Michael Corballis

Answers questions about the complexities of the mind, drawing on scientific findings from the past half century to address such topics as why we can remember faces but not names and how to unleash the creativity of the right brain.

21 Short Walks Around the Human Brain

A Very Short Tour of the Mind

In this enlightening biography, award- winning academic psychologist Michael Corballis tells the story of how the field of cognitive psychology evolved and the controversies and anecdotes that occurred along the way. Since the Second World War, psychology has undergone several scientific movements, from behaviourism to cognitive psychology and finally to neuroscience. In this fascinating biography, Corballis recounts his career as a researcher who played a part in these monumental changes in psychology. Beginning with his boarding-school education in New Zealand, Corballis goes on to recount his PhD studies and behavioural research into mirror-image discriminations in pigeons, the uprising of the "cognitive revolution" amidst 1960s counterculture and his switch to become a cognitive psychologist, his research into brain asymmetry and the evolution of language and its origin of manual gestures, and the development of mental time travel in animals. Featuring stories of prominent scientists who were integral in psychology’s biggest discoveries and insight into the heated debates and controversies in psychology during a time of great scientific and sociocultural change, this biography is a must-read for those interested in how psychology became established as a science.

Reflections on What Made Up the Mind

Adventures of a Psychologist

The human mind is arguably the most complex organ in the universe. Modern computers might be faster, and whales might have larger brains, but neither can match the sheer intellect or capacity for creativity that we humans enjoy. In this book, Michael Corballis introduces us to what we've learned about the intricacies of the human brain over the last 50 years. Leading us through behavioural experiments and neuroscience, cognitive theory, and Darwinian evolution with his trademark wit and wisdom, Corballis punctures a few hot-air balloons ('You only use 10 per cent of your brain!' 'Unleash the creativity of your right brain!') and explains just what we know — and don't know — about our own minds. From language to standing upright, composing music to bullshitting, he covers some of the fascinating activities and capabilities that go towards making us human. At one time or another, we've all wished that we could get inside someone else's head. Here's how.

Michael Corballis

About

Books

Join the club