PMI publishes its official peer-reviewed international journal of Cognitive Technology [ISSN: 1091-8388], edited by Dr. Richard Walker. Cognitive Technology advances practical application of cognitive psychology. Cognitive Technology is co-sponsored by The Society for Applied Research on Memory and Cognition. It enjoys a distinguished Editorial Board as well as publication support from Indiana State University, Terre Haute.
PURPOSE
The Purpose of Cognitive Technology is to provide an innovative forum
and communication channel to promote the sharing of scientific knowledge
helpful to both basic and applied researchers. Both groups have more
to offer the other than is now being accomplished, and Cognitive Technology
is intended to close this long standing gap. Dr. Herrmann is the founding
Executive Director of the Practical Memory Institute, a center of
memory excellence established in 1995 to help the general public improve
practical memory skills worldwide.
Cognitive Technology
provides a forum for scientific analysis of new products of technology
that aid a person's cognitive functioning (comprehension, perception,
memory, problem solving and reasoning). Articles should advance the
knowledge and practical application of cognitive psychology as it
relates to the use of technology and human memory. Appropriate articles
will evaluate and/or investigate new cognitive technology in the form
of a procedure, as advanced in an article or a book, or a device that
is hypothesized to facilitate cognitive functioning. Articles can
range from empirical testing of a technology to theoretical analysis
of a class of devices serving certain cognitive functions. With the
exception of short reports of experimental analysis, all articles
should be grounded in the literature. Excerpts and abstracts of articles
will be available on PMI's World Wide Web site: www.MemoryZine.com.
Cognitive Technology is sponsored in part by the Indiana State University, Terre Haute, by the Society for Applied Research on Memory and Cognition (SARMAC). For more subscription info rmation (US $80.00–individual / US $200.00–institutional) contact: Dr. Brubaker or webmaster@memoryzine.com
INFORMATION
FOR AUTHORS
The journal will publish five kinds of articles and an ongoing Inventory
of Cognitive Technologies. These articles involve reports of:
Theoretical Analysis—analysis
of theory as it explains and guides technology; as it illustrates
how application research and experience calls for modification
of basic theory; or as it explains why applied cognitive research
is conducted or should be conducted.
Research Finding—analysis
of a technology in the context of an experiment. This kind of
analysis can be presented by a short report or as a detailed long
report.
Product Review—analysis of
a technology by reviewers who specialize in cognitive psychology.
Consumer Analysis—analysis
of a technology by consumers, quantified and reported by a specialist
in cognitive psychology. This kind of analysis can involve an
analysis of responses of individual consumers or of the reactions
of focus groups.
Book Review—analysis of a
book that directly or indirectly is pertinent to those interested
in cognitive technology. Sample
Book Review.
Inventory of Cognitive Technologies
As a service, and in keeping with the mission of focusing on the
development of cognitive technologies, the journal will maintain
the Inventory of Cognitive Technologies. This inventory is simply
a listing of technologies reported to the journal. Each technology
is described in the Inventory in a sentence. A citation is provided
for those who want more information about the technology. Contributors
to this section of the journal are acknowledged in a later issue.
Topics of Articles
All articles are concerned with essential questions about cognitive
technology. How does the technology facilitate cognition? Is this
facilitation greater than that provided by current methods for task
performance? If not, what cognitive process is facilitated by the
technology? To what extent was the product development guided by
cognitive psychology? To what extent does the research suggest a
need for a modification of basic cognitive theory?
Since ecological research mimics the natural
environment, reports of ecological research (Neisser, 1976, 1978)
should specify the conditions in which the research could be applied.
Applicable research (investigations that are ecologically valid
and clearly suggest an application (Herrmann, 1995), should go further
and take care to indicate the situations and conditions to which
the findings might apply (Herrmann & Gruneberg, 1993). Application
research, specifically designed to bear on a potential product or
procedure, should provide the most precise boundary conditions of
results ( Berger, Pezdek, & Banks, 1987).
Articles are intended solely to advance the
knowledge and application of cognitive psychology and its application.
Technological facilitation of any cognitive function is appropriate
subject matter for an article. For example, articles may address
applications concerning iconic memory, short-term memory, working
memory, long-term memory, encoding, comprehension, reasoning and
problem solving. No article may endorse a particular product.
Manuscripts that address any aspect of cognitive
technology will be considered for publication. Thus, basic research
that clearly addresses applications may be published, especially
basic research that has been carried out specifically to address
a certain real world problem. Articles that report application research
are expected to indicate the basic literature pertinent to the research.
All articles should attempt to demonstrate the relevance of its
findings and/or conclusions for basic theory.
Basic and applied researchers often hold
somewhat different views about the philosophy of science and read
somewhat different literatures. Because this journal seeks to provide
a channel of communication between basic and applied researchers
(Herrmann & Raybeck, in press; Herrmann, in press), all articles
should endeavor to speak to both audiences. Manuscripts submitted
to Cognitive Technology should anticipate differences between the
author's background and that of readers, explaining perspectives
and procedures to the wider audience of basic and applied researchers.
Procedures for Submission of Manuscripts
Individuals interested in publishing in Cognitive Technology should
submit four copies of a manuscript and in electronic form to any
of the editors.
The style of manuscripts should follow the
publication standards of the American Psychological Association.
An excellent example of quality of writing and the rigor of research
desired in eventual publications may be found in the journal, Applied
Cognitive Psychology, and in the research presented at the meetings
of the Society for Applied Research on Memory and Cognition.
References Berger, D. E., Pezdek, K., & Banks, W. P. (1987). Applications
of cognitive psychology: Problem solving, education, and computing.
Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum.
Herrmann, D. J. (1996). Applied Cognitive Psychology versus
Applicable Cognitive Psychology (a review of Cognitive Psychology
Applied edited by Chizuko Izawa). Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Herrmann, D. J. (2002). The Relationship Between Basic Research
and Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. In C. P. Thompson,
D. J. Herrmann, D. Bruce, D. G. Payne, J. D. Read, J. D., & M. P.
Toglia, M. P. (Eds.). Event Memory: Papers from the first SARMAC
Conference. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Herrmann, D. J. & Gruneberg, M. (1993) The need to expand
the horizons of the "Practical Aspects of Memory" Movement to applied
research. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 7, 553-566.
Herrmann, D. J., & Raybeck, D. (2001). The relationship between
basic and applied research cultures. In D. G. Payne and F. G. Conrad
(Eds.). Intersections in basic and applied memory research. Mawah,
N. J.: Erlbaum.
Neisser, U. (1978a). Cognition and reality. San Francisco:
Freeman.
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive Psychology. New York: Appleton,
Century, and Crofts.
W. Richard Walker, Ph.D., Editor - Psychology Department, Winston-Salem University, Winston-Salem, NC