"Free will: mental energy that poofs into existence from scratch?" In pairing key ideas from the history of philosophy with examples from everyday life and culture, David Cunning produces a clear, incisive and engaging introduction to philosophy. Everyday Examples explores historical philosophy and the contemporary theory scene and includes ideas from both the analytic and continental traditions. This broad sweep of topics provides a synoptic overview of philosophy as a discipline and philosophizing as an activity. With examples drawn from everything from The Matrix and Sesame Street to sleepwalking, driving, dancing, playing a sport and observing animals, students are pointed to ways in which they can be a philosopher outside the classroom in the everyday world. As well as providing entertaining and relatable examples from everyday life, this book will be especially useful in the classroom, it is accessible and discussion-oriented, so that students can get first-hand practice at actually 'doing' philosophy. This accessibility does not come at the expense of rigour but, rather, provides a 'way in' to thinking about the major issues, figures and moments in the history of philosophy. The chapters are divided into brief sustainable nuggets so that students can get a definite handle on each issue and also be the expert for the day on a given section.There are suggested study questions at the end of each chapter that bring out the force of each side of the many different issues. An indispensable tool for those approaching philosophy for the first time.

"Free will: mental energy that poofs into existence from scratch?" In pairing key ideas from the history of philosophy with examples from everyday life and culture, David Cunning produces a clear, incisive and engaging introduction to philosophy. Everyday Examples explores historical philosophy and the contemporary theory scene and includes ideas from both the analytic and continental traditions. This broad sweep of topics provides a synoptic overview of philosophy as a discipline and philosophizing as an activity. With examples drawn from everything from The Matrix and Sesame Street to sleepwalking, driving, dancing, playing a sport and observing animals, students are pointed to ways in which they can be a philosopher outside the classroom in the everyday world. As well as providing entertaining and relatable examples from everyday life, this book will be especially useful in the classroom, it is accessible and discussion-oriented, so that students can get first-hand practice at actually 'doing' philosophy. This accessibility does not come at the expense of rigour but, rather, provides a 'way in' to thinking about the major issues, figures and moments in the history of philosophy. The chapters are divided into brief sustainable nuggets so that students can get a definite handle on each issue and also be the expert for the day on a given section.There are suggested study questions at the end of each chapter that bring out the force of each side of the many different issues. An indispensable tool for those approaching philosophy for the first time.

To examine, analyze, and manipulate a problem to the point of designing an algorithm for solving it is an exercise of fundamental value in many fields. With so many everyday activities governed by algorithmic principles, the power, precision, reliability and speed of execution demanded by users have transformed the design and construction of algorithms from a creative, artisanal activity into a full-fledged science in its own right. This book is aimed at all those who exploit the results of this new science, as designers and as consumers. The first chapter is an overview of the related history, demonstrating the long development of ideas such as recursion and more recent formalizations such as computability. The second chapter shows how the design of algorithms requires appropriate techniques and sophisticated organization of data. In the subsequent chapters the contributing authors present examples from diverse areas – such as routing and networking problems, Web search, information security, auctions and games, complexity and randomness, and the life sciences – that show how algorithmic thinking offers practical solutions and also deepens domain knowledge. The contributing authors are top-class researchers with considerable academic and industrial experience; they are also excellent educators and communicators and they draw on this experience with enthusiasm and humor. This book is an excellent introduction to an intriguing domain and it will be enjoyed by undergraduate and postgraduate students in computer science, engineering, and mathematics, and more broadly by all those engaged with algorithmic thinking.

This book provides both an overview of, and an insight into, the rapidly expanding field of creative research methods. The contributors, from four continents, range from doctoral students through to independent and practice-based researchers to senior professors, providing a clear view of the applicability of creative research methods in all types of research work. Chapters offer examples of creative research methods in practice, and advice on how to transfer or adapt those methods for different disciplines and settings. Research ethics and research quality are considered throughout. This is a timely handbook which provides information for novice researchers and inspiration for experienced researchers, and is essential reading for anyone interested in creative research methods.

This thoroughly updated edition provides a balanced review of the core methods and the latest research on animal learning and human memory. The relevance of basic principles is highlighted throughout via everyday examples to ignite student interest, along with more traditional examples from human and animal laboratory studies. Individual differences in age, gender, learning style, cultural background, or special abilities (such as the math gifted) are highlighted within each chapter to help students see how the principles may be generalized to other subject populations. The basic processes of learning – such as classical and instrumental conditioning and encoding and storage in long-term memory in addition to implicit memory, spatial learning, and remembering in the world outside the laboratory – are reviewed. The general rules of learning are described along with the exceptions, limitations, and best applications of these rules. The relationship between the fields of neuropsychology and learning and memory is stressed throughout. The relevance of this research to other disciplines is reflected in the tone of the writing and is demonstrated through a variety of examples from education, neuropsychology, rehabilitation, psychiatry, nursing and medicine, I/O and consumer psychology, and animal behavior. Each chapter begins with an outline and concludes with a detailed summary. A website for instructors and students accompanies the book. Updated throughout with new research findings and examples the new edition features: A streamlined presentation for today’s busy students. As in the past, the author supports each concept with a research example and real-life application, but the duplicate example or application now appears on the website so instructors can use the additional material to illustrate the concepts in class. Expanded coverage of neuroscience that reflects the current research of the field including aversive conditioning (Ch. 5) and animal working memory (Ch. 8). More examples of research on student learning that use the same variables discussed in the chapter, but applies them in a classroom or student’s study environment. This includes research that applies encoding techniques to student learning, for example: studying: recommendations from experts (Ch. 1); the benefits of testing (Ch. 9); and Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein, on his quest to become a memory expert (Ch. 6). More coverage of unconscious learning and knowledge (Ch. 11). Increased coverage of reinforcement and addiction (Ch. 4), causal and language learning (Ch. 6), working memory (WM) and the effects of training on WM, and the comparative evolution of WM in different species (Ch. 8), and genetics and learning (Ch. 12).