Distributed cognition: A methodological note
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David Kirsh
Abstract
Humans are closely coupled with their environments. They rely on being ‘embedded’ to help coordinate the use of their internal cognitive resources with external tools and resources. Consequently, everyday cognition, even cognition in the absence of others, may be viewed as partially distributed. As cognitive scientists our job is to discover and explain the principles governing this distribution: principles of coordination, externalization, and interaction. As designers our job is to use these principles, especially if they can be converted to metrics, in order to invent and evaluate candidate designs. After discussing a few principles of interaction and embedding I discuss the usefulness of a range of metrics derived from economics, computational complexity, and psychology.
Abstract
Humans are closely coupled with their environments. They rely on being ‘embedded’ to help coordinate the use of their internal cognitive resources with external tools and resources. Consequently, everyday cognition, even cognition in the absence of others, may be viewed as partially distributed. As cognitive scientists our job is to discover and explain the principles governing this distribution: principles of coordination, externalization, and interaction. As designers our job is to use these principles, especially if they can be converted to metrics, in order to invent and evaluate candidate designs. After discussing a few principles of interaction and embedding I discuss the usefulness of a range of metrics derived from economics, computational complexity, and psychology.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the authors ix
-
Introduction
- Offloading cognition onto cognitive technology 1
-
Articles
- A framework for thinking about distributed cognition 25
- Distributed cognition: Domains and dimensions 45
- Distributed cognition: A methodological note 57
- Radical changes in cognitive process due to technology: A jaundiced view 71
- The grounding and sharing of symbols 83
- Collaborative tagging as distributed cognition 93
- Thinking in groups 99
- Distributed learning and mutual adaptation 117
- Distributed cognition, representation, and affordance 137
- Categorization and technology innovation 145
- Crime scene investigation as distributed cognition 159
- Web Search engines and distributed assessment systems 185
- Speech transformation solutions 207
- Computer-aided translation as a distributed cognitive task 237
- Index 257
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the authors ix
-
Introduction
- Offloading cognition onto cognitive technology 1
-
Articles
- A framework for thinking about distributed cognition 25
- Distributed cognition: Domains and dimensions 45
- Distributed cognition: A methodological note 57
- Radical changes in cognitive process due to technology: A jaundiced view 71
- The grounding and sharing of symbols 83
- Collaborative tagging as distributed cognition 93
- Thinking in groups 99
- Distributed learning and mutual adaptation 117
- Distributed cognition, representation, and affordance 137
- Categorization and technology innovation 145
- Crime scene investigation as distributed cognition 159
- Web Search engines and distributed assessment systems 185
- Speech transformation solutions 207
- Computer-aided translation as a distributed cognitive task 237
- Index 257
