Attention and learning are two of the most important topics in contemporary cognitive psychology and behavioural neuroscience. Of even more interest is how the two interact. Meaningful stimuli and their meaningful effects are invariably embedded in a complex background of meaningless information. Yet, in order to learn about meaningful relationships between events, an organism needs to be able to extract the relevant from the irrelevant. The ability to direct attention selectively to some stimuli and away from others is one fundamental mechanism by which this filtering of information can occur. But what controls this selective attention? Why are certain stimuli selected and others rejected? What are the neural mechanisms underlying this ability? Are they the same in humans as in other animals? And what are the consequences of damage to this attentional system? These are the questions that this book aims to answer.

The idea of an interaction between attention and learning has experienced a huge surge of interest in recent years. Advances in behavioural neuroscience have made it possible to investigate the neural basis of attention mechanisms; advances in connectionist modelling techniques have allowed us to implement and test more complex computational models of the operation of these mechanisms; and recent studies have implicated impairments in the ability to deploy selective attention appropriately in disorders such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's Disease.

This book brings together leading international learning and attention researchers to provide both a comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the current state of knowledge of this area as well as new perspectives and directions for the future. There are coherent themes that run throughout the book, but there are also, inevitably, fundamental disagreements between contributors on the role of attention in learning. Together, the views expressed in this book paint a picture of a vibrant and exciting area of psychological research, and will be essential reading for researchers of learning and attention.

About the Author

Dr Mitchell studied for his BSc and PhD in psychology, and also conducted 3 years of post-doctoral research, at University College London (1987-1997). His PhD examined conditioning effects in cancer chemotherapy using a rat model, and was supervised by Prof Cecelia Heyes. His post-doc, also with Prof Heyes, concerned an investigation of imitation in rats. Dr Mitchell then moved north to the Wirral, where he worked for Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, as a consumer scientist. Since July 2000, he has worked in the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia. His first position was as a post doctoral research fellow with Prof Peter Lovibond. Dr Mitchell became a member of faculty in 2002. Throughout this period, the focus of his research has been on human associative and perceptual learning.

Dr LePelly studied for his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and carried on to complete his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (investigating human associative learning) at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of I. P. L. McLaren, graduating in 2002. He then held the Sir Alan Wilson Research Fellowship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, for just over two years before taking up a lectureship in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University in 2004, and he has been there ever since. Throughout this time his main research interests have been in the fields of human and animal associative learning.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

The Saint Bookstore has a range of over 1 million titles available.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

SB ONLINE LTD
50 Devonshire Road, Southport, PR9 7BZ, United Kingdom

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

Please order through the Abebooks checkout. We only take orders through Abebooks - We don't take direct orders by email or phone.

Refunds or Returns: A full refund of the purchase price will be given if returned within 30 days in undamaged condition.

As a seller on abebooks we adhere to the terms explained at http://www.abebooks.co.uk/docs/HelpCentral/buyerIndex.shtml - if you require further assistance please email us at orders@thesaintbookstore.co.uk

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to THE SAINT BOOKSTORE, Southport, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping Terms

Most orders usually ship within 1-3 business days, but some can take up to 7 days.

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Order quantity	7 to 28 business days	7 to 28 business days
First item	� 18.59	� 20.59

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.