Joint Cognitive Systems

Several technological advances have been seen the maritime domain to achieve higher operational efficiency and to address the generally recognised causes of most maritime accidents. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) endorses the use of best available technology to "drive continuous improvement and innovation in the facilitation of maritime traffic" in line with the goal of sustainable development. It is commonly acknowledged that modern technology revolutionized marine navigation, and presently it has a large potential to increase safety in navigation. However, the incorporation of new technologies in support of navigation also brought unforeseen critical consequences, contributing to unsafe practices, or even to accidents or incidents. Several issues were associated with human factors. To properly address the adoption of the newest technology in support of safe navigation, IMO established the e-navigation concept, currently under implementation.

We present data and argument to show that in Tetris-a real-time, interactive video game-certain cognitive and perceptual problems ore more quicktv, easily, and reliably solved by performing actions in the world than by performing computational actions in the head atone. We have found that some of the translations and rotations made by players of this video game are best understood as actions that use the world to improve cognition. These actions are not used to implement a plan, or to implement a reaction; they are used to change the world in order to simplify the problem-solving task. Thus, we distinguish pragmatic octions-actions performed to bring one physically closer to a goal-from epistemic actions-actions performed to uncover informatioan that is hidden or hard to compute mentally. To illustrate the need for epistemic actions, we first develop a standard information-processing model of Tetris cognition and show that it cannot explain performance data from human players of the game-even when we relax the assumption of fully sequential processing. Standard models disregard many actions taken by players because they appear unmotivated or superfluous. However, we show that such actions are actually far from superfluous; they play a valuable role in improving human performance. We argue that traditional accounts are limited because they regard action as having o single function: to change the world. By recognizing a second function of action-an epistemic function-we can explain many of the actions that a traditional model cannot. Although our argument is supported by numerous examples specifically from Tetris, we outline how the new category of epistemic action can be incorporated into theories of action more generally. In this article, we introduce the general idea of an epistemic action and discuss its role in Tetris, a real-time, interactive video game. Epistemic actions-physical actions that make mental computation easier, faster, or more We thank Steve Haehnichen for his work on the initial implementations of Tetris and RoboTetris.

The theme for this special issue, the airspace as a cognitive system, stimulates these questions: What is a cognitive system and in what sense can we characterize the airspace as a cognitive system? I discuss these questions by reviewing ideas promoted in discussions of distributed cognition. I conclude that this notion of the airspace as a cognitive system offers considerable leverage for addressing the anticipated design challenges in airspace systems but that we need to avoid the distortions engendered by the pervasive techno-centric emphasis in systems design in favor of a human-focused emphasis that will aid development of robust and effective systems.

The distinction between events and affordances, as offered by Stoffregen (this issue) in the target article, parallels one that is useful for understanding issues of human-interface design. The emphasis within interface design has typically been on the representation of events, but the conceptual basis of this approach has lacked any coherent structure that can drive research or support design practice. In contrast, affordance theory has the potential to guide a research program that could provide a coherent basis for the practice of interface design. In this commentary, the need and the opportunities are illustrated with reference to examples from interface design issues for the modern aircraft cockpit. Stoffregen (this issue), in the target article, argues that affordances are static or dynamic 1 properties of objects and surfaces specified with reference to behavior and scaled as action-relevant properties of the animal. Events are also static or dynamic properties of objects and surfaces but are not specified with reference to behavior and are not scaled as action-relevant properties of the animal. This distinction parallels one my colleagues and I (Lintern, Waite, & Talleur, 1999) made for human-machine interface design. The basis for this approach is a three-way classification: functional properties (affordances), properties that are not functional in isolation but can be used to derive functional properties via a computational or inferential process (events), and properties that are irrelevant to current functional goals (nonevents).

This paper describes an early approach to understanding current air traffic control (ATC) systems. The analysis is based on a distributed cognition analysis of the representations present in air traffic control, and their distribution, manipulation, and propagation through the ATC system. The work is being carried out as part of the Esprit Mefisto project, and has as an eventual aim the exploration of user interface requirements concerned with safety and usability.

