuable contribution to the teaching of cognitive science. This book is perfectly adapted to beginning cognititve science students. Paul Thagard has succeeded in everything he has set out to do.

Vilma L. Patel Ph.D., Professor, Department of Medicine; Director, Centre for Meidcal education; Director, McGill Cognitive Science Centre, McGill University

In general this book is one of the best I've seen for use in my 150-student undergraduate 'Introduction to Cognitive Science' course. I have already tried out a draft version of the text with a class; the experiment convinced me that no other book has prose that is quite as accessible, coherent, and consistent across topics.

Michael A. Ranney Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education; Department of Psychology; Cognitive Science Program; University of California, Berkeley