Distributed Cognition - outline
• Distributed Cognition • Discussion about distributed cognition• General discussion
Reaction against mentalism
• Cognitivism (competence)• Behaviourism (performance)• Social antropology (systems)
People select and build their physical and social environment and do so to support cognition.
Aim
…to determine how to best represent, store and give access to electronical and other
information dense artefacts for a collaborative team, enabling them to work in an
orchestrated manner
• Interaction human-technology• Organization of human-technology• Design of representations
Theoretical background
• Information processing theory• System theory • Socio-cultural theory• Cognitive anthopology
Information processing psychology
• How information – Travels – Processed– Represented (critique of the all in the head
processing)
• Mental processes is what cannot be explained by environmental factors
• Communication is the systems internal procesessing
System theory
• Humans + the artefacts = cognitive system• Delimiting the focus by goal or physical space• Generalisability• Comparision• ”The system is more than the parts”• ”Change in one part may effect other parts or
the productiveness of the whole”• Subsystems are dependent• Production is organisation dependent
Socio-cultural theory
• Each individuals perspective is culturally determined
• Humans as producers and reproducers of culture
• Focus is on process and meaning, rather than structure
• Emergence
Cognitive systems
• Each individuals problem-space is small• Make parallell activities possible• Artefacts is part of cognitive processessing• All information cannot be internalised• Organisation and physical space determine
information processing• Interactive and intrapsychological
phenomenon are different
Context-bound
The arrangement of equipment in a workplace might seem to be a topic for traditional,
noncognitive ergonomics. However, it has an interpretation in terms of the construction of systems of socially distributed cognition. The
interaction of the properties of the senses with the physical layout of the task environment defines possibilities for the distribution of
access to information (Hutchins, 1995:197)
Equivalent access hypothesis
• Compare to system theory• Princip• Not discussing meaning • Association
Description levels
• Task– What the system should perform
• Representation – What openess and state
• Activity– How and what people do
Human interaction with technology
• With: Amplification (utility, power, strength)• Of: Cognitive transformation (residual)
Learning
• Behaviour that manifest over time and context• Change in the environment is part of learning• Change in mental spaces
Learning in action
• Errors and breakdowns makes people articulate
• Artefacts and interactions make information visible
• Work distribution may be arranged for monitoring
User and technology
• Technology serving as a catalysator• Humans can serve as catalysator• Humans process from goal and meaning• Each component is more than its internal
sophistication• Humans are meaning-processing component • Knowledge is in interaction
Executive function and system delimitation
• System information flow depends upon the execution
• People come into systems • System organise for people who choose• Higher knowledge is uniquely human
Formal and actual organisation
• Formal task distribution• Actual task distribution and access to
information
The emergency control centre
• Receives all emergency calls (112)
• Exists at 20 sites in Sweden
• Co-ordinates and operates several organisations
• Operates with a minimum of 2 people
Assessing the situation
Background• Different priorities• Many fake emergencies (kids, mobile phone testing, strange people)
Operator rutines• Ask for additional details• Ask for the reporter´s phone number• Check phone number with the official phone database• Ask for the reporter´s mane and home address• Match information from the database with the one reported
Collaborative tasks
• Parallell activities necessary
• Joint assessment of the accident
• Remind each other of action to take
• Feedback support of the assessment
• Share of their specific responsibilities
When to call for assistance?
• If the emergency seems to require parallel activities
• If it is difficult to hear or understand the caller
• If it is difficult to access the emergency, and what resources to co-ordinate
Co-ordination mechanisms
• Signal
• Display - lets the operators make a hierarchy of accidents and events
• Computer screen - only shows which phone number the caller has called)
• Human interaction
0.00
0.28
0.32
0.380.470.490.54
0.58
1.001.02
Ope rator 1
SOS-Central(x)And how do you feel now?žHave you done it yourselfWhy?ž[Call for Assistance]žIt is still in your arm now, is it?žHuh, it a big knife then?ž
Let it stay there till the ambulance comesž
0.00
0.28
0.32
0.380.470.490.54
0.58
1.001.02
Ope rator 1
SOS-Central(x)And how do you feel now?žHave you done it yourselfWhy?ž[Call for Assistance]žIt is still in your arm now, is it?žHuh, it a big knife then?ž
Let it stay there till the ambulance comesž
Ope rator 2
[Works with another case]
[Hangs up]
[Looks around]
[Takes assistance]ž
[1]Let it stay there do not move anything!ž
1.11
1.161.17
1.28
1.30
1.31
1.34
1.351.37
1.401.41
Ope rator 1
And you did this last night,did (..)ž[Nods]ž[Writes the phone numberinto the database]Yesž[repeats phone number]ž
Yes, and what is your namethen?ž
Door... Are you able to openthe door?
Ope rator 2
Uhuh, [towards 1] Is the knifestill there?žooh, damn itž[3]What do you think [3] Whatambulance do we have in town?[3]Should we take ambulance4?žž
[3]Do you have contact? No.ž
Uhhuh
Ope rator 3
[2]Yeah, we could, yes uhuYou..
[2]No, [town], u’know No, take941 then