Social Cognition
From Brains to Culture
- Susan T Fiske - Princeton University, USA
- Shelley E Taylor - University of California, Los Angeles, USA
'This latest edition of the best overview of social cognition research somehow succeeds in lifting the bar higher still for its competitors. It is authoritative yet readable, and has depth as well as breadth -- an irresistible invitation to the field!' - Miles Hewstone, University of Oxford, UK
In Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture 2nd Edition, Fiske and Taylor carefully integrate the many new threads of social cognition research that have emerged in the intervening years since the previous edition, including developments within social neuroscience, cultural psychology and some areas of applied psychology, and continue to tell a powerful and comprehensive story about what social cognition is and why it's a significant phenomenon in society today. Every updated chapter now includes more figures and tables, glossary entries, and further readings. A supplemental test bank including some full-text journal articles corresponding to chapters in the book is available online at: www.sagepub.co.uk/fiskeandtaylor.
This textbook will be indispensable to students of social cognition and social psychology worldwide, at undergraduate or graduate level.
Supplements
'It's hard to be both cutting edge and introductory at the same time, providing a codification of the rich though short history of a field while laying out a future research agenda, but the combination of this latest edition of the landmark Social Cognition text with the newly minted Handbook of Social Cognition (and the forthcoming Major Works) does it all. Scholars and policy makers in law, medicine, education, and politics are becoming avid consumers of social cognition research precisely because it is the best existing guide to human nature, showing how people are more than meat machines or slaves to our past, illuminating the mechanisms by which we transform our external world to form meaningful bases for our acts and decisions in response to it'
John Bargh
Yale University
'If you are not afraid to renew your gaze at social cognition, or even social psychology, you must read this book.
It is fascinating to see how this book challenges topics we thought we knew perfectly, and how it introduces new knowledge with a sense of history'
Jacques-Philippe Leyens
Catholic University of Louvain at Louvain-la-Neuve
'This book covers and illustrates the entire lifespan of social cognition research, thereby bridging it to theories in social psychology, to insights from social neuroscience and culture, and to various societal domains in which social cognition can make a real difference. It is a must-read for any scientist interested in the social mind'
Paul van Lange
VU University Amsterdam
'Since its very first edition, Social Cognition has been the undisputed bible of the field, and this new edition is the best one yet. Insightful, authoritative, and beautifully written by two of the field’s most eminent researchers, it is an indispensable guide for students and scientists alike. The book that came first remains first'
Daniel Gilbert
Harvard University
'This is the latest edition of a classic volume that helped to establish the subfield of social cognition. Perfectly pitched and lucidly written, the book provides an engaging and highly informative tour of the heartland of social psychology'
Tony Manstead
Cardiff University
'This latest edition of the best overview of social cognition research somehow succeeds in lifting the bar higher still for its competitors. It is authoritative yet readable, and has depth as well as breadth -- an irresistible invitation to the field!'
Miles Hewstone
Professor of Social Psychology University of Oxford, UK
'The must-have source for social cognition is now even better! Integrating insights from social, cognitive and cultural psychology as well as neuroscience, Fiske and Taylor provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how people make sense of themselves and others. The volume offers fresh, accessible and applicable answers to psychology's most pressing questions' -
Hazel Markus
Stanford University, USA
'This fine textbook is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning about social cognition specifically, or social psychology more generally. Students who have already taken a course in the latter will have an opportunity to reflect on ways that social thought and feelings (affect) influence social behaviour. However, those students who have never studied social psychology proper will be at no disadvantage if Social Cognition is their first exposure to it. Besides an index and references section, the text also has a helpful glossary containing definitions for the keywords interspersed throughout its 15 chapters. Instructors will find the work to be an excellent classroom resource - well written, scholarly, often humorous, sometimes wry, and full of excellent examples - as well as a helpful source to the burgeoning research touching on social thought, culture, and brain processes.'
An essential book to read for who is interested in social cognition.
A very nice textbook that takes students through the vast field of Social Cognition. I couldn't justify making it recommended as there was too much material not directly relevant to my course (this is the nature of the course - not the book). As it stands, I will recommend they purchase this book as it will increase their understanding of social cognition.
This is a very informative and helpful textbook! I found it to be concisely written and I very much agree with Miles Hewstone in that the book is rich in both "depth and breadth" (as quoted from the back cover). The authors - both experts in the field - have done an excellent job at writing this book to be informative for people with different backgrounds and/or prior knowledge.
The covered topics are wisely chosen and portrayed nicely. I especially like the inclusion of neuroscience and culture as topics which my students are usually not much familiar with. Thanks very much for sending me the inspection copy. It was (and still is) fun to read.
Excellent coverage of the topic area.
An engaging text, student friendly and informative.
Highly readable and informative.
The book is in fact quite good and comprehensive in terms of topics, but I have decided against it for the mentioned seminar for the following main reasons: culture as factor in itself is treated much too little - the impact of culture or at least a discussion of the cultural impact and the link to behaviour needs to be shown much more; many sections are rather short and too cursory - many need more substance, although I realize this is not always possible, depending on the overall book concept; finally, there should be more case studies as illustrations of concepts and processes, for example on the link of cognition and behaviour or affect and behaviour, for example in political behaviour or group behaviour. Again, the book is quite good, but after all not sufficiently suited to the needs and content of my seminar. Thank you.
This book provides excellent overview of social cognition research. It's appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in social psychology.