Cognitive Technology

by Walker, W. Richard

• ISBN13: 9780786419746
• ISBN10: 0786419741
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-30
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Rapidly growing cognitive technologies (such as word processors, web browsers, cell phones, and personal data assistants) aid learning, memory, and problem solving, and contribute to every part of modern life from interviewing crime witnesses to learning a foreign language to calling one's mother. This collection of essays on cognitive technology examines the interaction between the human mind and the tools people create to enhance it, studying which technologies assist cognition the most and what features are most effective. It also considers the point at which the technological enhancement of human ability begins to restrict that very ability, such as the risk of some cognitive technologies impairing cognition or creating disadvantages for individuals or groups. This collection of 11 essays discusses the most recent psychological research in cognitive technology, showcasing the paradigms and theories that have driven the development of new cognitive technologies. It explores the impact of technology on cognitive psychology, the classroom, and social interaction and group problem solving. Topics covered include the distracting characteristics of new technologies (such as the effects of cell phone use on driving ability and of distracting advertisements on problem solving), the study of mass media through assessing memories for media experiences, the media's role in advancing gender and racial prejudices, and the misuse of cognitive technology through identity theft and cyberterrorism. Each essay concludes with a bibliography.

Table of Contents

Preface	1	(171)
W. Richard Walker and Douglas J. Herrmann
1 The Potential of Cognitive Technology	5	(15)
Douglas J. Herrmann
2 Training College Students to Use Personal Data Assistants	20	(13)
W. Richard Walker and Reggie Y. Andrews
3 Remembering What to Do: Using Conventional and Technology-Based Aids to Facilitate Self-Reported and Actual Prospective Memory	33	(18)
Carol Y. Yoder and Douglas J. Herrmann
4 Why Do Cell Phone Conversations Interfere with Driving?	51	(18)
David L. Strayer, Frank A. Drews, Dennis J. Crouch, and William A. Johnston
5 Intrusive Technology: Bartering and Stealing Consumer Attention	69	(20)
Brad J. Sagarin, M. Anne Britt, Jeremy D. Heider, Sarah E. Wood, and Joel E. Lynch
6 Social Identity and the Self: Getting Connected Online	89	(22)
Katelyn Y.A. McKenna and Gwendolyn Seidman
7 Decision Making and Group Dynamics in the Virtual Office	111	(19)
Rodney J. Vogl, Chanda Simkin, and Sandra D. Nicks
8 What We Remember from television and Movies: Using Autobiographical Memory to Study Mass Media	130	(19)
Richard Jackson Harris, Jennifer M. Bonds-Raacke, and Elizabeth T. Cady
9 Minorities as Marginalized Heroes and Prominent Villains in the Mass Media: Music, News, Sports, Television, and Movies	149	(23)
Jeffrey A. Gibbons, Cheryl Taylor, and Janet Phillips
10 Digital Dangers: Identity Theft and Cyberterrorism	172	(13)
Stephen Truhon and W. Richard Walker
11 Cognitive Psychologists and Human-Technical Systems: Should We Choose the Red Pill?	185	(22)
Francis T. Durso and Catherine F. Hall
About the Contributors	207	(4)
Subject Index	211	(2)
Name Index	213