Thinking and Reasoning: A Very Short Introduction | Jonathan St B. T. Evans - Oxford University Press

Our extraordinary capacity to reason and solve problems sets us aside from other animals, but our evolved thinking processes also leave us susceptible to bias and error. The study of thinking and reasoning goes back to Aristotle, and was one of the first topics to be studied when psychology
separated from philosophy.

In this Very Short Introduction Jonathan Evans explores cognitive psychological approaches to understanding the nature of thinking and reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. He shows how our problem solving capabilities are hugely dependent on also having the imagination to ask the right
questions, and the ability to see things from a completely new perspective. Beginning by considering the approaches of the behaviorists and the Gestalt psychologists, he moves on to modern explorations of thinking, including hypothetical thinking, conditionals, deduction, rationality, and
intuition. Covering the role of past learning, IQ, and cognitive biases, Evans also discusses the idea that there may be two different ways of thinking, arising from our evolutionary history.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Highly readable and thought provoking." - Nursing Times

About the Author

Jonathan Evans is Emeritus Professor at the School of Psychology, Plymouth University, where he was previously Professor of Cognitive Psychology. He has spent his entire career in the study of thinking and reasoning, and was involved in setting up the journal, Thinking and Reasoning (published by
Taylor and Francis). He has authored a number of books, including Hypothetical Thinking (Psychology Press, 2007) and Thinking Twice (OUP, 2010), and two with the philosopher David Over, presenting a new theory of conditionals (Rationality and Reasoning, Psychology Press, 1996; If, OUP, 2004).