Human Judgment: The Eye of the Beholder

The manner in which people choose, decide, judge and make up their minds shapes the society in which we live. This text uses established psychophysical theory to inform an understanding of a wide variety of real-world applications. Laming outlines the basic principles that influence the way that people make up their minds and illustrates the application of these principles to the wider society in which we live. The book starts by identifying different kinds of judgments; introduces the idea of relativity; examines the psychological basis of topics such as advertising, art appreciation and religion; and considers how judgments can be biased in situations such as eye-witness identification, marking of examinations and gambling. The author then looks at human society as a whole, highlighting how insignificant details in individual cases can have a huge influence on our lives. Written in a very accessible style, the theory is supported throughout by reference to empirical work and the author illustrates these psychological principles with everyday examples.