Handbook of Cognition and Emotion

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening but not light reading
Review: In this very academic and scholarly book intended for the graduate student in psychology or professional psychologist, the editors have compiled writings from the top researchers and theoreticians in their fields to explore the intersection of emotion and cognition. Although some of the chapters are weighted down by summaries of research, most of the authors strike a balance between addressing the most interesting issues and questions in this area and informing their conclusions by empirical evidence. One of the historical debates which appears to be a thread which ties many of the chapters together is the question of "primacy"; does cognition or emotion have primacy either in terms of which occurs first in a temporal sense or in terms of importance. A reading of this book leaves the reader with the impression that both are interdependent and reciprocal, leaving the reader without a simple answer to an extremely complex subject. This handbook, furthermore, looks at the interface of cognition and emotion in normal as well as abnormal behavior. Although there is a section on the implications of experimental research in this area for clinical practice, this is not primarily a book about clinical practice. If you are interested in such erudite questions and issues, you will find a wealth of material to be mined in The Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. If you are looking for simple answers or reductionistic approaches, you will either be put to sleep, or end up using this voluminous text as a door stop.