Schmidt and Bannon (1992) introduced the concept of common information space by contrasting it with technical conceptions of shared information: Cooperative work is not facilitated simply by the provisioning of a shared database, but rather requires the active construction by the participants of a common information space where the meanings of the shared objects are debated and resolved, at least locally and temporarily. (Schmidt and Bannon, p. 22) A CIS, then, encompasses not only the information but also the practices by which actors establish its meaning for their collective work. These negotiated understandings of the information are as important as the availability of the information itself: The actors must attempt to jointly construct a common information space which goes beyond their individual personal information spaces. . . . The common information space is negotiated and established by the actors involved. (Schmidt and Bannon, p. 28) This is not to suggest that actors' understandings of the information are identical; they are simply "common" enough to coordinate the work. People understand how the information is relevant for their own work. Therefore, individuals engaged in different activities will have different perspectives on the same information. The work of maintaining the common information space is the work that it takes to balance and accommodate these different perspectives. A "bug" report in software development is a simple example. Software developers and quality assurance personnel have access to the same bug report information. However, access to information is not sufficient to coordinate their work.

Modern research demonstrates that imitation is more complex and interesting than classical theories proposed. Monkeys do not imitate whereas humans are prolific imitators. This book provides an analysis of empirical work on imitation and shows how much can be learned through interdisciplinary research ranging from cells to individuals, apes to men, and babies to adults. Covering diverse perspectives on a great puzzle of human psychology, the book is multidisciplinary in its approach to revealing how and why we imitate.

Imitation guides the behaviour of a range of species. Scientific advances in the study of imitation at multiple levels from neurons to behaviour have far-reaching implications for cognitive science, neuroscience, and evolutionary and developmental psychology. This volume, first published in 2002, provides a summary of the research on imitation in both Europe and America, including work on infants, adults, and nonhuman primates, with speculations about robotics. A special feature of the book is that it provides a concrete instance of the links between developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. It showcases how an interdisciplinary approach to imitation can illuminate long-standing problems in the brain sciences, including consciousness, self, perception-action coding, theory of mind, and intersubjectivity. The book addresses what it means to be human and how we get that way.

The emergence of network facilities and the increased availability of personal computer systems over the last decade has seen the development of interest in the use of computers to support cooperative work. This volume presents the proceedings of the fifth European conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). This is a multidisciplinary area which embraces both the development of new technologies and an understanding of the relationship between technology and society. This volume contains a collection of papers that encompass activities in the field. It includes papers addressing distribute virtual environments, the use of the Internet, studies of work and emerging models, theories and techniques to support the development of cooperative applications. The papers present emerging technologies alongside new methods and approaches to the development of this important class of applications. The work in this volume represents the best of the current research and practice within CSCW. The collection of papers presented here will appeal to both researchers and practitioners alike, as they combine an understanding of the nature of work with the possibilities offered by new technologies.

This book is the fruit of a study group on perception and action that worked at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiP) of the University of Bielefeld, FRG in the academic year 1984-1985. We express our gratitude to the ZiF for hosting the group and for providing fmancial and organizational support for its scientific activities, including a meeting of the authors of the present volume that took place at the ZiF in July 1986. This is/ the study group's last common product, and it took considerable time to give the book its fmal shape. Most of the editing was done while one of us (0. N.) was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NlAS) during the academic year 1987-1988. Thanks are due to NIAS for its generous support. We also thank all our friends and colleagues who contributed to the book.

Schmidt and Bannon (1992) introduced the concept of common information space by contrasting it with technical conceptions of shared information: Cooperative work is not facilitated simply by the provisioning of a shared database, but rather requires the active construction by the participants of a common information space where the meanings of the shared objects are debated and resolved, at least locally and temporarily. (Schmidt and Bannon, p. 22) A CIS, then, encompasses not only the information but also the practices by which actors establish its meaning for their collective work. These negotiated understandings of the information are as important as the availability of the information itself: The actors must attempt to jointly construct a common information space which goes beyond their individual personal information spaces. . . . The common information space is negotiated and established by the actors involved. (Schmidt and Bannon, p. 28) This is not to suggest that actors' understandings of the information are identical; they are simply "common" enough to coordinate the work. People understand how the information is relevant for their own work. Therefore, individuals engaged in different activities will have different perspectives on the same information. The work of maintaining the common information space is the work that it takes to balance and accommodate these different perspectives. A "bug" report in software development is a simple example. Software developers and quality assurance personnel have access to the same bug report information. However, access to information is not sufficient to coordinate their work.

