The New Reflectionism in Cognitive Psychology: Why Reason Matters

by Gordon Pennycook (Editor)

Overview

Over the past two decades, psychologists have increasingly emphasized the role of intuition and emotion in human cognition and behavior. Some have even argued that we are so governed by our intuitions that analytic thinking merely facilitates confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. However, a recent trend in thinking and reasoning research has called this position into question, indicating that just being willing to engage in analytic reasoning is a meaningful predictor of key psychological outcomes in diverse areas of everyday life.

The New Reflectionism in Cognitive Psychology reviews the evidence for the most recent theories on human thinking and reasoning, exploring how analytic thinking plays an important role in human morality and creativity. Featuring contributions from leading researchers, the volume also considers research on religious, paranormal, and conspiratorial beliefs.

An essential volume for all students and researchers of thinking and reasoning, The New Reflectionism in Cognitive Psychology emphasizes the role that analytic thinking plays in everyday life and the importance of reason in the modern technological age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138208087
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/01/2018
Series:	Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning
Pages:	154
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gordon Pennycook is a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University, USA.

Table of Contents

List of contributors 1. Why reason matters: An introduction GORDON PENNYCOOK 2. Reflective thought, religious belief, and the social foundations hypothesis JONATHAN MORGAN, CONNOR WOOD, AND CATHERINE CALDWELL-HARRIS 3. Towards understanding intuition and reason in paranormal beliefs MARJAANA LINDEMAN 4. The Earth is flat! Or is it?: How thinking analytically might just convince you the Earth isn’t flat VIREN SWAMI 5. The Moral Myopia Model: Why and how reasoning matters in moral judgment JUSTIN F. LANDY AND EDWARD B. ROYZMAN 6. Intuition, reason, and creativity: An integrative dual-process perspective NATHANIEL BARR 7. Why reason matters: Connecting research on human reason to the challenges of the Anthropocene NATHANIEL BARR AND GORDON PENNYCOOK Index

Editorial Reviews

Having contributed to the great rationality debate in cognitive science, I am quite happy to see it evolve into the new reflectionism exemplified in this volume. The chapters amply illustrate that we have arrived at a more nuanced view of the interactions between intuition and reflective thinking. —Keith E. Stanovich, University of Toronto, author of The Rationality Quotient

Demonstrations of human irrationality are interesting and profound, but they have led too many people to reason that people are incapable of reason. This volume puts the question of human rationality in proper perspective, and offers a needed correction to the current fatalism about reason, facts, and objectivity. —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and Enlightenment Now

From the Publisher