Memory & Cognition : The first 40 years
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Memory & Cognition: The first 40 years Colin M. MacLeod 1 Accepted: 19 September 2020 # The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2020
Abstract This article presents a survey of the first 40 years of this journal, covering (1) the origin and subsequent history of the journal, (2) who the editors have been, (3) the influence of the journal and its editors on the field, and (4) the most frequently cited articles. A virtually immediate success, Memory & Cognition has gone on to become one of the leading journals in the field of cognitive psychology. Keywords History
My goal in this article is to present a portrait of the first 40 years of this journal, from 1973 through 2012. Memory & Cognition has played an important role in the growth in— and the increased influence of—cognitive psychology and the Psychonomic Society, so a look back is warranted, and will also provide some perspective on how the field has developed. Why choose 40 years? We are not yet ready for a 50year review, and, given that one aspect of what I want to report (notable citations) only makes sense after the passage of some time, 40 years meets that constraint. I will describe how the journal began, sketch who the editors have been, consider how the journal and its editors have influenced the field, and summarize the most influential articles in the first 40 years.
How the journal began The Psychonomic Society was established on December 31, 1959, its goal being “especially to provide an adequate forum for the presentation and discussion of psychological research” (Dewsbury & Bolles, 1995, p. 216). The first annual meeting took place September 1–3, 1960, at the University of Chicago. Details of the Society’s origin are provided by Dewsbury and Bolles in the first of a series of four historical articles. The three subsequent historical articles describe the journal publishing program (Dewsbury, 1996), the annual meetings of the * Colin M. MacLeod [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
Society (Dewsbury, 1997a), and the Society’s development through the years (Dewsbury, 1997b). From the earliest meetings about establishing such an organization, the issue of whether the Society should publish its own journals was front and center, as Dewsbury (1996) describes in admirable detail. Indeed, Dewsbury and Bolles (1995) append the original bylaws of the Society (formally adopted December 30, 1959), and it is noteworthy that Article VII (of 10) specifically addresses journal publications: “With approval of the membership, the Governing Board may undertake the editing, or publishing, or both, of scientific journals” (pp. 229–230). Although journal publication did not happen right away, by 1964, the first Society journal—Psychonomic Science—appeared in print, having been created, according to Dewsbury (1996), “on his own” (p. 324) by Clifford T. Morgan. In 1966, Morgan decided that Psychonomic Science should split articles dealing with animal and physiological topics from those dealing with human exp
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