Cyberpsychology: An Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

by Kent L. Norman

Cyberpsychology is about humans and computers and the psychology of how they interact. Computers permeate nearly every human activity in the modern world and affect human behavior from the most basic sensory-motor interactions to the most complex cognitive and social processes. This book begins with a brief history of psychology and computers and a comparison of the human nervous system and the circuitry of a computer. A number of theories and models of human-computer interaction are presented, as well as research methods and techniques for usability testing. Following the typical contents of an introduction to psychology, the book then discusses sensation and perception, learning and memory, thinking and problem solving, language processing, individual differences, motivation and emotion, social relations, and abnormal behavior as they impact the human-computer interface. Finally, specific issues of artificial intelligence, assistive technologies, video games, and electronic education are presented. Cyberpsychology is the new psychology.

Genres: Psychology

446 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2008

About the author

Kent L. Norman, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Cognitive and Neural Systems Area in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. He is the director of the Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes (LAPDP) and is a founding member of the Human/Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) in the University of Maryland.

Reviews

[Wendelle]

browsed parts only

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, pretty decent human factors psychology book for undergrads focusing on cyberpsychology (I have my preferred book for more graduate work as I did an MS in space studies with a focus on human factors). Pretty readable and all. Easily used chapter by chapter if you don't need to read the entire book.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent scholarly achievement for the budding field of cyberpsychology. Although I do have some reservations about the author's assertion of feature detectors, I will consent to the fact that I am a cognitive psychologist and this may be out of the author's field. I was very impressed by the author's discussion of systems. By far I am quite impressed and agree with the author's statement that a definitive text needs to be created.

[Alia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this one. I thought it sounded like an interesting field to learn about, but the book was really dry and I had to force myself to read chapters even when I had plenty of free time. Now that I'm back at work and don't have as much free time, I haven't touched it in months, so it's time I just admit that I'm never going to finish it and move on. Maybe someone else will get more out of it than I did.