You have surely heard about cultural differences in reasoning, how people can fabricate reasons when asked to explain one of their decisions, and how many people seem systematically susceptible to reasoning errors. Much of this research was contributed by Richard Nisbett and their colleagues.
Dr. Nisbett was kind enough to talk to us about their new book Thinking: A Memoir. The book covers a wide range of research about judgment and decision-making going back decades, all from the lens of someone who was right in the thick of it. Just about everyone will be able to learn something from this book, regardless of profession or age. This conversation is just a hint of what the rest of the book and Dr. Nisbett’s corpus has to offer.
For a look at more of the books by Nisbett, see the list after the video below.
Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgment (With Lee Ross)
Induction: Processes of Inference, Learning, and Discovery (With John H. Holland, Keith J. Holyoak & Paul Thagard)
The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology (With Lee Ross)
Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South (With Dov Cohen)
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … And Why
Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count
