Applied Cognitive Psychology: A Textbook (Challenges and Controversies in Applied Cognition Series) [Hardcover]

Douglas J. Herrmann (Author), Carol Y. Yoder (Author), Michael Gruneberg (Author), David G. Payne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0805833722 | ISBN-13: 978-0805833720 | Edition: 1

The field of applied cognitive psychology represents a new emphasis within cognitive psychology. Although interesting applied research has been published over the last several decades, and more frequently in the last dozen years, this is the first comprehensive book written about the progress in this new applied area. This text presents the theory and methodology of cognitive psychology that may be applied to problems of the real world and describes the current range of cognitive applications to real-world situations.

In addition, Applied Cognitive Psychology:
*identifies the rudimentary principles of basic theory (e.g., perception, comprehension, learning, retention, remembering, reasoning, problem solving, and communication) that lend themselves to application;
*examines a range of cognitive products and services;
*begins with an explanation of the differences between basic and applied science, especially in cognitive psychology across discipline areas;
*is the first cognitive text to familiarize students with the institutional and social factors that affect communication between basic and applied researchers and, therefore, determine the success of application efforts;
*presents applications important to many problems in society and demonstrates the value of basic research in leading to these important applications; and
*cites a substantial number of references to help readers who want to apply cognitive psychology to do so.

The text is intended to be used by students who are concurrently studying cognitive psychology or applied cognitive psychology. It could be used with graduate students as well as with undergraduates.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Douglas Herrmannwas trained as an engineer at the U.S. Naval Academy (B.S., 1964) and as a psychologist at the University of Delaware where he obtained an M.S. (1970) and a Ph.D. (1972) in Experimental Psychology, and pursued postdoctoral study at Stanford University (1973). Subsequently, he taught at Hamilton College (Clinton, New York) until 1989, where he was a full professor and Chairperson of the Psychology Department. While on the faculty at Hamilton, he served as a research fellow at England's Applied Cognitive Psychology Unit in Cambridge, 1982-83; the University of Manchester, 1985-86; and at the National Institute of Mental Health, 1989-1990. From 1990 until 1992 he was the Director of the Collection Procedures Research Laboratory at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after which he served as the Special Assistant on Cognitive Psychology to the Associated Director for Research and Methodology at the National Center for Health Statistics. From 1995 until the summer of 2004 he was Professor and Chairperson of the Psychology Department at Indiana State University. Dr. Herrmann was an editor of the journal ofApplied Cognitive Psychologyfrom 1987 until 1991 and currently is the Editor of the journalCognitive Technology. He has written or edited 20 textbooks concerned with a variety of issues concerning cognition, including memory, the history of memory scholarship, memory functioning in everyday life, memory improvement, cognitive rehabilitation, and survey research. In 1995 he served as the President of the Society for Applied Research on Memory and Technology. Additionally, since 1995 he has been the Director of the Practical Memory Institute, a business on the web (http://www.memoryzine.com ), a subsidiary of Compact Disc, Silver Springs, Maryland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1 edition (January 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805833722
• ISBN-13: 978-0805833720
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,576,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but not great, June 24, 2010

By 

Dawn "PsychGeek" (ALLEN, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Applied Cognitive Psychology: A Textbook (Challenges and Controversies in Applied Cognition Series) (Hardcover)

After being assigned this book for an applied psychology course, we all agreed that it included some pretty basic information but was insufficient in content. This text treats the distinction between basic and applied research in a much too black-and-white fashion, free from the various nuances that actually exist in real applications. Instead, we mostly learned from The Handbook of Applied Cognition (edited by Durso) and found it to be much more adequate and cover each of the chapters from this book and then some. However, this book came with a much greater price tag (around $200).

Bottom line: If you want a basic broad brush covering of some topics that you will find in any basic cognitive book, with some sprinklings of application to the real world, then this book is probably sufficient. However, if you are wanting an in-depth coverage of these topics with a wide variety of perspectives from people in applied fields, then you need to seek greener pastures.