Abstracts - Fall 2007

THEORETICAL AND RESEARCH ARTICLES

4 Multiple Choices in Large Sequential Lineups with Children and Adults

A.M. Levi, Ph.D.

11 Innovating in Virtual Teams

Martin Bink, Ph.D. & Michael M. Beyerlein, Ph.D.

17 Team Training and Transfer in Different Contexts

Adrienne Y. Lee, Ph.D., Gary D. Bond, Ph.D., Pamela S. Scarbrough, M.A., Douglas J. Gillan, Ph.D. & Nancy J. Cooke, Ph.D.

30 A History of the Society for Applied Research on Memory and Cognition (SARMAC)

Douglas J. Herrmann, Ph.D., Michael Gruneberg, Ph.D. & Brad S. Brubaker, Ph.D.

BOOK REVIEWS

34 Working Memory Capacity by Nelson Cowan

Reviewed by Gregory J.H. Colflesh, Ph.D.

36 The Grid by Phillip E. Schewe

Reviewed by Terrance L. Lewis, Ph.D.

Multiple Choices in Large Sequential Lineups with Children and Adults

A. M. Levi, Ph.D., Jerusalem , Israel

After having witnessed the “culprit” in a difficult eyewitness situation, fourth and fifth grade children and their parents participated in twenty or twenty five long sequential photo lineups that either did or did not allow more than one choice. For multiple-choice witnesses, only those who chose the culprit most confidently were considered to have identified him, and only those who chose an innocent suspect most confidently in culprit-absent lineups were considered to have made a mistaken choice. Contrary to previous findings, children did not choose more often than adults. Allowing more than one choice resulted in three times more identifications. This was caused by a greater reluctance of the one-choice witnesses to choose when the culprit was present. There was no difference in mistaken choices when he was absent. Researchers are urged to give more attention to large sequential lineups with multiple choices

Key Terms: identification, multiple choice, selection, sequential lineup, witness

APA Formatted Citation

Levi, A.. (2007). Multiple choices in large sequential lineups with children and adults. Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 4-10.

Innovating In Virtual Teams

Martin L. Bink, Ph.D., U.S. Army Research Institute , Michael M. Beyerlein, Ph.D., Purdue University

Cross-functional teams are uniquely structured to produce innovations. Electronic communication technologies have made cross-functional virtual teams possible. However, there may be limits on the degree of innovation possible in cross-functional virtual teams based on the types and uses of electronic communication technologies. For example, non-verbal communication cues are essential in establishing intentionality in collaboration, but computer-mediated communication (i.e., “messaging”) eliminates such communication cues. This paper outlines the essential cognitive and social aspects of innovation and the cognitive and social requirements for producing effective electronic communication technologies.

Key words: virtual teams, electronic communication, innovation,

APA Formatted Citation

Bink, M., & Beyerlein, M. (2007). Innovating in virtual teams. Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 11-16

Team Training and Transfer in Differing Contexts

Adrienne Y. Lee, Ph.D., New Mexico State University, Gary D. Bond, Ph.D., Winston-Salem State University, Pamela S. Scarbrough, M.A.., New Mexico State University, Douglas J. Gillan, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, Nancy J. Cooke, Ph.D., Arizona State University

Teams are used extensively in the workplace, and schools have been including teams in classroom learning. However, most theory-based learning research has focused on individuals. This research examined team-level knowledge acquisition and performance in two complex military tasks: An Unmanned Air Vehicle simulation and a peacekeeping simulation. Training occurred in co-located or distributed contexts, and testing occurred in the same or opposite context. Distributed performance was greater than for co-located teams. At initial transfer, all teams showed performance decrements but performance subsequently improved. Results for communication conditions (push-to-talk, no push-to-talk) revealed context effects at test, where using push-to-talk produced a greater decrement in performance. Improvements in both training and learning theory are suggested by identifying several variables that affect team performance.

Key Terms: learning, training, transfer, team cognition, context

APA Formatted Citation

Lee, A., Bond, G., Scarbrough, P., Gillan, D. & Cooke, N. (2007). Team training and transfer in differing contexts. Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 17-29.

The Birth of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition

Douglas J. Herrmann, Ph.D., Practical Memory Institute, Mike Gruneberg, Ph.D., Practical Memory Institute, Brad S. Brubaker, Ph.D., Indiana State University

The need for a society dedicated to applied cognitive researchers may be traced back to Francis Bacon’s (1600’s) thoughts on the relative merits of intellectual or practical understanding of nature, but clearly was evident when theories of thought were emerging based on computer or programming models (1950’s). It wasn’t until after Neisser’s 1967 text, Cognitive Psychology, and the first conference for practical memory researchers that serious discussions on forming an applied cognitive society began. When applied-cognitive psychologists got together in the early 1990’s, they suggested that a society dedicated to applied cognition was needed. In a relatively short period of time the Society for Applied Research on Memory and Cognition (SARMAC) was established. Several influences are considered: including the advice from NIMH regarding grant approval, the serendipitous nature of the initial funding meeting, the prevailing climate of applied and basic research futures and the outcomes of the international Practical Aspects of Memory Conferences.

Key Terms: SARMAC, research, society, conference, memory, applied, practical

APA Formatted Citation

Herrmann, D., Gruneberg, M., & Brubaker, B. (2007). The birth of the society for applied research in memory and cognition. Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 30-33.

Book Review

Working Memory Capacity by Nelson Cowan. (2005)

Reviewed by Gregory J. H. Colflesh, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago

Over 30 years have passed since Baddeley and Hitch (1974) published their seminal chapter on working memory capacity (WMC). In those years, numerous researchers have studied WMC and attempted to determine its effects on cognitive performance. However, like many scientific constructs, there is a debate over what WMC is, how to represent it within the cognitive architecture, and how to measure it. There are two major reasons why the literature on WMC lacks consensus. First, the popularity of WMC has created a large literature base including studies from researchers in a large number of fields including psychology, education, rehabilitation, psychiatry, neuroscience and Human-computer Interaction to name a few. Researchers in these fields have approached WMC with different theoretical constructs. Some are based in the early versions of the Baddeley model. Some are based in more recent advances in particular fields. The second related reason why consensus is so difficult is due to the methodological differences between studies, with measures of WMC that range from tasks that may be more similar to short term memory tasks, to tasks that require maintenance of information in the face of interference, while others may be seen as problem solving or attention tasks.

APA Formatted Citation

Colflesh, G. (2007). [Review of the book Working Memory Capacity ]. Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 34-35.

Book Review

The Grid by Phillip E. Schewe. (2007).

Reviewed by Terrance L. Lewis, Ph.D., Winston-Salem State University

Ever since human technology went past simple flaked tools, technology has been in the hands of specialists. Still, for thousands of years, most people would know how the technology around them worked, even if they could not form the clay, forge the metal, or build the buildings. With the introduction of industrialism, however, technology has evolved into whole systems. Phillip Schewe, while paying a bit of homage to earlier or later systems, concentrates his monograph on the creation and then the ubiquity of the American electrical grid, telling the basic narrative in interesting and fairly non-technical ways .

APA Formatted Citation

Lewis, T. (2007). [Review of the book The Grid ]: Cognitive Technology, 12(2), 36-37.