Knowing Hands: The Cognitive Psychology of Manual Control

by David A. Rosenbaum

Overview

Whenever you get dressed, carry objects, write, draw, or gesture, you express knowledge about how to get things done with your hands. Ironically, that knowledge is often difficult to express. Typically you can't say what you know. Still, it would be enormously useful to identify the knowledge underlying manual control. The design of equipment and transportation systems might better anticipate the abilities and limitations of users, and methods of teaching and rehabilitating skills might improve. This book, the first on the cognitive psychology of manual control, uncovers the hidden knowledge that hands express. Organized around key topics in this emerging area, including the role of the will in manual control, illusions concerning hand position sense, and the coordination of manual actions with others, Knowing Hands explains the planning and control of manual actions in everyday life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107094727
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/27/2017
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

David A. Rosenbaum is a cognitive psychologist whose main interests are human perception and performance. He attended Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania and Stanford University, California, where he received his PhD. He worked at Bell Laboratories, Hampshire College, Amhert, Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Pennsylvania State University. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Rosenbaum was the Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance and a recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

Table of Contents

Preface ; 1. Introducing hands; 2. Building hands; 3. Energizing hands; 4. Willing hands; 5. Seeing hands; 6. Hearing hands; 7. Feeling hands; 8. Joining hands; 9. Extending hands; Notes; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Rosenbaum’s argument that hand actions reflect tremendous knowledge is both compelling and important. Moreover, there may be no person better suited in either expertise or style to write such a book. It is clear, accessible, and often quite amusing. It reads as if it were being narrated with great enthusiasm.' Jeffrey B. Wagman, Illinois State University

'What does the brain do? As noted in 1899, the brain controls action. Rosenbaum has elucidated this important idea through the study of manual control. The hands are a great window into the brain. Rosenbaum is a great storyteller, writer and cognitive scientist, par excellence. The book will serve as a great resource for the student and professor.' Howard N. Zelaznik, Purdue University, Indiana

'I recommend Knowing Hands for those interested in the psychology of manual control or in more broad areas of cognition. It is a well-organized, easily comprehended, and fun read.' Christopher A. Was, PsychCRITICS

'Rosenbaum’s Knowing Hands provides a first-of-its-kind overview of the cognitive psychology of the planning and control of daily manual actions with hands … for those students and faculty who are interested in cognitive psychology, perception, artificial intelligence, and clinical Neuroscience.' CHOICE

From the Publisher