Ulric Neisser: Memory: what are the important questions?

What is ecological validity?
The extent to which the conditions of an experiment represent real world phenomenon

How does Neisser define memory?
“Memory” in general does not exist
It is a left over concept from medieval psychology
Theories of memory should reflect human experience

What are the important questions identified by Neisser?
Are there functionally different types of memory
If so what are they
How do we use past experience in meeting the present and future

Why has academic psychology NOT addressed these questions?
Because they believe that the lab work is more important
Developing general principles
Because it’s hard
The drunk and the lamp post

What brought about the demise of classical learning theory?
The findings of the ethologists showed that the contrived results that learning theorists were developing in the lab could not be usefully applied in the naturalistic setting

How can Neisser claim that perhaps “memory” in general does not exist?
Memory” in general does not exist
It is a left over concept from medieval psychology
Theories of memory should reflect human experience

What must we do in order to answer these important questions?
Go into “the wild”
We need to observe individuals in their habitats
Stop trying to use research to support theories instead of explaining behavior

Bruno Latour: Visualization and Cognition

Properties of Inscriptions

Mobile- Allows the users to take phenomenon from the world to a different domain to be reasoned with
Immutable- Doesn’t get destroyed, change
Readable- Presented in a way so that it can be deconstructed
Combinable- By allowing them to be presented in conjunction we can make better conclusions
Guide, Poster, Text books, math and words

The agonistic encounter

The process of challenging another’s opinion through the use of inscriptions
Examples:
Athletic referendum
Tyco Brahe
Court case

How a Cockpit Remembers it's Speed

What are the BIG ideas from the article?

Hutchins goes about explaining, in his characteristically detailed style, the cognitive phenomenon involved in maintaining the correct speed of a passenger airliner. He sets the cockpit system as the unit of analysis, as opposed to the individuals in the cockpit, to develop the theory that cognitive activity is not exclusively internal and is supported and created by the world in an active environment. To develop this point he demonstrates how the internal cognitive activity cannot account for the speed of the aircraft being remembered, but can only be understood by examining how the pilots coordinate their activity, technologies and media that represent the process to contribute to the larger cockpit system. He concludes that the only effective way to view the phenomenon of speed maintenance in the plane is as an emergent property of the entire cockpit system.

“What is new is the examination of the role of the material media in which representations are embodied, and in the physical processes that propagate representations across media”

What are the representations in the memory system?

Flap Handle- Controls the pitch of the flaps, which changes the speed of the plane.
Spoken Representation- Transmits the information from the AIS to the pilots
Speed Card- The desired speed on approach given an amount of fuel
Speed Bugs- Indicate the desired speed for the plane on approach as stated on the speed card
Airspeed Indicator Instrument (ASI)- Displays the speed of the plane
Fuel Quantity Panel- Amount of fuel the plane contains

What are the properties of the representation?

Flap Handle- Malleable
Spoken Representation- ephemeral and endures only in its production.
Speed Card- Semi-permanent
Speed Bugs- Malleable
Airspeed Indicator Instrument (ASI)- Physical dynamic
Fuel Quantity Panel- Physical dynamic

Additional terminology to know:

• Re-representations
• Information trajectories
• Coordination of representations
• Redundant storage of representations; redundant processing
• Division of labor
• Distribution of access to information
• Cross-checking

Project 3 Photos-Jason with synth

Project 3 Photos-Palua Nias Kids

Project 3 Photos-Zhongwei

Correction to Dishwasher Analysis

So I made a mistake on the analysis yesterday in discussion. When I said that placing the dish in the dishwasher was an example of gap closing I was wrong. This is a classic mistake for two reason:

1) There was no example of the solution. He didn't have a picture of what the dishwasher looked like with the dish in it that he was comparing the process too, or some other representation of the solution that guided his behavior. So he wasn't closing a gap between the problem and the solution. He did use the environment to solve the problem and I'm sure that there is a lot of other terminology we could apply, but gap closing is not correct to use in this context.

2) The second mistake I made was forcing the data to fit the terminology. Don't fall into this trap, just because we have a lot of terminology to apply doesn't mean it will all work. I'm sure some of it will apply, but don't try to force it into the mold of the language that we develop in discussion. If you spend time on your paper trying to force the data to fit a term that you want to use you will miss out on opportunities to describe the phenomenon in terms that do apply.

