Computers, Communication, and Mental Models

Computers, Commmunication, and Mental Models is a far-ranging, focused treatment of the cognitive and behavioural issues in computer-mediated communication, knowledge representation and computer-supported co- operative work. It is also an argued development of the theoretical bases for treating computerized tools as intermediaries in the communication of mental maps between tool builders and users. Empirical trails are reported in detail sufficient for representation, in computer-based instruction, fractal dimensions of cognitive mapping and group decision support. The book is a collection of multidisciplinary papers which each shed light on the complex interactions between users and systems architects, via a common medium: computerized tools.

Table of Contents:
About the Editors -- Preface: Computerised tools as intermediaries in the communication of mental maps -- Part 1: The Communication Process -- 1. Human-computer-human interaction: how computers affect interpersonal communication /Rodney Fuller -- 2. Designing for cognitive communication: epistemic fidelity or mediating collaborative inquiry? /Jeremy Roschelle -- 3. Computer-mediated interpersonal communication: the HCHI approach /Lajos Balint -- Part 2: Knowledge Representation -- 4. Mapping the mapper /John Wood and Paul Taylor -- 5. Mapping spatial cognition with computers /Phil Moose, Teri Stueland, Krista Kern and Tom Gentry -- Part 3: Cooperative Work -- 6. The world view of collaborative tools /Munir Mandviwalla -- 7. Computer-based simulation models for problem-solving: communicating problem understandings /Ray Paul and Peter Thomas -- 8. The effects of combining interactive graphics and text in computer-mediated small group decision-making /JozsefToth -- Postscript: A convergence of disciplines -- Index.

About the Author :
Donald L. Day is a senior lecturer in the School of Information Systems at The University of New South Wales, Sydney. Dr Day's current research involves both the behavioural responses of users to constraints in computerised design tools, and the cultural basis of user acceptance of information technology. He is a member of the Human Sciences Special Editorial Board of the journal Interacting with Computers. Diane K. Kovacs is an Internet and World Wide Web training consultant, and is President and CEO of Kovacs Consulting, an Internet Consulting firm. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture and the Directory of Scholarly Electronic Conferences, and co-moderator of Libref-L and of GovDoc-L. Currently she is adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science, Kent State University.