The theme for this year’s symposium, The Airspace as a Cognitive System, stimulates the questions; what is a Cognitive System and in what sense can we characterize the airspace as a cognitive system? I discuss these questions by reviewing ideas promoted in discussions of distributed cognition. I also contrast the concept of distributed with the similar concepts of shared and joint as they are discussed in the literature on cognitive systems, team training and situation awareness. I conclude that the notions of distributed cognition and joint cognitive systems offer considerable leverage for addressing the anticipated design challenges in airspace systems but that we need to avoid the distortions engendered by the pervasive techno-centric emphasis in systems design in favor of a human-centric emphasis that will aid development of robust and effective systems.

Analyzing scientific inquiry as a species of socially distributed cognition has a variety of advantages for science studies, among them the prospects of bringing together philosophy and sociology of science. * Many thanks to Michael Cole, Edwin Hutchins, Nancy Nersessian, and Paul Churchland for encouraging and discussing this work. Thanks also to P. D. Magnus, for helpful discussions about d-cog and science, to the members of the UCSD D-Cog/HCI Lab for allowing me to present an earlier version of this project, and to the organizers of the Foundations of the Formal Sciences VII conference, especially Benedikt Löwe, who encouraged and helped me to make the long journey from San Diego to Brussels.

It seems plain to me now that the "cognitive revolution" ... was a response to the technological demands of the Post-Industrial Revolution. You cannot properly conceive of managing a complex world of information without a workable concept of mind.

There is an emerging concern that modem glass cockpits induce information overload. This is sometimes thought to be an inevitable result of the increased complexity and the need for automation that accompanies the transition to high technology. We argue here that the human performance problems created by glass cockpits are not an inevitable consequence of increased hardware complexity or of automation but, instead, are a result of nonfunctional design that increases complexity at the cockpit interface. The essential danger with computerized interfaces is that many physical design constraints are removed and designers are permitted unheralded opportunities for new information and control formats. Low technology forces the use of functional properties at the interface, but computer technology does not. On the other hand, computer technology does not preclude functional design. Computer technology may offer far broader opportunities for functional design by releasing designers from many physical constraints. In this article, we explain the concept of functional interface design and outline how it might enable the use of high technology and automation in the service of robust and cognitively economical action in an aircraft cockpit. Remarkable developments in computer hardware have encouraged equally remarkable developments in design of the modem commercial cockpit. The use of computers eliminates many of the physical constraints that once shackled interface design. There are possibilities for more extensive automation and for new display and control formats. Although there are many advantages of cockpit computerization, the increased levels of automation and the change in amount and format of information provided to the pilot have been implicated in a series of accidents and incidents. More generally, modern glass cockpits induce special types of pilot errors Requests for reprints should be sent to Gavan Lintern, Air Operations Division, Defense Science

On most accounts of expertise, as agents increase their skill, they are assumed to make fewer mistakes and to take fewer redundant or backtracking actions. Contrary to such accounts, in this paper we present data collected from people learning to play the videogame Tetris which show that as skill increases, the proportion of game actions that are later undone by backtracking also increases. Nevertheless, we also found that as game skill increases, players speed up as predicted by the power law of practice. We explain the ...

Los métodos utilizados y las acciones tomadas por la administración académica del Departamento de Ingeniería Ambiental de la Universidad Central (Colombia) durante seis años, demostraron que la gestión y la innovación en un Proyecto Académico de Programa – PAP son posibles tanto en la etapa crítica de la transición de un cargo directivo y estilo de gobierno, como en la fase de consolidación en la misión; generando valor a través de acciones de reordenamiento, reorganización, puesta en marcha y mantenimiento del éxito en cada una de las funciones misionales de la universidad. La intervención en la docencia, la investigación, la extensión y la gestión requirieron afrontar limitaciones presupuestales, condiciones restrictivas de espacio y tiempo, tensiones entre distintos modelos mentales e imaginarios del cuerpo docente y estamento estudiantil y, una resistencia política por parte algunos cuadros directivos. Sin embargo, y gracias a la concepción de la unidad académica como un sistema complejo, a la intervención realizada desde la complejidad restringida de los Sistemas Colaborativos Cognitivos-JCS, a la perseverancia en la consolidación de un excelente equipo de trabajo y del método, y al apoyo institucional, se verificaron cambios favorables en la organización que han permitido alcanzar metas de corto y mediano plazo establecidas en el Plan de Desarrollo y la estrategia; cualificación competitiva que ha permitido a la unidad académica consolidarse en el sistema de la educación superior y ser referente en temas prioritarios de país.

