SCiP at 35: An idiosyncratic history of the Society for Computers in Psychology

SCiP history may be divided into three eras: the Paleozoic (1971–1982), the Mesozoic (1982–1994), and the Cenozoic (1994-present). Following a list of Secretary-Treasurers, a list of all SCiP Presidents is provided in Table 1. Next I present personal highlights, including the first symposium on psychology and the World-Wide Web; David Rumelhart’s mathematical explanation of connectionism; and Stevan Harnad’s discussion of “freeing” the journal literature. I observe that a small conference is becoming more intimate and that much of our mission involves figuring out how to conduct high-quality scientific research with consumer-grade electronics. I argue that we are an increasingly international organization, that graduate students are welcome, and that we should become more inclusive in the areas of gender and ethnicity and should make membership more meaningful. I conclude by looking ahead and attempting to predict the future.     

Psychology and the National Medal of Science

When Congress created the National Medal of Science in 1959 to be awarded by the president of the United States, psychology was not among the eligible sciences. A concerted lobbying effort in the late 1970s changed that situation, adding social and behavioral sciences to the listing of eligible disciplines. This article describes how the award program was created with more restricted eligibility and the behind-the-scenes actions that led to eligibility being broadened, noting particularly the efforts of one very prominent psychologist who was angry about the exclusion of his science.     

全国现代逻辑学术研讨会综述

<正>2010年4月25日至26日"全国现代逻辑学术研讨会"在北京大学举行。会议由北京大学哲学系主办,中国逻辑学会现代逻辑专业委员协办。来自全国各高校和研究单位的二十多位专家、学者、博士生在会上作了学术报告,内容涉及到数理逻辑、哲学逻辑和逻辑哲学的多个分支和领域。这些报告展示了我国逻辑学目前发展最新的研究成果。     

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Use Computers in the Workplace1

Previous research indicates that perceived usefulness is a major determinant and predictor of intentions to use computers in the workplace. In contrast, the impact of enjoyment on usage intentions has not been examined. Two studies are reported concerning the relative effects of usefulness and enjoyment on intentions to use, and usage of, computers in the workplace. Usefulness had a strong effect on usage intentions in both Study 1, regarding word processing software (β=.68), and Study 2, regarding business graphics programs (β=.79). As hypothesized, enjoyment also had a significant effect on intentions in both studies, controlling for perceived usefulness (β=.16 and 0.15 for Studies 1 and 2, respectively). Study 1 found that intentions correlated 0.63 with system usage and that usefulness and enjoyment influenced usage behavior entirely indirectly through their effects on intentions. In both studies, a positive interaction between usefulness and enjoyment was observed. Together, usefulness and enjoyment explained 62% (Study 1) and 75% (Study 2) of the variance in usage intentions. Moreover, usefulness and enjoyment were found to mediate fully the effects on usage intentions of perceived output quality and perceived ease of use. As hypothesized, a measure of task importance moderated the effects of ease of use and output quality on usefulness but not on enjoyment. Several implications are drawn for how to design computer programs to be both more useful and more enjoyable in order to increase their acceptability among potential users.     

Conceptual Issues Related to the Use of Computers in Social Work Practice

This article examines a variety of conceptual problems associated with the use of computers in social work practice. Most important is that computerization is a conceptual process that can alter significantly how an agency operates and practice is undertaken. Yet because the criticisms directed at the use of computers by practitioners are mostly logistical in thrust, the fact that computerization can shape the way social work is interpreted is overlooked. And without understanding how practitioners' perceptions of their work are effected by computers, the impact of this technology cannot be accurately estimated.