Edwin hutchins contributes to cognitive science by challenging the traditional view of the mind. Distributed cognition an overview sciencedirect topics. We highlight fundamental assumptions and theoretical constructs of the distributed cognition approach, based on the cognitive science literature and a real life scenario. Like most of cognitive science, it takes cognitive processes to be those that are involved in memory, decision making, inference. According to rogers 1997, distributed cognition is a hybrid approach to studying all aspects of cognition, from a cognitive, social and organisational perspective p. A brief introduction to distributed cognition yvonne rogers. These discussions form the basis for a critical examination of current frameworks designed to. The theoretical and methodological base of the distributed cognition approach derives. Cognition in the wild mit press, 1995 is hutchins first attempt at a coherent statement of the principles of distributed cognition. Cognition in the wild a bradford book hutchins, edwin on.
Cq press your definitive resource for politics, policy and people. Distributed cognition social approaches to learning. Hutchins was a student of the cognitive anthropologist roy dandrade who was also at ucsd and has. Distributed cognition and educational practice cognition being. Using distributed cognition theory to analyze collaborative computer science learning. Hutchins was a student of the cognitive anthropologist roy dandrade and has been a strong advocate of the use of anthropological methods in cognitive science. Here, his focus is on the cultural cognitive processes that take place when steering a ship into harbour. Distributed cognition edwin hutchins university of california. There are many ways to approach distributed cognition. Dc suggests that the cognitive process can be described as being distributed over a number of people cooperating through social mechanisms, often referred to as socially distributed cognition hutchins, 1995a. In earlier research on the organization of work, hutchins developed a. Sage video bringing teaching, learning and research to life. It does not propose a new kind of cognitive process. In this lesson, well explore his distributed cognition theory and consider your mind to be larger.
Nov 24, 2015 this feature is not available right now. Nardi 1995 offers a general theoretical comparison. Department of cognitive science, distributed cognition and humancomputer interaction lab, university of california, san diego, ca, usa email. Distributed cognition the term distributed cognition refers not to a type of cognition but to a perspective for understanding cognition generally. Distributed cognition limitations social approaches to. The unaided individual divorced from a social group and from supporting artifacts is no longer the model user.
Comparing distributed cognition and course of action. Gieres inappropriation of distributed cognition krist vaesen eindhoven university of technology, the netherlands k. For example, hutchins and hazlehurst 1995 explored freyds 2069 cognition, distributed. Distributed cognition limitations a problem with the distributed cognition approach is that it is not a methodology that one can readily pick off the shelf and apply to a design problem. We propose to adopt dcogs perspective of cognition as an emergent property of interaction among humans and artifacts, and dis. Nersessian2 although nearly a generation old, we are justified in calling distributed cognition dcog a new approach because of its juxtaposition to the good old fashioned alternative, regarded as classical or canonical cognitive science hutchins, 1995, p. Distributed cognition is an approach to cognitive science research that deploys models of the extended mind see, for example, the paper the extended mind by taking as the fundamental unit of analysis a collection of individuals and artifacts and their relations to each other in a particular work practice. Cogs 1 guest lecture university of california, san diego.
Developed by edwin hutchins, distributed cognition is the theory that knowledge lies not only within the individual but in the individuals social and physical environment. Networked computers are becoming ubiquitous and are playing. These systems are composed of individuals and artefacts. We begin by examining the characteristics of many work activities and the different levels of analysis required to explore and explain the conduct of these activities. Distributed cognition is a branch of cognitive science that proposes cognition and knowledge are not confined to an individual.
The theory of distributed cognition was developed in the mid 80s by edwin hutchins to provide a more balanced theoretical treatment of problem solving in reallife and collaborative work settings. Grounded in cognitive science, distributed cognition aims to understand the organization of cognitive systems by analyzing interactions among individuals, representational media e. In this paper, we argue that the distributed cognition framework can be used to substantiate the theoretical foundation of infovis. In this article we propose distributed cognition as a new foundation for humancomputer interaction, sketch an integrated research framework, and use selections from our earlier work to suggest how this framework can provide new opportunities in the design of digital work materials.
Toward a new foundation for humancomputer interaction research, acm transactions on computerhuman interaction tochi, volume 7, issue 2, 174 196 there are also draft copies 1999 floating on the internet. In contrast hutchins was making the claim that cognition is better understood as a distributed phenomenon. Toward a new foundation for humancomputer interaction, acm transactions on human. It is a cognitive process in that it leads to representations of. Distributed cognition enhances the understanding of interactions between humans, machines or technologies, and environments. Pdf distributed cognition and educational practice. The form of distributed cognition advanced by hutchins dcog 1 has adapted the framework of individual cognition to explain how cognitive re sources are organized within a context, drawing on. Distributed cognition is a school of psychology developed in the 1990s by edwin hutchins. Mar 22, 2020 distributed cognition is the theory that cognitive processes are not limited to individual minds, but instead are distributed across populations, environments, objects, and time. Flor and hutchins 1991 further explained that distributed cognition is an alternative and rich way to examine the representation of knowledge both inside the heads of individuals, and among different individuals, tools, and artifacts.
Distributed cognition edwin hutchins university of. Zhang and norman 1994 developed a framework of distributed representations to account for the behavior in these types of distributed cognitive. Distributed cognition domains and dimensions john sutton macquarie university synthesizing the domains of investigation highlighted in current research in distributed cognition and related. Like most of cognitive science, it takes cognitive processes to be those that are involved in memory, decision. Toward a new foundation of humancomputer interaction research by edwin hutchins 2000. Sage business cases real world cases at your fingertips. He is considered the father of modern cognitive ethnography. As described by its leading proponent, edwin hutchins, all human cognition is distributed. Accordingly, we draw on hutchins distributed cognition 16 theory to present a qualitative case study analysis of interaction and learning within a small group of middle school students programming computer. The distributed cognition perspective on human interaction. The objective of this article is to present a brief historical over view of ideas related to the distribution of cognition, offer a critical appraisal, and outline some of the implications for the teaching and learning practice. This article presents a theoretical framework that takes a distributed, socio. A comparison of activity theory, situated action models, and distributed cognition bonnie a.