The methods used and the actions taken by the Department of Environmental Engineering at Universidad Central (Colombia) over six years, demonstrated that management and innovation in an Academic Program Project are possible either critical stage of transition to consolidation phase; generating value through actions of reorganization, restructuring, implementation and maintenance of success in each of the missionary functions of the University. Intervention in teaching, research, extension and management that required front facing budgetary constraints, restriction in space and time, tensions between different mental and imaginary models of teachers and students, and political resistance by some decision-making levels. However, thanks to the conception of academic unity as a complex system, to the intervention made from the restricted complexity of the Joint Cognitive Systems-JCS, the perseverance in the consolidation of an excellent team work and method, and to the institutional support, there have been favorable organization changes which make possible the achievement of short and medium term goals established in the Development Plan and the Strategy; Competitive qualification that make possible its academic consolidation at Colombia´s higher education system, and to be a framework in priority country environmental issues.

The theme for this year's symposium, The Airspace as a Cognitive System, stimulates the questions; what is a Cognitive System and in what sense can we characterize the airspace as a cognitive system? I discuss these questions by reviewing ideas promoted in discussions of distributed cognition. I also contrast the concept of distributed with the similar concepts of shared and joint as they are discussed in the literature on cognitive systems, team training and situation awareness. I conclude that the notions of distributed cognition and joint cognitive systems offer considerable leverage for addressing the anticipated design challenges in airspace systems but that we need to avoid the distortions engendered by the pervasive techno-centric emphasis in systems design in favor of a human-centric emphasis that will aid development of robust and effective systems.

Los procesos de enseñanza y de aprendizaje pueden tomar dinámicas no lineales y de baja predictibilidad ante la complejidad de la dimensión ambiental en la política pública, principalmente cuando en el sistema colaborativo cognitivo -que define un espacio formativo- confluyen y afloran imaginarios cuyos intereses están motivados por la indignación y latente preocupación ante conflictos en escenarios de inexistente justicia ambiental.

Este es el caso de un proyecto de aula sobre metales pesados en el curso de Gestión Integral de la Calidad del Aire en la Universidad Central, que progresivamente se formalizó en un trabajo de grado cuyos resultados -y oportuna socialización en medios formales y de comunicación- animaron a un colectivo ciudadano a evidenciar una problemática de contaminación y salud pública por liberación de mercurio al ambiente. Este requerimiento -que en principio fue técnico- fue atendido oportunamente por parte de la institución a través de proyectos formales de extensión e investigación, cuyos resultados evidenciaron un problema mayor al inicialmente planteado, tanto en escala como en magnitud.

Cognitive science currently offers models of cognition that depart substantively from those of information processing models and classical artificial intelligence, while it embraces methods of inquiry that include case-based, ethnographic, and philosophical methods. To illustrate, five overlapping approaches that constitute departures from classical representational cognitive science are briefly discussed in this paper: dynam-ical cognition, situated cognition, embodied cognition, extended mind theory, and integrative cognition. Critical responses to these efforts from members of the self-proclaimed cognitive science orthodoxy are also summarized. The paper then discusses ethical and epistemological implications arising from the " new " cognitive science and from critical responses to it and considers the broader importance of this literature for theoretical and philosophical psychology.

Interaction Design centre University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland laurence.rognin@ul.ie http://www.ul.ie/~idc/about/people/laurence/laurence.html ... ARAMIIHS-IRIT UPS, 118 route de Narbonne 31062, Toulouse cedex, France salembier@isp.fr www.irit.fr/ACTIVITES/GRIC

It seems plain to me now that the "cognitive revolution" ... was a response to the technological demands of the Post-Industrial Revolution. You cannot properly conceive of managing a complex world of information without a workable concept of mind.

