Cognitive Science represents the exploration of the human mind in the hope of answering some of humanity's oldest questions, from the origin of thought to the nature of knowledge. Today cognitive scientists link these ancient questions to the newest emerging fields of research in various areas, an approach epitomized by WIREs Cognitive Science, the latest interdisciplinary project from Wiley-Blackwell. The content of this journal will be free for registering institutions for the first two years.
"Cognitive science is an inherently interdisciplinary field, incorporating from its birth in the 1940s elements of multiple fields such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and biology," says Editor-in-Chief Professor Lynn Nadel from the University of Arizona. Over the past decade, the following developments in particular are notable: "first, cognitive neuroscience has expanded to embrace a number of new fields including neuroethics, neuroeconomics, neurolaw, and social cognitive neuroscience; second, computational approaches have become essential across all the disciplines; and third, an emphasis on adaptation and functional perspective has brought evolution and development into the mainstream of cognitive science."
Designed to reflect this ever-evolving discipline, the WIREs model is built around four article styles:
- Overviews provide broad, relatively non-technical treatment of a core issue.
- Advanced Reviews are aimed at researchers and advanced students, surveying the literature in a fashion similar to a standard review journal.
- Opinions express a particular view on a topic that is under current debate.
- Focus Articles are more technical in nature, homing in on specific examples and implementations of research.