Perspectives on Cognitive Neuropsychology

Originally published in 1988, neuropsychology had evolved considerably in the decade prior to publication. Methods of research had changed, new topics of interests had emerged, and there had also been an ongoing debate as to the objectives of the field. This evolution had most radically affected the study of cognitive disorders – an area that had developed particularly rapidly in the years before and that ultimately became a field of inquiry in its own right, that of cognitive neuropsychology. The contributors to this volume all share a fascination with the new perspectives for understanding how the mind works that have arisen from the study of impaired cognition. Yet, and this was very characteristic of the state of the art in cognitive neuropsychology at the time, they disagreed on many important issues, even those pertaining to the most basic assumptions of their discipline. Therefore, the first part of this book is devoted to an attempt to define and clarify these basic issues and to the confrontation of alternative views. The remaining parts present original studies on several topics of particular interest in cognitive neuropsychology.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Part 1: Basic Issues 1. A Function for Cognitive Neuropsychology C. Semenza, P. Bisiacchi and V. Rosenthal 2. Does It Rattle When You Shake It? Modularity of Mind and the Epistemology of Cognitive Research V. Rosenthal 3. From Models to Neuropsychological Data and Vice Versa G. Sartori 4. Observations on Theoretical Models in Neuropsychology of Language C. Burani and D. Parisi Part 2: Language Comprehension 5. Automatic Processes in Language Comprehension G. B. Flores d’Arcais 6. Autonomy and Automaticity: Accessing Function Words during Sentence Comprehension A. D. Friederici 7. Sentence-processing Strategies for Broca’s Aphasics and Normal Speakers as Reflected by Gaze Movements W. Huber, G. Lüer and U. Lass 8. Localisation of Aphasia: Science or Fiction R. De Bleser Part 3: Reading and Writing 9. Modelling the Writing Process A.W. Ellis 10. Acquired Disorders of Spelling K. Patterson 11. Independence of Access to Meaning and Phonology: Arguments for Direct Non-semantic Pathways for the Naming of Written Words and Pictures H. Kremin 12. Mechanisms for Reading Non-words: Evidence from a Case of Phonological Dyslexia in an Italian Reader P. De Bastani, C. Barry and M. Carreras Part 4: Face Recognition 13. Face Perception: Underlying Processes and Hemispheric Contribution J. Sergent 14. Prosopagnosia: A Disorder of Rapid Spatial Integration J. Davidoff Part 5: Memory 15. Mneumonic Retraining of Organic Memory Disorders L.S. Cermack and M. O’Connor 16. The Role of Articulation in Verbal Short-term Memory S.F. Cappa and G. Vallar. Author Index. Subject Index.