changing of the guard

[Christian Schunn]

discovery that is very relevant to much of the ACT-R community. For 
the first time (that I know of), JEP:LMC has published a 
modeling-only paper. The second article in that issue has absolutely 
no new human data, just a series of simulation results. I view this 
as a major coup and perhaps the beginning of a new era.
 
For those of you who aren't familiar with the details of JEP:LMC: It 
is generally considered the top cognitive journal and has had a long 
history of preferring data over models (both explicitly and 
implicitly). I'm not sure how this came about. While the editorial 
board has changed, the editorial statement remains the same, none of 
the new editorial board members are modelers themselves, and it is 
rumored that some have been heard to have made anti-modeling 
comments. Perhaps it is finally becoming clear to the larger 
cognitive community that modeling can be an empirical science.
 
Whatever the reason, we now can all point to this case as legal 
precedent for why JEP:LMC (and indeed JEP:G, JEP:HPP, Cog Psy, JML, 
Thinking & Reasoning, ...) should consider modeling-only papers.
 
-Chris
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   Christian Schunn           Applied Cognitive Program
   Psychology 3F5             schunn at gmu.edu
   George Mason University    (703)-993-1744  Voice
   Fairfax, VA 22030-4444     (703)-993-1330  Fax
   http://www.hfac.gmu.edu/~schunn
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