We all know what a voluntary action is - we all think we know when an action is voluntary, and when it is not. First, there has to be some wish or goal, then an action designed to fulfil that wish or attain that goal. This standard view of voluntary action is prominent in both folk psychology and the professional sphere (e.g. the juridical) and guides a great deal of psychological and philosophical reasoning. But is it that simple though? For example, research from the neurosciences has shown us that the brain activation required to perform the action can actually precede the brain activation representing our conscious desire to perform that action. Only in retrospect do we come to attribute the action we performed to some desire or wish to perform the action.

This presents us with a problem - if our conscious awareness of an action follows its execution, then is it really a voluntary action?

The question guiding this book: What is the explanatory role of voluntary action, and are there ways that we can reconcile our common-sense intuitions about voluntary actions with the findings from the sciences? This is a debate that crosses the boundaries of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and social science. This book brings together some of the leading thinkers from these disciplines to consider this deep and often puzzling topic. The result is a fascinating and stimulating debate that will challenge our fundamental assumptions about our sense of free-will.

We all know what a voluntary action is - we all think we know when an action is voluntary, and when it is not. First, there has to be some wish or goal, then an action designed to fulfil that wish or attain that goal. This standard view of voluntary action is prominent in both folk psychology and the professional sphere (e.g. the juridical) and guides a great deal of psychological and philosophical reasoning. But is it that simple though? For example, research from the neurosciences has shown us that the brain activation required to perform the action can actually precede the brain activation representing our conscious desire to perform that action. Only in retrospect do we come to attribute the action we performed to some desire or wish to perform the action.

This presents us with a problem - if our conscious awareness of an action follows its execution, then is it really a voluntary action?

The question guiding this book is: What is the explanatory role of voluntary action, and are there ways that we can reconcile our common-sense intuitions about voluntary actions with the findings from the sciences? This is a debate that crosses the boundaries of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and social science. This book brings together some of the leading thinkers from these disciplines to consider this deep and often puzzling topic. The result is a fascinating and stimulating debate that will challenge our fundamental assumptions about our sense of free-will.

The latest volume in the critically acclaimed and highly influential Attention and Performance series focuses on a subject at the heart of psychological research into human performance - the interplay between perception and action. What are the mechanisms that translate the information we receive via our senses into physical actions? How do the mechanisms responsible for producing a response from a given stimulus operate? Recently, new perspectives have emerged, drawing on studies from neuroscience and neurophysiology. Within this volume, state of the art and cutting edge research from leading scientists in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience is presented describing the approaches being taken to understanding the mechanisms that allow us to negotiate and respond to the world around us.

Die Nutzung und die Erzeugung von Wissen ist Alltag in vielen Unternehmen. Wissensmanagement ist daher kein Modethema, sondern eine strategische Aufgabe. Ziel des Wissensmanagements ist es nicht nur, vorhandenes Wissen zu teilen, es transparent und organisationsweit verfugbar zu machen, sondern auch fur die im Arbeitsprozess auftretenden Herausforderungen neues Wissen zu erzeugen - und dies zunehmend kooperativ, in der Gruppe. In einer immer mehr von Wissensarbeit gekennzeichneten Arbeitswelt bilden Interaktionsprozesse die Voraussetzung dafur, dass vorhandenes Wissen genutzt sowie neues Wissen erzeugt und somit die Handlungs- und Innovationsfahigkeit der einzelnen Mitarbeiter und des Unternehmens als Ganzes gestarkt wird. Wahrend bisher informationsorientierte und kommunikationsorientierte Ansatze des Wissensmanagements weitgehend getrennt betrieben und isoliert betrachtet werden, wird in diesem Buch die Zusammenfuhrung, gemeinsame Ausrichtung und Balance von organisationsweiter Wissensbereitstellung und kooperativer Wissenserzeugung angestrebt und aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln beschrieben.

