Aging, Representation, and Thought Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Processing

The brain contains many distinct functional and anatomical regions. Despite these differences, brain tissues are sufficiently uniform that the fact that they can engage in various types of processing poses a significant theoretical challenge. How can functionally different kinds of processes, such as verbal memory and reasoning, visual and auditory memory, and mental imagery, all be supported by the relatively uniform electrochemical activity of a brain's neurons? How are they appropriately segregated and integrated as needed? In Aging, Representation, and Thought, Matthew J. Sharps provides an empirically based, functional answer to what is, from the standpoint of modern cognitive psychology, a critical theoretical issue.Sharps bases his conclusions on a wide-ranging analysis of disparate fields of cognitive science. These include cognitive aging research, the study of visual and auditory imagery, and the psychology of memory and reasoning across the adult life span. His findings suggest thatthe evident differences among types of information generated by the brain derive to a significant extent from the functional characteristics of demands on the brain. What the brain generates does not derive solely from the character of the initial stimulus information it receives.Sharps argues that the crucial factor is the degree to which information is subjected to processing that is more gestalt or feature-intensive in nature. Sharps shows that purely gestalt processing deals with information in large "chunks, " providing for relatively little incisive analysis. Purely feature-intensive processing, on the other hand, tends to ignore the overall nature and context of information in favor ofcomparatively minute analyses. It provides for relatively comprehensive analysis, but also for slow, cumbersome processing. Neither process, however, works in isolation, and Sharps demonstrates how information processing ocSharps, Matthew J. is the author of 'Aging, Representation, and Thought Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Processing' with ISBN 9780765801524 and ISBN 0765801523.