The peculiarly ambiguous character of applied psychology at the present time makes it appropriate to preface this book with an explicit statement of its purpose. The current development of the subject shows two widely divergent tendencies. The field covered by the subject is already large and is expanding rapidly, hence it has seemed best to limit the contents of the book to fundamental principles and the significant results attained in the three divisions of the field which have been most thoroughly explored, namely education, psychotherapy, and the psychology of industry, together with numerous illustrations drawn from other departments. The critical statement of principles is the most important part of the book, since it is by its misunderstanding of these that popular applied psychology usually goes astray. Throughout I have tried to keep the exposition as close as possible to common experience. Here psychology often succeeds only in giving precise form to what wise persons have long known, or reasons for what they have always done; but it is none the less desirable to have such exactitude and rationality scientifically established. This is perfectly genuine "applied psychology," though the fact is sometimes obscured in the atmosphere of experimental investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

The field of applied cognitive psychology represents a new emphasis within cognitive psychology. Although interesting applied research has been published over the last several decades, and more frequently in the last dozen years, this is the first comprehensive book written about the progress in this new applied area. This text presents the theory and methodology of cognitive psychology that may be applied to problems of the real world and describes the current range of cognitive applications to real-world situations. In addition, Applied Cognitive Psychology: *identifies the rudimentary principles of basic theory (e.g., perception, comprehension, learning, retention, remembering, reasoning, problem solving, and communication) that lend themselves to application; *examines a range of cognitive products and services; *begins with an explanation of the differences between basic and applied science, especially in cognitive psychology across discipline areas; *is the first cognitive text to familiarize students with the institutional and social factors that affect communication between basic and applied researchers and, therefore, determine the success of application efforts; *presents applications important to many problems in society and demonstrates the value of basic research in leading to these important applications; and *cites a substantial number of references to help readers who want to apply cognitive psychology to do so. The text is intended to be used by students who are concurrently studying cognitive psychology or applied cognitive psychology. It could be used with graduate students as well as with undergraduates.