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> Presently I am doing some research on how theories of perceptual
> psychology could be used in audience analysis when planning WRITTEN
> documetation. We will be using some of this information as part of
> our new tech communication diploma.
> Does anyone know of any resources/literature on this subject?
A good book-length communications theory that relies heavily on modern
cognitive perceptual psychology is Kaufer and Carley (1993c).In this
rather heavy book (of which there is an article-length synopsis (1993 b)),
they manage to operatinally define the primary salient variables of print
(including the mental models of both the writer and her/his target
audience). They then show how the variables fit together in some
interesting cases.
The book is marred by a leap of faith from print to other media (such as
CMC), but you can ignore this flaw if you're just looking at
informational written documentation.
