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.

W. Richard Walker is an associate professor of psychology at Winston-Salem State University. He lives in Archdale, North Carolina.
Douglas J. Herrmann, is a professor and chairperson in the Psychology Department at Indiana State University. He lives in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Edited by W. Richard Walker and Douglas J. Herrmann
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 224
Bibliographic Info: tables, references, bibliographies, indexes
Copyright Date: 2005
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1974-6
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8453-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. The Potential of Cognitive Technology      5

2. Training College Students to Use Personal Data Assistants      20

3. Remembering What to Do: Using Conventional and Technology-Based Aids to Facilitate Self-Reported and Actual Prospective Memory      33

4. Why Do Cell Phone Conversations Interfere with Driving?      51

5. Intrusive Technology: Bartering and Stealing Consumer Attention      69

6. Social Identity and the Self: Getting Connected Online      89

7. Decision Making and Group Dynamics in the Virtual Office      111

8. What We Remember from Television and Movies: Using Autobiographical Memory to Study Mass Media      130

9. Minorities as Marginalized Heroes and Prominent Villains in the Mass Media: Music, News, Sports, Television, and Movies      149

10. Digital Dangers: Identity Theft and Cyberterrorism      172

11. Cognitive Psychologists and Human-Technical Systems: Should We Choose the Red Pill?      185

About the Contributors      207

Subject Index      211

Name Index      213

“useful…recommended”—Choice; “a good cognitive psychology textbook”—Portal.