The article is intended to aid students and consumers of Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) in learning about CSE. A proliferation of terms describing CSE and related constructs makes it difficult to sort out differences and similarities across approaches. To aid the reader in exploring CSE, we examine areas of confusion surrounding CSE, define CSE, and discuss the role of CSE in the systems engineering design process. We advocate the use of CSE principles and methods as a means to incorporate worker needs, expertise, cognitive demands, constraints, and goals throughout the design process. Articulation of the value case for CSE is offered as a vehicle to foster collaboration across disciplines.

The article is intended to aid students and consumers of Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) in learning about CSE. A proliferation of terms describing CSE and related constructs makes it difficult to sort out differences and similarities across approaches. To aid the reader in exploring CSE, we examine areas of confusion surrounding CSE, define CSE, and discuss the role of CSE in the systems engineering design process. We advocate the use of CSE principles and methods as a means to incorporate worker needs, expertise, cognitive demands, constraints, and goals throughout the design process. Articulation of the value case for CSE is offered as a vehicle to foster collaboration across disciplines.

Summary Distributed Cognition is a hybrid approach to studying all aspects of cognition, from a cognitive, social and organisational perspective. The most well known level of analysis is to account for complex socially distributed cognitive activities, of which a diversity of technological artefacts and other tools and representations are an indispensable part.

Abstract On most accounts of expertise, as agents increase their skill, they are assumed to make fewer mistakes and to take fewer redundant or backtracking actions. Contrary to such accounts, in this paper we present data collected from people learning to play the videogame Tetris which show that as skill increases, the proportion of game actions that are later undone by backtracking also increases. Nevertheless, we also found that as game skill increases, players speed up as predicted by the power law of practice.

The theme for this special issue, the airspace as a cognitive system, stimulates these questions: What is a cognitive system and in what sense can we characterize the airspace as a cognitive system? I discuss these questions by reviewing ideas promoted in discussions of distributed cognition. I conclude that this notion of the airspace as a cognitive system offers considerable leverage for addressing the anticipated design challenges in airspace systems but that we need to avoid the distortions engendered by the pervasive techno-centric emphasis in systems design in favor of a human-focused emphasis that will aid development of robust and effective systems.

Theory weary, theory leery, why can't I be theory cheery? (Erickson, 2002, p269) The field of human-computer interaction is rapidly expanding. Alongside the extensive technological developments that are currently taking place, is the emergence of a 'cottage industry' culture, where a polyphony of new theories, methods and concerns have been imported into the field from a diversity of disciplines and backgrounds. An extensive critique of recent theoretical developments is presented together with what practitioner's currently use. A significant development of importing new theories into the field has been much insightful explication of 'HCI' phenomena, together with extending the field's discourse. However, at the same time, the theoretically-based approaches have had a limited impact on the practice of interaction design. This chapter discusses why this is so and suggests that different kinds of mechanisms are needed that will enable both designers and researchers to better articulate and theoretically ground the hard challenges facing them today.

"We present data and argument to show that in Tetris—a real‒time interactive video game — certain cognitive and perceptual problems are more quickly, easily, and reliably solved by performing actions in the world rather than by performing computational actions in the head alone. We have found that some translations and rotations are best understood as using the world to improve cognition. These actions are not used to implement a plan, or to implement a reaction; they are used to change the world in order to simplify the problem-solving task. Thus, we distinguish pragmatic actions—actions performed to bring one physically closer to a goal—from epistemic actions—actions performed to uncover information that is hidden or hard to compute mentally.

To illustrate the need for epistemic actions, we first develop a standard information—processing model of Tetris—cognition, and show that it cannot explain performance data from human players of the game–even when we relax the assumption of fully sequential processing. Standard models disregard many actions taken by players because they appear unmotivated or superfluous. However, we describe many such actions that are actually taken by players that are far from superfluous, and that play valuable roles in improving human performance. We argue that traditional accounts are limited because they regard action as having a single function: to change the world. By recognizing a second function of action–an epistemic function–we can explain many of the actions that a traditional model cannot. Although, our argument is supported by numerous examples specifically from Tetris, we outline how the one category of epistemic action can be incorporated into theories of action more generally."