Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (Second Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Good textbook
Review: I used Reisberg's book as the textbook for my students. I like several aspects of this book: (1) distribution of the content: Reisberg has given each subfield of cognitive psychology a fair share of pages; (2) coherence: a coherent theoretical framework runs through many chapters; (3) proper evaluation of cognitive studies: this textbook makes proper evaluation to merits and drawbacks of different studies cited and does not just list major findings. A significant setback of this textbook is its lack of neuroscience materials. Studies using neuroscience techniques (e.g., fMRI/PET, MEG/ERP, neuropsychology, single-unit recording) have significantly enhanced our understanding of human cognition, yet there is nearly no coverage of these studies. Still, this is perhaps the best textbook available for students of cognitive psychology.

Rating:
Summary: An in-depth analysis of Cognitive Psychology
Review: This extraordinarily well-written book provides an invaluable introduction into the field of cognitive psychology. It is written in a clear, lucid and accessible way that facilitates reading and comprehension. Cognitive psychology is extremely interesting and insightful. It deals with concepts like memory, recognition, problem-solving and perception. Reisberg is a very proficient and eloquent author that supports the theories with empirical evidence and numerous experiments which clearly show the methods that psychologists use in their studies. This is without doubt the most meticulous, comprehensive and at the same time clear book on the subject matter.

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction, but way too much.
Review: This textbook is a fairly good introduction to cognitive psychology, but is way too dense. By that, I don't mean it talks about stuff too much, but it talks too much in general. Depth is good, but without illustrations, the text and meaning doesn't come up. All 500 pages of this book are primarily text, and thus it is boring. And when you consider each chapter is 40 pages long, no illustrations, or at least very little pictures and diagrams, doesn't really help you gain an interest in the ideas the textbook tries to present to you.