Concluding Comments 667TABLE 24.3 Examples of Journals That Publish Applied
Experimental Research
Applied experimental research (nearly) exclusively
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied
Experimental research that may or not be applied
Acta Psychologica
Cognition
Cognitive Psychology
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
OtherJournals of Experimental Psychology
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Thinking and Reasoning
Applied research that may or may not be experimental
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Technology
Ergonomics
Human Factors and Ergonomics
International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Applied experimental research (though not necessarily exclusively) in
specific areas
Behavior and Information Technology
Cognition and Instruction
Human-Computer Interaction
International Journal of Aviation Psychology
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making
Journal of Conflict Resolution
Law and Human Behavior
Military Psychology
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance
Transportation Human Factors
Psychology), 14 (Industrial and Organizational), and 19
(Military), among others; the American Psychological Soci-
ety; the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; and the So-
ciety for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Each
of these organizations publishes one or more refereed jour-
nals, and most publish a magazine or newsletter containing
timely information of interest to its membership as well.
Parsons (1999) published a historical account of the APA’s
division of Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychol-
ogy. A collection of biographies of distinguished members of
this division was edited by Taylor (1994).
Textbooks and reviews that emphasize applied experimental
work in psychology include, in order of publication, Wickens
(1984/2000), Barber (1988), Lave (1988), Izawa (1993), and
Harper and Branthwaite (2000). Examples of books that discuss
applications of experimental work in specific areas include
Baddeley (1982) on memory and mnemonics; McGilly (1994)
on education; Ceci and Bruck (1995) on childhood memory and
testimony; Baron (1998) on public decision making; Foddy,
Smithson, Schneider, and Hogg (1999) on resolving social
dilemmas; Gärling, Kristensen, Ekehammar, and Wessells
(2000) on international negotiations; and Durso et al. (1999) on
a variety of applied topics. More of the history of applied exper-
imental psychology and extensive reviews of work that has been
done in many of its subfields can be found in chapters of the
Annual Review of Psychology.CONCLUDING COMMENTSExperimental research may be motivated by theoretical or
practical interests, or both. Independently of its motivation, it
may have theoretical or practical implications, or both. And
the implications it has may or may not have been made ex-
plicit. In this chapter we have focused on experimental re-
search that has been motivated by practical interests or that
has produced results with obvious practical implications.
Are there major success stories in applied experimental
psychology? Are there examples of individual experiments
that have had great practical impact? We cannot point to ex-
amples of such experiments, but we think that these may not
be the right questions to ask. It is not easy to find many ex-
amples in any experimental science of isolated experiments
that have had major practical effect. More appropriate, we
think, is the question of whether there are practical matters
for which the cumulative effects of experimentation have
made a difference. What is reasonable to hope for as a conse-
quence of applied experimentation is not major practical
impact from single studies, but a gradual increase in under-
standing of phenomena and relationships that can be applied
to practical ends. As to whether this goal has been realized to
a significant degree, the answer is undoubtedly yes.
About 30 years ago, Deutsch, Platt, and Senghaas (1971)
identified what they considered to be 62 major advances in
the social sciences (anthropology, economics, mathematical
statistics, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology)
that had occurred during the first six-and-a-half decades of
the twentieth century. Of special interest in the present con-
text is the conclusion to which Deutsch, Platt, and Senghaas’s
analysis led them: “that practical demands or conflicts stimu-
latedabout three-fourths of all contributions between 1900
and 1965. In fact, as the years went on, their share rose from
two-thirds before 1930 to more than four-fifths thereafter”
(pp. 458). Further, they noted that “major social science ad-
vances were appliedto social practice in almost exactly the
same proportion as they were stimulated by it, and they
showed considerable practical importance” (pp. 458).
Although we cannot report comparably specific figures
for experimental psychology, the history of the domain con-
tains many examples of findings that are applicable to real-
world practical problems. Some of these findings have been
applied to good effect; more have the potential to be so