Call for Papers: “Using Tools: From Movements to Environmental Effects”

In everyday life, human beings frequently use tools without thinking much about it. However, despite the continuous presence of tools in our life, the topic of tool use has received only marginal attention in psychological research for a long time. In recent years, researchers have begun to investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying tool use. Tool use implies that bodily movements are mapped to the effects that are produced by these movements (at the end of the tool or elsewhere in external space). This mapping can be transparent, for example, when a simple mechanical tool like a hammer is used. The mapping can, however, also be quite complex – when driving a car, for instance.

The topical issue “Using tools: From movements to environmental effects” of the Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology invites the submission of abstracts of empirical papers on tool use. Papers addressing basic research questions and/or applied issues are both welcome. The purpose of this issue is to foster our understanding of the mechanisms and representations involved when human beings use tools or acquire new mappings between their bodily movements and associated effects in external space. Submissions that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics are particularly welcome:

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  Adaptation to and learning of new tools and/or visuomotor transformations.
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  Movement planning and movement control with tools.
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  Attentional and/or perceptual processes in tool use.
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  Developmental, clinical, and ergonomic aspects of tool use.

For additional information, please contact either of the topical issue’s editors:

• PD Dr. Cristina Massen (mailto:massen@ifado.de)
• PD Dr. Martina Rieger (mailto:rieger@psych.uni-frankfurt.de)

There is a two-stage submissions process. Initially, authors are requested to submit only abstracts of their proposed papers. All proposals will be subject to editorial review. In the second stage, selected authors will be encouraged to submit full articles. All submitted articles will then undergo full peer-review.

• Deadline for submission of abstracts is January 15, 2011.
• Deadline for submission of full articles is April 15, 2011.

The journal seeks to maintain a short turnaround time, with the final version of the accepted papers being due by July 15, 2011. The topical issue will be published as Issue 1 (2012).

The Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology was founded in 1890 and is the second oldest psychology journal in the world. One of the founding editors was Hermann Ebbinghaus. Since 2007, it is published in English and is devoted to publishing topical issues that provide state-of-the-art reviews of current research in psychology.

Guidelines for Article Preparation

For detailed author guidelines, please see the journal’s website at http://www.hogrefe.com/journals/zfp.