I am thinking about adding an office hour on Thursday if there is enough interest, so if you would like some more help on your paper let me know and we can try to work one out.

Cramming dishes into dishwasher

• All slots are organized for item


• Object larger then structure accommodated


• Social interactions with roommates


• Sense of completion

Goodwin Terminology

Coding-The process by which phenomenon in the setting are transformed into objects of knowledge

Coding Schemes- The practice of transforming the world into categories and events that are relevant to that profession

Highlight- Making specific phenomenon of interest salient

Producing and Articulating Material Representations-Making phenomenon more easily operated on by producing artifacts that support their usage.

Domain of Scrutiny-An area if interest in the context of the work practices

Discursive practices- The processes by which cultural meanings are produced and understood

Coding Schemes- the method by which phenomenon is transformed into a useful set of inscriptions for a given profession.

Lave article Terminology

Dialectic of Arithmetic of Grocery Shopping
Lave

Arena-Providing a higher-order institutional framework within which setting is constituted

Setting-The arena as experienced by an individual, taking into account their history and physicality

Dialectic-The iterative process of activity between the setting and the arena

Gap Closing-The process of moving the problem state and the solution closer until an answer is achieved

Environment as Calculating device-think about picking out papayas

Problem Becomes Procedure- Think about cottage cheese

now get dinner

Project 1 Review

Separate data from analysis

Explain how the behavior is part of cognition

Pay particular attention to HOW the artifact are used
WHAT the structure of the object is that enables, supports or conflicts with the behavior
Back up your claims with your observations

Don’t use “Subject”
Try using "participant", "Interviewee", or just make up a name we don't care

Separation of Data and Analysis

I thought I would contribute to the sadly underutilized blog that Jared so graciously created for us.

This is a continuation/elaboration to the question I asked today in discussion regarding the separation of data from analysis for Project 2. A big point was made in lecture not to assign meaning or purpose to the data from the informant, just because it's what we think is going on or what we want to be going on and fits nicely with our theories. This I understand. It gets complicated, when I myself become the informant as well as the cognitive enthnographer. How can I analyze my own actions without bias? How can I keep that data, what I am doing and what I know I am doing and that I know exactly what I am doing, and the analysis, how a cognitive ethnographer interprets (now me) what I am doing, separate? There is going to be no boundary.

Or maybe there doesn't have to be one. Perhaps I can use my detailed description of my actions as the pure data, as if I was an outsider describing a video of myself. Then, in a separate paragraph and part of the essay, I can analyze my actions from a cognitive ethnographer's POV, AS IF I, the cognitive ethnographer, conducted an intense, detailed inteverview with myself, the person partaking in the activity. In this sense, I can use all my knowledge about what I was doing and analyze myself using ideas and terms from this course. But then I can't truly separate data and analysis. I can't, as a cognitive ethnographer, assign meaning to something that I am doing if I, as the informant, know that is the wrong meaning. Or can I?

Maybe just separating data and analysis into two different paragraphs in my essay is good enough. Does the format I'm suggesting make sense and will it work for this project?

Notes from Discussion 1/9

For todays discussion I thought we generated an excellent list of factors that could be considered when you ask questions for project 1. I think this will help you to more effectively examine how humans make sense of time.

Here is the list of the main cognitive activities associated with the use of the clock that we generated:

Reason about function
Representation of the numbers
Knowledge for the individual units for calculations
Estimating distance
Mapping the distance to a physical world
Mapping physical world to a distance
Perception in relation to amount of light

Here are the question that we generated for project 1:

Questions:
How differences in day and night are represented
How do we establish the meaning of the numbers to real world events
What is the starting point
How do you read the clock
What are the measurements of time
Where do you position the clock
Why are the numbers situated in certain places
What are the practices of looking at the clock
How differences in day and night are represented
How do we establish the meaning of the numbers to real world events
What is the starting point
How do you read the clock
What are the measurements of time
Where do you position the clock

I really appreciate all the input from everyone today. It seems like we have a really good group for our discussion and I expect that we're going to have a great quarter.

please feel free to add comment here or ask questions

Welcome

Welcome to our class blog. I hope this forum allows us to communicate, clarify, collaborate and ultimately have a successful quarter. I will try to update the blog each week the notes from our discussion and some advice or clarification about upcoming assignments. I hope that this will allow people who don't like speaking in groups to be able to ask questions or voice opinions and concerns as well.