Distributed cognition edwin hutchins university of california, san diego like all other branches of cognitive science, distributed cognition seeks to understand the organization of cognitive systems. As people interact with their surroundings, they complete cognitive tasks and achieve a deeper understanding of events. Therefore, within the distributed cognition framework, different units of analysis can be adopted in order. Nov 08, 2016 distributed cognition views a system of cognition as a set of representations propagated through specific media, and models the interchange of information between these representational media. Distributed cognition as a theoretical framework for. Action suchman, 1987, cognitive ergonomics, distributed cognition hutchins, 1995 or activity theory nardi, 1996. Pdf the distributed cognition perspective on human. A lot of time needs to be spent understanding the concepts and learning to interpret and. Hutchins describes the ships navigation as a process of distributed cognition.
Nardi it has been recognized that system design will benefit from explicit study of the context in which users work. A perspective from social choice theory by christian list1 distributed cognition refers to processes which are i cognitive and ii distributed across multiple. Chapter 9 opportunities and challenges for augmented. Like most of cognitive science, it takes cognitive processes to be those that are involved in memory, decision making, inference, reasoning, learning, and so on. Edwin hutchins suggests three ways in which cognitive processes may be distributed. Distributed cognition, representation, and affordance.
Using distributed cognition theory to analyze collaborative. Distributed cognition, discussion paper interact lab, school of cognitive and computing sciences, university of sussex, 1997 hollan, j. Hutchins is one of the main developers of distributed cognition hutchins was a student of the cognitive anthropologist roy dandrade and has been a strong advocate of the use of anthropological methods in cognitive science. Typically, a distributed cognition analysis results in an eventdriven. Most of the current psychological research is either explicitly or implicitly based on this conception of cognition. Distributed cognition we introduced the distributed cognition approach in chapter 3, as a theoretical account of the distributed nature of cognitive phenomena across individuals, artifacts, and internal and external representations hutchins, 1995. Distributed cognition distributive cognition is a psychological theory first devised by edwin hutchins as an attempt to reach a better understanding of workplace situations. In some cases, however, simulation models may be used to test hypotheses about the behavior of such distributed systems. Hutchins is one of the main developers of distributed cognition. While the labels distributed cognition hutchins 1995, 2010a and extended cognition are often used interchangeably, we try to use the former for a broader range of approaches which stress the methodological importance of studying rich interactions across heterogeneous resources, more than metaphysical claims about the location and constitution of cognition. The cognition is distributed over the personnel, sensors, and machinery both in the plane and on the ground, including but not limited to the controllers, pilots and crew as a whole. Toward a new foundation for humancomputer interaction research james hollan, edwin hutchins, and david kirsh university of california, san diego we are quickly passing through the historical moment when people work in front of a single computer, dominated by a small crt and focused on tasks involving only local information.
Hutchins was a student of the cognitive anthropologist roy dandrade who was also at ucsd and has been a strong advocate of the use of anthropological methods in cognitive science. With the underpinning application of technology, distributed cognition shifts the unit of analysis to the system of personininteractionwithtechnology hutchins, 1995, p. Typically, a distributed cognition analysis results in. Sage books the ultimate social sciences digital library. Distributed cognition is an approach to cognitive science research that deploys models of the extended mind see, for example, the paper the extended mind by taking as the fundamental unit of. Hutchins also examined another scene of distributed cognition within the context of navigating a us navy vessel. Sage reference the complete guide for your research journey. Distributed cognition where the cognitive and the social. The psychology of memory, extended cognition, and socially. The knowledge of my understanding for the article of distributed cognition. We begin by examining the characteristics of many work activities and the different. It can be applied to cognitive systems at many levels of complexity, from areas of an individual brain to communities of.
But if cognition is distributed over artifacts and social groups hutchins, 1995, how, when, and where should we think about generalization. Contrary to the view that cognitive processes originate in the individual mind and then are related to surrounding contexts, distributed cognition suggests that cognitive processes occur. Decortis, noirfalise et saudelli 2000 show the differences appearing in the analysis of a cooperative work situation. The goal of distributed cognition is to understand the organization of functional systems. Using insights from sociology, cognitive science, and the psychology of vygotsky cf activity theory it emphasises the social aspects of cognition distributed cognition is a branch of cognitive science that proposes that human knowledge and cognition are not confined to the individual. Hutchins is one of the main developers and proponents of distributed cognition. An example provided by hutchins 1995 of a distributed cognition analysis of a cognitive system is the navigation of a ship.
Comparisons of these approaches have been performed. Psychology students often have to write research papers on distributed cognition. Distributed cognition is the theory that cognitive processes occur in a cultural, historical, and environmental context from which they cannot be separated. This framework is explicitly cognitive in that it is concerned with how information is represented and how representations are transformed and propagated in the performance of tasks. Generalizing and distributing cognition the word distributed hides part of the problem, because it is an adjective, past tense, and a modifier of already existing cognition. Therefore, within the distributed cognition framework, different units of analy. Edwin hutchins combines his background as an anthropologist and an open ocean racing sailor and navigator in this account of how anthropological methods can be combined with cognitive theory to produce a new reading of cognitive science. A further candidate framework, examined in the present paper, is that of distributed cognition hutchins and kausen, 1992. We are quickly passing through the historical moment when people work in a front of a single computer, dominated by a small crt and focused on tasks involving only local information.