Invitation

December 30th, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

We are in the process of editing a book:

RISK AND COGNITION

Springer-Verlag, Germany

Editors : Jean-Marc Mercantini, Colette Faucher.

The purpose of this book is to assess the situation concerning the research works using cognitive science to design new systems and methodological tools that can help to solve problems in the domain of the Risk.
Risk is a complex concept, the study of which involves social sciences, behavioural sciences, biology and engineering science. The paradox of this concept is that it is always linked to a lack of knowledge. The knowledge regarding risks is knowledge about the unknown. The term « unknown » refers both to the uncertainty of the occurrence of predictable events and the occurrence of unexpected and/or unpredictable events.
Risk can appear in various situations in the context of professional, domestic and leisure activities. We can regard risky situations as systems that involve human beings, possibly technical components and a specific environment.
In a general way, risk can be defined as the effect of uncertainty on the evolution of situations. An effect is a deviation from an expected situation - positive and/or negative.
The study and the analysis of risky situations require the understanding of human behaviours facing risk, leading us to need the help of cognitive science. Tools and methods proposed by cognitive science allow the taking into account of the different mechanisms of human behaviour such as: perception, understanding, interpretation, acceptation, adaptation, planning, and so on. It is important to stress that those mechanisms are strongly linked to an individual’s socio-cultural background.
Apart from taking into account those mechanisms at the level of an individual, it’s also necessary to understand the social dimension of human beings’ behaviours when they interact during risky situations.
This point is all the more crucial because the evolution of the activities of our modern societies, due to the globalisation of the markets and the use of new information technologies, is responsible for more and more complex situations that involve the cooperation and the collaboration of individuals from different cultures (social background, job, academic background, etc…) as well as the use of so called « intelligent » machines.
Considering all these factors, it has become essential to propose new conceptual systems (methods, software or material systems) to assist people in the management of risky situations.
The contributions to this book are expected to cover topics (but are not limited to) such as:
- Identification and analysis of problems emerging from risky situations,
- Influence of risky situations on individual behaviours,
- Influence of risky situations on group behaviours,
- Influence of risky situations on individual cognitive dysfunctions,
- Influence of risky situations on group cognitive dysfunctions,
- Designing Problem Solving Methods to manage risky situations,
- Implementing Problem Solving Methods to manage risky situations,
- Influence of the culture in risk perception,
- Influence of the culture in risk management,
- Influence of multicultural groups in risk management,
- Designing new methodological tools to Prevent / Analyse / Manage risky situations,
- Designing new systems to assist humans in risky situations,
The methodological approaches to tackle these topics have to be presented and the results have to be discussed.
Approximate number of pages for each chapter: 30


Important Dates

February 15, 2012
Authors are invited to submit a summary (one page in WORD or PDF format) of their proposed chapters as well as their brief resume (CV) to Jean-Marc Mercantini (jean-marc.mercantini@lsis.org) and Colette Faucher (colette.faucher@lsis.org)

March 15, 2012
Acceptance decision

May 30, 2012
Draft chapter due

July 30, 2012
Feedback to the authors

September 15, 2012
Camera ready chapter due

Pr. Jean-Marc Mercantini
Email: jean-marc.mercantini@lsis.org
Professional phone: (+33) 4 91 05 60 15
Professional fax: (+33) 4 91 05 60 33

Pr. Colette Faucher
Email: colette.faucher@lsis.org
Professional phone : (+33) 4 91 05 60 68
Professional fax : (+33) 4 91 05 60 33

LSIS, Domaine Universitaire de Saint-Jérôme
Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niemen
13397 Marseille Cedex 20, FRANCE