Psychology is a thriving field of research, particularly the study of the neural correlates of thought and behaviour. Here we gather together interviews about cutting-edge psychological research and its development over recent decades, as well as popular science books that summarise complex areas of study for the general reader.
Over the last decade, we've spoken to some of the top researchers in the field, including Cambridge professor Simon Baron-Cohen, who spoke to us about empathy; Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, who discussed the decline of violence; Lisa Feldman Barrett, distinguished professor at Northeastern University and world-leading expert, on the science of emotions; and the renowned Oxford neuroscientist Dick Passingham, on cognitive neuroscience.
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1
The Book of Human Emotions: An Encyclopedia of Feeling from Anger to Wanderlust
by Tiffany Watt Smith -
2
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides -
3
Principles of Psychology
by William James -
4
Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion and Pride
by David DeSteno -
5
Stumbling on Happiness
by Daniel Gilbert
The Best Books on Emotions, recommended by Lisa Feldman Barrett
The Best Books on Emotions, recommended by Lisa Feldman Barrett
Not every culture has a word for ‘fear.’ Smiling was an invention of the Middle Ages. There’s a lot that will surprise you about the way we process emotions, says the neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett. Here she picks five books that illustrate our understanding of how emotions work.
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1
Consciousness Explained
by Daniel C Dennett -
2
Principles of Psychology
by William James -
3
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
by Julian Jaynes -
4
The Mind's I: Fantasies And Reflections On Self & Soul
by Douglas R Hofstadter & Daniel C Dennett -
5
Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life
by Peter Godfrey-Smith
The best books on Consciousness, recommended by Susan Blackmore
The best books on Consciousness, recommended by Susan Blackmore
The ‘hard problem’ of consciousness – of how the physical matter of the brain produces the psychological phenomenon of consciousness – has dogged psychologists and neuroscientists for decades. But what if we’ve been posing the question incorrectly all this time? The psychologist Susan Blackmore discusses five key texts that tackle this quicksilver concept.
The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience, recommended by Dick Passingham
Neuroscience has banished the problem of dualism—the ‘ghost in the machine’ mulled over by philosophists since the time of Descartes, says the renowned cognitive neuroscientist Professor Dick Passingham. Here, he chooses five books that signified major breakthroughs in this fast-advancing field.
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1
The Tides of Mind: Uncovering the Spectrum of Consciousness
by David Gelernter -
2
How Do You Feel? An Interoceptive Moment with Your Neurobiological Self
by Bud Craig -
3
Why Life Speeds Up as You Get Older: How Memory Shapes Our Past
by Douwe Draaisma -
4
The Magic Mountain
by Thomas Mann -
5
Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness
by Nicholas Humphrey
The best books on Time and the Mind, recommended by Marc Wittmann
The best books on Time and the Mind, recommended by Marc Wittmann
“Time is an illusion,” wrote Douglas Adams. “Lunchtime, doubly so.” It is certainly a subjective experience, agrees the psychologist and author Marc Wittmann—as any drug user or meditation expert can tell you. Here he picks five books that unpick our perception of the passage of time.
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1
The Children's Book
by A.S. Byatt -
2
On the Move: A Life
by Oliver Sacks -
3
Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation
by David Huron -
4
Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos In the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life
by Steven Strogatz -
5
The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well Lived
by Peter C. Whybrow
The best books on Emotion and the Brain, recommended by Morten Kringelbach
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1
Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech
by Edward Sapir -
2
Language In Relation To A Unified Theory Of The Structure Of Human Behaviour
by Kenneth Pike -
3
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
by Noam Chomsky -
4
On Understanding Grammar
by Talmy Givón -
5
Making It Explicit: Reasoning, Representing & Discursive Commitment
by Robert Brandom
The best books on Language and Thought, recommended by Daniel L. Everett
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1
The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World
by Oona Hathaway & Scott Shapiro -
2
Homicide
by Martin Daly and Margo Wilson -
3
Statistics of Deadly Quarrels
by Lewis F Richardson -
4
Violent Land
by David Courtwright -
5
The Remnants of War
by John Mueller -
6
Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty
by Roy Baumeister
The best books on The Decline of Violence, recommended by Steven Pinker
The best books on The Decline of Violence, recommended by Steven Pinker
Our TV screens may be full of news about war and crime, but this masks a fall in historical terms in the number of violent deaths that’s nothing short of astonishing, says Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. He tells us how and why this happened. (This interview was updated 17 December, 2020, to include books that have come out since it was published in 2011)