The mind within the brain
Subtitle: how we make decisions and how those decisions go wrong
By: A. David Redish
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 377
ISBN-13: 9780199891887
Subjects: Decision making
Description: The goal of this book is to present the science behind decision-making in humans. In particular, one of the main concepts the author puts forward in the book is that, if our brain is a decision-making machine, then that machine can break down; it can have a "failure" or "vulnerabilities." And that it is possible to understand that machinery (even to understand that it is a machinery), without losing the potential to appreciate all the things that make us human (including our decision-making ability). Here the author brings together cutting edge research in psychology, robotics, economics, neuroscience, and the new fields of neuroeconomics and computational psychiatry, to offer a unified theory of human decision-making. Most importantly, he shows how vulnerabilities, or "failure-modes," in the decision-making system can lead to serious dysfunctions, such as irrational behavior, addictions, problem gambling, and PTSD. Ranging widely from the surprising roles of emotion, habit, and narrative in decision-making, to the larger philosophical questions of how mind and brain are related, what makes us human, the nature of morality, free will, and the conundrum of robotics and consciousness, this work offers fresh insight into one of the most complex aspects of human behavior.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-363) and index.
Table of contents: title: Decisions and the brain. What is a decision?; title: The tale of the thermostat; title: The definition of value; title: Value, euphoria, and the do-it-again signal; title: Risk and reward; title: The decision-making system. Multiple decision-making systems; title: Reflexes; title: Emotion and the Pavlovian action-selection system; title: Deliberation; title: The habits of our lives; title: Integrating Information; title: The stories we tell; title: Motivation; title: The trade-off between exploration and exploitation; title: Self-control; title: The brain with a mind of its own. The physical mind; title: Imagination; title: Addiction; title: Gambling and behavioral addictions; title: Post-traumatic stress disorder; title: Computational psychiatry.; title: The human condition. What makes us human?; title: The science of morality; title: The conundrum of robotics; title: Information processing in neurons; title: Gleaning information from the brain; title: Content-addressable memory.