This book has benefited greatly from the contributions of the many people who helped me by reading and providing feedback on my various writing projects over the years, especially ten editions of Sensation and Perception (1980–2017) and five editions of Cognitive Psychology (2001–2019). For help with The Mind, I thank Tessa Warren, who awakened me to the importance of the cognitive process of prediction; Jessica Hana-Andrews, who guided me through the complexities of the default mode for an early draft of the book; and the anonymous reviewers for the MIT Press who provided valuable feedback on the prospectus and the final manuscript. I thank Marianne Taflinger, my editor for the early editions of Cognitive Psychology, for her untiring support of that project. Special thanks to Shannon LeMay-Finn, master developmental editor, who has provided advice and support on numerous editions of my textbooks and read and commented on all the chapters of this book, which reads more clearly because of her. I am also grateful to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), which has afforded me the opportunity to teach courses on the mind to “returning students” (over fifty) at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Arizona. The material in the first three chapters of The Mind is based on courses I have taught at OLLI.
I especially thank my editor for The Mind, Phil Laughlin of the MIT Press, for being open to taking on this project and for his unwavering support throughout, and Judith Feldmann, who guided production from initial manuscript to final book. Thanks also to Alex Hoopes for obtaining all those permissions on short notice, and to Mary Reilly for her willingness to make the fixes that made the illustration program clearer.
Finally, I dedicate this book to two people who have played meaningful roles in my life: Ken King, who, as psychology editor at Wadsworth Publishing, “discovered” me in 1976, when I was an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He launched my textbook-writing career by convincing me to write Sensation and Perception, and then supported the publication of many of the editions that followed. And the last and most important dedication is to my wife, Barbara, who has been there for me through it all. Thank you, Barbara.