Distributed Cognitions
Psychological and Educational Considerations

This book re-examines the 'distributed' social and cultural contextual factors that affect human cognition.

Gavriel Salomon (Edited by)

9780521574235, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 December 1996

300 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

"...an interesting and exciting volume that is a good companion piece to recently released titles with a similar theme...this volume is unique because the contributors thoroughly examine theories of 'distributed cognition' within the traditions of psychology and educational research...this excellent book should be read not only by people interested in psychology and education, but by cognitive psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and interdisciplinarians. It will evoke reflection upon reasoning, practice, and the use of artifacts." Henrik Artman, Mind, Culture & Activity

Traditionally, human cognition has been seen and studied as existing solely 'inside' a person's head, with relative disregard for the social, physical, and artifactual surroundings in which cognition takes place. This book is a bold attempt to re-examine the nature of cognitions and to propose that a clearer understanding of human cognition would be achieved if it were conceptualized and studied as distributed among individuals, that knowledge is socially constructed through collaborative efforts toward shared objectives within cultural surroundings and that information is processed between individuals and the tools and artifacts provided by culture. The authors use illustrations from daily life and educational activities and suggest implications for education.

List of contributors
Series foreword
Editor's introduction
1. A cultural-historical approach to distributed cognition Michael Cole and Yrjö Engeström
2. Practices of distributed intelligence and designs for education Roy D. Pea
3. Person-plus: a distributed view of thinking and learning D. N. Perkins
4. No distribution without individuals' cognition: a dynamic interfactional view Gavriel Salomon
5. Living knowledge: the social distribution of cultural resources for thinking Luis C. Moll, Javier Tapia and Kathryn F. Whitmore
6. Finding cognition in the classroom: an expanded view of human intelligence Thomas Hatch and Howard Gardner
7. Distributed expertise in the classroom Ann L. Brown, Doris Ash, Martha Rutherford, Kathryn Nakagawa, Ann Gordon and Joseph C. Campione
8. On the distribution of cognition: some reflections Raymond S. Nickerson
Index.

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR]