How intelligence happens
Duncan J.
Winner of the 2012 Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science, awarded to an individual who has done outstanding work in cognitive science. The prize draws attention to the importance of studying the cognitive functions of human and animals, a relatively new branch of science. The winners of the 2012 Heineken Prizes are chosen by independent juries appointed by the Royal Academy. The prizes are funded by the Dr. H.P. Heineken Foundation and the Alfred Heineken Fondsen Foundation. The award is given by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences endowed by Heineken Foundation. Professor Duncan is receiving the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science for his remarkable innovative, multidisciplinary research into the relationships between psychology, behaviour and intelligence on the one hand and neural processes on the other. His concepts have become a cornerstone of cognitive neuroscience. Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the Psychology category. Human intelligence is among the most powerful forces on earth. It builds sprawling cities, vast cornfields, coffee plantations, and complex microchips; it takes us from the atom to the limits of the universe. Understanding how brains build intelligence is among the most fascinating challenges of modern science. How does the biological brain, a collection of billions of cells, enable us to do things no other species can do? In this book John Duncan, a scientist who has spent thirty years studying the human brain, offers an adventure story-the story of the hunt for basic principles of human intelligence, behavior, and thought. Using results drawn from classical studies of intelligence testing; from attempts to build computers that think; from studies of how minds change after brain damage; from modern discoveries of brain imaging; and from groundbreaking recent research, Duncan synthesizes often difficult-to-understand information into a book that will delight scientific and popular readers alike. He explains how brains break down problems into useful, solvable parts and then assemble these parts into the complex mental programs of human thought and action. Moving from the foundations of psychology, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience to the most current scientific thinking, How Intelligence Happens is for all those curious to understand how their own mind works. © 2010 by John Duncan. All rights reserved.