Overview

Does listening to Mozart make us more intelligent? Is there such a thing as a gay gene? Does the size of the brain matter? Does the moon influence our behaviour? Can we communicate with the dead? Can graphology tell us anything about a person's character? Is the human brain clonable? What role do dreams have in cognition? Can mind conquer matter and diseases? Are out-of-body experiences possible? Can we trust our intuitions? To some, the answer to all these questions might well be a resounding 'no', but to many people these represent serious beliefs about the mind and brain - beliefs that drive their everyday behaviour, beliefs that cost them huge amounts of money. Whole industries have developed founded on these dubious claims about the mind and brain. Even major corporations have dabbled with assessment methods such as those advocated by graphology, accepting and rejecting candidates on the basic of their handwriting. Expectant parents buy books and tapes by the dozen showing them how to improve the intelligence of their child by playing them classical music. People subscribe to expensive therapies founded on beliefs rather than science, or risk their health buying books that tell them how they can conquer illness through positive thinking, perhaps at the expense of more scientifically proven treatments. Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain presents a sweeping survey of common myths about the mind and brain. In a lighthearted and accessible style, it exposes the truth behind these beliefs, how they are perpetuated, why people believe them, and why they might even exist in the first place.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sergio Della Sala (Professor of Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Professor of Human Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, UK)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 17.50cm , Height: 3.50cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.966kg
ISBN:  

9780198568773

ISBN 10:   0198568770
Pages:   552
Publication Date:   11 January 2007
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

"Part I - Where Do Tall Tales about the Mind and the Brain Come From? Sergio Della Sala & Barry L. Beyerstein: Introduction - the myth of 10% and other tall tales about the mind and the brain 1: Christopher C French & Krissy Wilson: Cognitive factors underlying paranormal beliefs and experiences 2: Peter Lamont: Critically thinking about paranormal belief 3: Massimo Polidoro: The magic in the brain; how conjuring works to deceive our minds Part II - Tall Tales on Memory and Learning 4: Nelson Cowan, Candice C Morey & Zhijian Chen: The legend of the magical number seven 5: Seema L Clifasefi, Maryanne Garry & Elizabeth Loftus: Setting the record (or video camera) straight on memory: the video camera model of memory and other memory myths 6: Amina Memon & Don Thomson: The myth of the incredible eyewitness 7: Rachel Sutherland, Deryn Strange & Maryanne Garry: We've got the whole child witness thing figured out, or do we? Part III - Tall Tales on Intelligence 8: David Carey: Is bigger really better? The search for brain size and intelligence in the 21st century 9: Mike Anderson: Biology and intelligence: the race/IQ controversy 10: Colin Gray & Sergio Della Sala: The refined Mozart effect: let's enjoy the music 11: David G Myers: The powers and perils of intuuition 12: Ken Gilhooly: Creative thinking: the mystery myth Part IV - Tall Tales on Language and Communication 13: Antonella Sorace: The more, the merrier: facts and beliefs about the bilingual mind 14: Nick Miller: The Merry Vibes of Wintzer: the tale of foreign accent syndrome 15: Ray Hyman: Talking with the dead, communicating with the future and other myths created by cold reading 16: Barry L Beyerstein: Graphology - a total write-off 17: Aldert Vrij & Samantha Mann: The truth about deception Part V - Tall Tales on the Brain 18: Michael C Corballis: The dual-brain myth 19: Barry L Beyerstein: The neurology of the weird: brain states and anamalous experience 20: Giovanni Berlucchi: The myth of the clonable human brain 21: Peter Brugger & Marion Funk: Out on a limb: neglect and confabulation in the study of aplasic phantoms 22: Cesare Cornoldi & Rossana DeBeni: Imagery and blindness 23: Christopher C French & Julia Santomauro: Something wicked this way comes: causes and interpretations of sleep paralysis Part VI - Tall Tales on the Mind 24: Eric H Chudler: The power of the full moon. Running on empty? 25: Ray Hyman: Ouija, dowsing, and other seductions of ideomotor action 26: Olaf Blanke & Gregor Thut: Inducing out-of-body experiences 27: Barry L Beyerstein, Wallace I Sampson, Zarka Stojanovic & James Handel: Can mind conquer cancer? 28: Fernando Saravi: The elusive search for a ""gay gene"" 29: Mark Solms & Oliver Turnbull: To sleep, perchance to REM? The rediscovered role of emotion and meaning in dreams"

Reviews

...this book is so well written and balanced that it will make for enriching and entertaining reading for readers at any level. It manages to have a scientific foundation, yet presents clinically intriguing and practical, relevant cases. It is refreshing to see a group of authors put together a critical analysis of the rampant misinformation that thrives in popular culture. Doody's Notes ...this book is a lot of fun and hugely informative. Journal of Consciousness Studies

Author Information

Editor of Cortex, Fellow Royal Society (Edinburgh) - FRSE, Fellow British Psychological Society - FBPsS

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