The
science of cognition has undergone major changes as a result of technological
developments. The range of possibilities and modes for experimentation design,
data collection, cognitive phenomena investigated, and modalities of analysis
will keep changing in an accelerated pace thanks to new and future tools. This
Special Issue is devoted to the description and examination of the
contributions and challenges technology raises for
research in all fields of cognition, from sensory psychophysics to the
pragmatics of communication, mental imagery, and cognitive-affective
processing.
Computers,
the WWW, super-sensitive optical, tactile and acoustic devices, now allow
cognitive researchers to conduct experimentation with greater ease and in new
ways. Brain scanning machinery and functional imaging along with many other
technological innovations yield new kinds of knowledge and possibilities and
have already led to the emergence of new fields of research – such as cognitive
neuroscience and cognitive robotics – ruled by a dynamic of their own.
Are
these simply means to provide answers to questions raised in the traditional
paradigm(s)? Or do they carry with them a radical paradigm shift that not only
is reframing the way cognitive research is planned and conducted, but also
modifying its goals, content, questions, answers, expectations, and
problems? Although new technologies
offer unprecedented opportunities, we must also consider the nature of their
influence and possible pitfalls.
We are calling for descriptive, experimental and critical papers that examine the achievements of cognitive research attributable to the new technologies. We are also interested in papers that examine the potential pitfalls in using such tools as well as how they have (and presumably will) shape the nature of cognitive research and its fields of inquiry altogether.
Deadline
for submissions:
Publication: Summer 2009
Send submissions jointly to:
velich@psychologie.tu-dresden.de
Boris
M. Velichkovsky
Applied Cognitive Research
Dresden
University of Technology
D-01062
And
Itiel Dror
Psychology