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{{Short description|Psychologic theory}}
{{Lead too long|date=March 2025}}
'''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".<ref name = "Rogers_1994">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rogers Y, Ellis J | title = Distributed cognition: an alternative framework for analysing and explaining collaborative working. | journal = Journal of Information Technology | date = June 1994 | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 119–28 | url = http://www.dourish.com/classes/ics234bs03/14-RogersEllis-DistCog.pdf }}</ref> "DCog" is a specific approach to distributed cognition (distinct from other meanings)<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s13164-013-0131-x |issn=1878-5158 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 | vauthors = Michaelian K, Sutton J |title=Distributed Cognition and Memory Research: History and Current Directions |journal=Review of Philosophy and Psychology |date=2013-02-20 |hdl=11693/37950 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> which takes a computational perspective towards goal-based activity systems.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Perry M |title=Some simple definitions in Distributed Cognition (DCog) |url=http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~cssrmjp/homefiles/home.html|access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>▼
'''Distributed cognition''' is an approach to [[cognitive science]] research that was developed by cognitive anthropologist [[Edwin Hutchins]] during the 1990s.<ref name="Cognition in the wild">{{cite book | vauthors = Hutchins E |title=Cognition in the wild |date=1995 |publisher=MIT Press |___location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-262-58146-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CGIaNc3F1MgC}}</ref>
From cognitive ethnography, Hutchins argues that mental representations, which classical cognitive science held are within the individual brain, are actually distributed in sociocultural systems that constitute the tools to think and perceive the world. Thus, a native of the Caroline Islands can perceive the sky and organize his perceptions of the constellations typical of his culture (the groupings of stars are different than in the traditional constellations of the West) and use the position of the stars in the sky as a map to orient himself in space while sailing overnight in a canoe.<ref name="Cognition in the wild"/>
According to Hutchins, cognition involves not only the brain but also external artifacts, work teams made up of several people, and cultural systems for interpreting reality (mythical, scientific, or otherwise).
Distributed cognition theory is part of the interdisciplinary field of [[embodied cognitive science]], also called [[embodied cognition]].
Hutchins' distributed cognition theory influenced philosopher Andy Clark, who shortly after proposed his own version of the theory, calling it "extended cognition" (see, for example, the paper ''[[The Extended Mind]]'').
Hutchins' distributed cognition theory explains mental processes 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".<ref name = "Rogers_1994">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rogers Y, Ellis J | title = Distributed cognition: an alternative framework for analysing and explaining collaborative working. | journal = Journal of Information Technology | date = June 1994 | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 119–28 | doi = 10.1177/026839629400900203 | s2cid = 219981758 | url = http://www.dourish.com/classes/ics234bs03/14-RogersEllis-DistCog.pdf }}</ref>
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▲Using insights from [[sociology]], [[cognitive science]], and the psychology of [[Vygotsky]] (cf. [[cultural-historical psychology]]) it emphasizes the ways that cognition is off-loaded into the environment through social and technological means. It is a framework for studying cognition rather than a type of cognition. This framework involves the coordination between individuals, artifacts and the environment.
According to Zhang & Norman (1994),<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1207/s15516709cog1801_3|title = Representations in Distributed Cognitive Tasks| journal=Cognitive Science| volume=18| pages=87–122|year = 1994| vauthors = Zhang J, Norman DA | doi-access=free}}</ref> the distributed cognition approach has three key components:
# [[Embodied cognition|Embodiment]] of information that is embedded in representations of interaction
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DCog studies the ways that memories, facts, or knowledge is embedded in the objects, individuals, and tools in our environment. DCog is a useful approach for designing the technologically mediated social aspects of cognition by putting emphasis on the individual and his/her environment, and the media channels with which people interact, either in order to communicate with each other, or socially coordinate to perform complex tasks. 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. These representations can be either in the [[mental space]] of the participants or external representations available in the environment.
These interactions can be categorized into three distinct types of processes:<ref name = "Hollan_2000">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hollan J, Hutchins E, Kirsh D | title = Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research. | date = June 2000 | url = https://philpapers.org/archive/DAVDCT.pdf | publisher = ACM Press | ___location = New York | journal = ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | pages = 174–96 | doi = 10.1145/353485.353487 | s2cid = 1490533 }}</ref>
# Cognitive processes may be distributed across the members of a social group.
# Cognitive processes may be distributed in the sense that the operation of the cognitive system involves coordination between internal and external (material or environmental) structure.
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[[John Milton Roberts]] thought that [[social organization]] could be seen as cognition through a [[community]] {{Harv|Roberts|1964}}. He described the cognitive aspects of a society by looking at the present information and how it moves through the people in the society.
[[Daniel L. Schwartz]] (1978) proposed a distribution of cognition through culture and the distribution of beliefs across the members of a society.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}
In 1998, Mark Perry from [[Brunel University London]] explored the problems and the benefits brought by distributed cognition to "understanding the organisation of information within its contexts." He considered that distributed cognition draws from the [[Information processing (psychology)|information processing]] metaphor of cognitive science where a [[system]] is considered in terms of its inputs and outputs and tasks are decomposed into a [[problem space]].<ref name = "Perry_1998">{{cite conference | vauthors =
In
Later, John Sutton (2006)<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1075/pc.14.2.05sut| volume = 14| issue = 2| pages = 235–247| vauthors = Sutton J | title = Distributed cognition: Domains and dimensions| journal = Pragmatics & Cognition| date = January 2006 }}</ref> defined five appropriate domains of investigation for research in Dcog:
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# Embodied capacities and skills.
