Emotion and Cognition (An Introduction)

This cutting-edge, yet accessible book provides a complete and integrated assessment of the role of emotions in a wide variety of cognitive functions. Including both empirical and theoretical works and debates, this book presents the results of research aimed at understanding how our emotions influence cognitive performance in diverse areas such as attention, memory, judgment, decision-making or reasoning, and emotional regulation.

Drawing on years of research that has enabled psychologists to know when emotions have beneficial versus deleterious effects on cognition, the book explores the mechanisms responsible for these effects. Each chapter focuses on a specific cognitive function and is mirrored by a chapter examining the individual differences in the role of emotions on this aspect of cognition, and how this role changes during aging and in patients with mood disorders.

Emotions play a central role in the life of every human being as they crucially guide our actions, thoughts, and relationships, helping us detect and identify what is important, as well as what to memorize, understand, and decide. As such, Emotion and Cognition is a valuable source for all undergraduate and graduate students in the disciplines of cognitive and affective sciences, as well as for experts in the field.