Cognition and Tool Use: Forms of Engagement in Human and Animal Use of Tools

Cognition and Tool Use: Forms of Engagement in Human and Animal Use of Tools book cover

Cognition and Tool Use: Forms of Engagement in Human and Animal Use of Tools

Author(s): Christopher Baber (Author)

  • Publisher: CRC Press
  • Publication Date: 30 Sept. 2020
  • Edition: 1st
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 192 pages
  • ISBN-10: 0367454475
  • ISBN-13: 9780367454470

Book Description

The ability to use tools is a distinguishing feature of human beings. It represents a complex psychomotor activity that we are only now beginning to comprehend. Robust new theoretical accounts allow us to better understand how people use tools and explain differences in human and animal tool use from the perspective of cognitive science. Our understanding needs to be grounded upon research into how people use tools, which draws upon many disciplines, from ergonomics to anthropology to cognitive science to neuropsychology. Cognition and Tool Use: Forms of Engagement in Human and Animal Use of Tools presents a single coherent account of human tool use as a complex psychomotor activity. It explains how people use tools and how this activity can succeed or fail, then describes the design and development of usable tools. This book considers contemporary tool use in domains such as surgery, and considers future developments in human-computer interfaces, such as haptic virtual reality and tangible user interfaces. No other single text brings together the research from the different disciplines, ranging from archaeology and anthropology to psychology and ergonomics, which contribute to this topic. Graduate students, professionals, and researchers will find this guide to be invaluable.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Whilst sets of guidelines for design of handles etc. are readily available within the ergonomics literature, Baber summarizes much of this material succinctly and usefully within the book. … In sum, this is a useful, interesting, and entertaining read that draws upon a wide literature to embed an analysis of an ancient … human activity within a theoretical framework. … [I]t is a refreshing to review a book that has such wide appeal and relevance. It is easy to imagine the book being useful to development psychologists, archaeologists, or ethologists almost as much as to ergonomists. ” – Ergonomics, Vol. 48, No. 4, March 2005

From the Back Cover

Analyzing tool use as a psychomotor activity, Cognition and Tool Use presents a coherent account of both successful and unsuccessful efforts to design and develop usable tools. It includes an exploration of tool use by primates and other animals, and contrasts primate tool use with that of young children. It considers design ergonomics, and the various meanings ascribed to tools, discusses contemporary tool use, as well as future developments in human-computer interfaces, such as haptic virtual reality and tangible user interfaces. Compiling research from archaeology and anthropology to psychology and ergonomics, this volume provides the most complete reference available on this subject.

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