From: mheller@ols.net Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:38:15 +0000 Dear Colleagues: We are writing to inform you about a conference on REPRESENTATION AND BLINDNESS that will be held in San Marino, May 22-23, 1998. San Marino is the capital of the Republic of San Marino, a small state located in central Italy. The workshops will include presentations by researchers in the fields of touch, perception and cognition with special relevance to blindness. We have enclosed a call for papers that will provide additional information about the meeting. The conference will include invited presentations, papers and posters. The meeting will be open to interested parties from a variety of disciplines with an interest in perceptual and cognitive processes in blindness. We will consider abstracts for brief oral presentations and posters that involve both theoretical and applied work that is relevant to blindness. Topic areas of interest are described in the enclosed call for papers, and may include, but are not limited to: pattern perception and mobility in blind people, mental imagery in blindness, spatial cognition, reading by touch, sensory aids and computer access for blind people, and memory and higher cognitive processes in blind people. Note that we will consider abstracts on perceptual and cognitive processes that are especially relevant to blindness, but do not include samples of blind subjects. We hope that you will consider submission of an abstract for possible presentation at the conference. Please be sure to identify your submission to be considered for a poster or oral presentation (15 min). Abstracts will be reviewed next fall, and announcements about acceptance and the program will be available by late December,1997. Further information about accommodations and registration will be mailed by January, 1998. Best wishes, Cesare Cornoldi/Morton A. Heller Conference Organizers: Cesare Cornoldi Departimento di Psicologia Generale Piazza Capitaniato, 3 35139 Padova, ITALY EMAIL: CORNOLDI@PSICO.UNIPD.IT Morton A. Heller, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC 27110 910-750-2624 910-750-2459 fax EMAIL: mheller@ols.net - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Call for Papers: Workshop on Representation and Blindness To Be Held in San Marino, May.22-23, 1998 Submission Receipt Deadline OCT. 15, 1997. This workshop will bring together investigators in the field of perceptual and cognitive processes and blindness for the purpose of presenting their theoretical positions and evidence, and attempting some resolution of key issues Researchers will discuss the relevance of the modality of sensory stimulation for subsequent perceptual experiences, and representation in the absence of vision. The workshop will provide a forum for discussion of the basic theoretical issues in touch perception, cognition and blindness, with implications for general theories of perception. Workshop Presenters Tentatively Include: Morton A. Heller Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA Touch, Representation, and Blindness: Workshop Introduction. Cesare Cornoldi University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, Padova, Italy Mental Imagery in the Blind John M. Kennedy University of Toronto, Erindale College, Toronto, Canada Explaining the ability to recognize pictures via touch: Axis theory Susanna Millar Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford, Oxford, England Modality and Mind: Convergent active processing in interrelated networks (CAPIN) as a model of thinking and development. M. T. Turvey Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT and Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA Dynamic Touch and Rotational Dynamics Call for Papers: The meeting will be open to submissions for a limited number of posters or papers that are relevant to the central themes of the workshop. Appropriate topic areas of interest may include, but are not limited to: Spatial Mobility in Blindness Braille Reading Perception of Pictures or Graphics by Touch and Sensory Aids for Blind People, including computer access technology Studies of Form perception, Attention, Memory or Imagery in Touch, Especially with reference to Blind people. Mental Imagery in the Blind. Prospective participants should include a brief abstract of 250-500 words describing their proposed paper or poster. SUBMISSION RECEIPT DEADLINE: OCT. 15, 1997. Please send abstracts by e-mail. If that is not possible, please include a disk version with a text file, along with a hard copy version. The abstract should include a brief, 75-100 summary of the presentation, for insertion in the program. In addition, it should include a brief description of the method, results, and conclusions, if an empirical report. If the paper is primarily theoretical in nature, The submission should also include a 75-100 word abstract, along with text summarizing the presentation. Information about the Acceptance of the proposal and the program will be given before Dec. 30., 1997 San Marino is the capital of the Republic of San Marino, the oldest republic in Europe. It is a small state in central Italy, 25 kms from Rimini and about 120 kms from Bologna. It is located on the top of a hill, 700 meters high, surrounded by three castles and looking towards the marvelous beaches and hills of the area. San Marino can be easily reached by freeway, by train (station of Rimini) or by plane (the best airport is Bologna. On the afternoon preceding the workshop, a bus will be available from the Bologna airport to San Marino). San Marino is a well known tourist location with a series of facilities and hotels with different and typically attractive prices (The cost for a complete pension can range from 35 to 80 dollars per day.) The anticipated registration fee will be approximately $40 U.S. (75,ooo liras). Direct Inquiries for information about attendance, registration and accommodations, or participation in the workshop to the workshop organizers: Cesare Cornoldi Departimento di Psicologia Generale Piazza Capitaniato, 3 35139 Padova, ITALY EMAIL: CORNOLDI@PSICO.UNIPD.IT or Morton A. Heller Psychology Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC 27110 910-750-2624 910-750-2459 fax e-mail: mheller@ols.net