Journal Aims and Scope
At the founding of the peer reviewed international journal Cognitive Technology in 1996, as the official Journal of the Practical Memory Institute, Douglas Herrmann, Ph.D., described how the scientific community could work to optimize the discovery and application of technologies via enhanced communication between the varied communities engaged in research and development at the intersection of cognition and technology (Herrmann, 1996). Since then, we have seen a tremendous increase in the integration of theory and methods with tools and technologies supporting cognitive processing in individuals and in teams. Indeed, in recent discussions of how such developments have helped to transform thought and society, we see articulated a simple, yet powerful, statement – a statement foundational to the mission of this journal – the power of cognitive psychology lies in the promise of cognitive technology (Walker & Herrmann, 2005).
Aims
The aim of Cognitive Technology is to facilitate the realization of this promise so that both science and society benefit. In particular, critical to meeting the needs of a more complex workplace, an aging population, and a society increasingly sophisticated in their use of information technology, is improved interaction between the practice of science and the application of scientific findings. Cognitive Technology publishes high quality articles covering innovations in research and development that touch upon the interaction between cognition and technology. Our goal is to realize both practical and theoretical benefits relating to cognitive technologies. From a practical standpoint, it is important that technologies be investigated for their potential applicability to societal needs and for their potential impact on theory evolution. From a theoretical standpoint, the concepts that drive the investigation and development of new technologies, and the refinement of emerging technologies, must also be identified.
Scope
To meet these goals, Cognitive Technology will strategically support research that addresses human performance on multiple levels – at the level of the individual, the group and team, the organization, and society at large. Further, the journal will publish research that is grounded in use-inspired basic research. As its foundation, use-inspired basic research relies on both epistemological relevance and ecological salience (see Fiore, Rubinstein, & Jentsch; 2004; Fiore & Salas, 2007; Hoffman & Deffenbacher, 1993; Stokes, 1997; Vicente, 2000). Epistemological relevance describes the degree to which the experimental approach relies on concepts from extant theories. Ecological salience describes the degree to which the materials or tasks of study pertain to what is actually perceived or done in the real-world setting. Resulting from the combination of these approaches is a more strategic research framework that increases the probability for discovery of innovative solutions to pressing national problems (e.g., Rubinstein, 2002; Stokes, 1997; see also Branscomb, Holton, & Sonnert, 2002). Via simultaneous consideration of epistemological relevance and ecological salience, the journal’s goal is to publish high quality research that facilitates our understanding of the complexities of human performance and how to support that performance. In short, Cognitive Technology will be a forum that illustrates how research can simultaneously support both scientific and societal goals via an integration of ecologically and epistemologically valid approaches to research.
The Journal’s Mission
Cognitive Technology’s mission is to provide a forum for scientific analysis of new developments that can assist or augment cognitive functioning – areas of research and development that range from perception, memory, comprehension, decision making, problem solving, and reasoning, and functioning that may occur at the individual or the group level. In addition to PMI Cognitive Technology is also one of the official journals of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (www.sarmac.org).
Cognitive Technology supports their mission by publishing high quality research applying our understanding cognition and by promoting the communication of this research within and between the applied and basic research communities. Cognitive Technology strives to be an authoritative voice in multidisciplinary research and development addressing the dynamic intersection of cognition and technology.
Cognition and Technology
There has been tremendous growth in the disciplines seeking to understand human cognition, and research in cognitive technology can now be found far beyond the halls of psychology departments. As such, we invite submissions in a variety of areas of research and development.
Examples of the types of submissions we welcome include, but are not limited to:
• Research into the design and test of the cognitive aids, increasingly prevalent in our everyday life, supporting or augmenting basic cognitive processes such as memory and attention
• Tests of memory procedures to enhance remembering or research on problem solving strategies that improve solution generation
• Research in human performance and human factors – for example, research exploring how our understanding of cognition has been applied to the development of theories, techniques, or tools implemented in the classroom, at the office, or in aircraft cockpits and automobile dashboards
• New research and technologies addressing the needs of a growing populace experiencing cognitive aging
• Cognitive rehabilitation research advancing retraining of the brain-injured or technologies helping to improve the quality of life for this population
• Tests of modeling and simulation systems supporting learning and training to help us understand and improve complex cognitive processes
• Cognitive engineering research where sociotechnical systems, based upon a sophisticated understanding of how humans interact with technology, designed to support cognition and collaboration in complex environments
• Research in cognitive models and cognitive robotics, where findings from cognitive psychology have been used to develop autonomous agents capable of emulating and supporting cognitive processes
In sum, the concept of “cognitive technology” encompasses this broad and tremendously important set of developing areas of inquiry, and the mission of Cognitive Technology is to be at the forefront of this exciting research. Cognitive Technology strives to provide an innovative forum and communication channel that promotes the sharing of scientific knowledge helpful to not only basic and applied researchers, but also to practitioners working to support human cognition. Cognitive Technology will publish research that advances our knowledge and application of both theories and methods pertaining to human cognition. Appropriate articles will evaluate and/or investigate new cognitive technologies in the form of procedures, devices, or systems, developed to support cognitive functioning. Articles can range from empirical testing to theoretical analyses of a class of devices serving certain cognitive functions. All articles should be well-grounded in the literatures appropriate to their respective areas.
Stephen M. Fiore, Ph.D.
Editor, Cognitive Technology
Literature Cited
Branscomb, L. M., Holton, G., & Sonnert, G. (2002). Science and Society. In A. H. Teich, S. D. Nelson, & S. J. Lita (Eds.) AAAS Science and Technology Policy Yearbook (pp. 35 – 42). Washington , DC : American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Fiore, S.M., Rubinstein, J., & Jentsch, F. (2004). Considering Science and Security from a Broader Research Perspective. Cognitive Technology, 9, 40-42.
Fiore, S. M., & Salas, E. (2007). Problems and Possibilities: Strategically Pursuing a Science of Learning in Distributed Environments. In S. M. Fiore and E. Salas (Editors), Towards a science of distributed learning (pp. 237 – 264). Washington , DC : American Psychological Association.
Herrmann, D. J. (1996). Cognitive Technology’s Contribution to Cognitive Psychology: The Optimization of Discovery and Application. Cognitive Technology, 1, 4-6.
Hoffman, R. R., & Deffenbacher, K. A. (1993). An analysis of the relations of basic and applied science. Ecological Psychology, 5, 315-352.
Rubinstein, J. (2002). Aviation security long-term theoretical human factors research. International Airport Review ,
49-54.
Stokes, D. E. (1997). Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic science and technological innovation. Washington DC : Brookings Institution Press.
Vicente, K. J. (2000). Toward Jeffersonian research programmes in ergonomic science. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 1, 93-113.
Walker , W. R. & Herrmann, D. J. (Eds.). (2005). Cognitive Technology: Essays on the Transformation of Thought and Society. Jefferson , NC : McFarland & Company, Inc.