Die Anregung, der dieses Buch seine Entstehung verdankt, geht auf Oskar Graefe zuruck. Ursprunglich sollte es sich lediglich um eine erweiterte Fassung des Einleitungsteils meiner Dissertation handeln - um eine kurzgefasste Darstel- lung der experimentellen Reaktionszeitforschung, die 1970 hoch in Blute stand. Fur das, was ich aus dieser Anregung gemacht habe, bin ich naturlich selbst verantwortlich. Der Leser wird unschwer erkennen, dass die vorliegende Arbeit nicht besonders kurz gefasst und auch nicht in erster Linie der Darstellung von Forschungsergebnissen gewidmet ist, sondern der Entwicklung einer theoretischen Konzeption. Die inhaltlichen Grunde, die mich bewogen haben, die ursprungliche Absicht zu revidieren, sind in der Einleitung beschrieben. Dass die Verwirklichung der revidierten Absicht fast 10 Jahre in Anspruch genommen hat, liegt an einer Reihe von ausseren Umstanden, die mich zwangen, andere Prioritaten zu setzen als die, die ich von mir aus gesetzt hatte. Im Nachhinein bedaure ich diese Verzoegerung nicht einmal, denn bisweilen koennen Verzoegerungen dem Denken auf die Sprunge helfen. Ich hoffe nur, dass der Leser nicht allzu sehr unter der Tatsache zu leiden hat, dass die einzel- nen Kapitel z. T. in weitem zeitlichen Abstand voneinander geschrieben sind.

Eine neue Konferenzreihe entsteht Die Mensch & Computer 2002 ist die zweite fachfibergreifende Konferenz einer neuen Reihe, die mit der M&C 2001 in Bad Honnef erfolgreich eroffnet wurde. Sie soU den interdisziplinaren Dis kurs zu den vieWiltigen Facetten der Mensch-Computer-Interaktion - vor aUem im deutschspra chigen Raum - fordern und bfindeln. Sie ist an internationalem Austausch interessiert und fOrdert ihn durch die Einladung renommierter Referenten und die Publikation englischsprachiger Beitra ge. Diese Reihe wurde auf der Basis eines Memorandums "Mensch & Computer 2000: Information, Interaktion, Kommunikation" (http: //www. mensch-computer-interaktion. de/memorandum ) kon zipiert. Aktivitaten aus den Bereichen Mensch-Computer-Interaktion, Software-Ergonomie, Inter aktionsdesign, CSCW und CSCL werden in ihr integriert. Sie wird getragen yom neu gegriindeten Fachbereich "Mensch-Computer-Interaktion" der GeseUschaft fUr Informatik (GI) e. Y., dem Ger man Chapter of the ACM e. Y. und wird von vielen weiteren Gliederungen der GI und benachbar ten FachgeseUschaften und Verbanden unterstiitzt. Sie soU in Zukunft jahrlich mit variierenden Schwerpunkten stattfinden und ist auf einer eigenen Web-Site (http: //www. mensch-und computer. del) zu verfolgen, auf der der Vorbereitungsstand der jeweils nachsten Konferenz zu finden sein wird. In Absprache mit den Beitragenden und dem Verlag soUen dort auch die Beitra ge aus dem Konferenzband in elektronischer Form verfiigbar gemacht werden. Neben der Prasentation und Veroffentlichung von eingeladenen Beitragen und begutachteten Beitragen und Postern leben die M&C-Konferenzen auch von einem reichhaltigen Angebot an Workshops, AussteUungen und sonstigen Prasentationen sowie erganzenden Tutorien, fiber die die Konferenz-Web-Site ebenfaUs Auskunft gibt."