# Internalized cognitive artifacts.
==Theory==
In ontogenesis, the first act of the mental representation distribution succeeds in the mother-child dyad that constitutes in the child the tools to think and perceive the world. Based on evidence in hyperscanning research{{refn|<ref>Liu, J., Zhang, R., Xie, E. et al. (2023). "Shared intentionality modulates interpersonal neural synchronization at the establishment of communication system." ''Commun Biol'' 6, 832 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05197-z</ref><ref>Painter, D.R., Kim, J.J., Renton, A.I., Mattingley, J.B. (2021). "Joint control of visually guided actions involves concordant increases in behavioural and neural coupling." ''Commun Biol.'' 2021; 4: 816.</ref><ref>Hu, Y., Pan, Y., Shi, X., Cai, Q., Li, X., Cheng, X. (2018). "Inter-brain synchrony and cooperation context in interactive decision making." ''Biol Psychol.'' 2018; 133: 54-62.</ref><ref>Fishburn, F.A., Murty, V.P., Hlutkowsky, C.O., MacGillivray, C.E., Bemis, L.M., Murphy, M.E., et al. (2018). "Putting our heads together: Interpersonal neural synchronization as a biological mechanism for shared intentionality." ''Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci.'' 2018; 13: 841-849.</ref><ref>Szymanski, C., Pesquita, A., Brennan, A.A., Perdikis, D., Enns, J.T., Brick, T.R., et al. (2017). "Teams on the same wavelength perform better: Inter-brain phase synchronization constitutes a neural substrate for social facilitation." ''Neuroimage.'' 2017; 152: 425-436.</ref><ref>Astolfi, L., Toppi, J., De Vico Fallani, F., Vecchiato, G., Salinari, S., Mattia, D., et al. (2010). "Neuroelectrical hyperscanning measures simultaneous brain activity in humans." ''Brain Topogr.'' 2010; 23: 243-256.</ref>}} and psychophysiological research studies,{{refn|<ref>Val Danilov I. & Mihailova S. (2023). "Empirical Evidence of Shared Intentionality: Towards Bioengineering Systems Development." ''OBM Neurobiology'' 2023; 7(2): 167; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2302167.
https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-02-167</ref><ref>McClung, J. S., Placì, S., Bangerter, A., Clément, F., & Bshary, R. (2017). "The language of cooperation: shared intentionality drives variation in helping as a function of group membership." ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,'' 284(1863), 20171682. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1682.</ref><ref>Shteynberg, G., & Galinsky, A. D. (2011). "Implicit coordination: Sharing goals with similar others intensifies goal pursuit." ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,'' 47(6), 1291-1294., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.04.012.</ref><ref>Val Danilov, I., Svajyan, A., Mihailova, S. (2023). "A New Computer-Aided Method for Assessing Children's Cognition in Bioengineering Systems for Diagnosing Developmental Delay." ''OBM Neurobiology'' 2023; 7(4): 189; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304189. https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-189</ref><ref>Val Danilov, I., Mihailova, S., Svajyan, A. (2022). "Computerized Assessment of Cognitive Development in Neurotypical and Neurodivergent Children." ''OBM Neurobiology'' 2022;6(3):18; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2203137. https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-06-03-137</ref>}} Research Professor Igor Val Danilov developed the [[Shared intentionality]] notion first introduced by Professor of psychology [[Michael Tomasello]]. According to the hypothesis, the mother distributes the mental representation to the child to teach the young nervous system how to respond to environmental changes correctly.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception">{{Cite journal |last=Val Danilov |first=Igor |date= 2023|title=Low-Frequency Oscillations for Nonlocal Neuronal Coupling in Shared Intentionality Before and After Birth: Toward the Origin of Perception |url=https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-192 |journal=OBM Neurobiology |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304192|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Val Danilov |first=Igor |date= 2023|title=Shared Intentionality Modulation at the Cell Level: Low-Frequency Oscillations for Temporal Coordination in Bioengineering Systems |url=https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-185 |journal=OBM Neurobiology |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304185|doi-access=free }}</ref> Due to this ecological learning, the child grasps the [[perception]] of objects and begins to cognize the environment at the simple reflexes stage of development without communication and abstract thinking. According to Igor Val Danilov, [[Shared intentionality]] switches on cognition in the child beginning from the embryonal period.<ref>Val Danilov, I. (2023). "Theoretical Grounds of Shared Intentionality for Neuroscience in Developing Bioengineering Systems." ''OBM Neurobiology'' 2023; 7(1): 156; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2301156</ref>
==Applications==
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Distributed cognition as a theory of learning, i.e. one in which the development of knowledge is attributed to the system of thinking agents interacting dynamically with artifacts, has been widely applied in the field of [[distance education|distance learning]], especially in relation to [[computer-supported collaborative learning]] (CSCL) and other computer-supported learning tools. For example, in the field of teaching English Composition, Kevin LaGrandeur has argued that CSCL provides a source of common memory, collaborative space, and a cognitive artifact (tool to enhance cognition) that allows students to more easily build effective written compositions via explicit and implicit machine-human collaboration. Distributed cognition illustrates the process of interaction between people and technologies in order to determine how to best represent, store and provide access to digital resources and other artifacts.
[[Collaborative tagging]] on the [[World Wide Web]] is one of the most recent developments in technological support for distributed cognition. Beginning in 2004<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Mika P | chapter = Ontologies are us: A unified model of social networks and semantics. | title = International semantic web conference | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | date = November 2005 | volume = 3729 | pages = 522–536 | publisher = Springer | ___location = Berlin, Heidelberg. | doi = 10.1007/11574620_38 | isbn = 978-3-540-29754-3 }}</ref> and quickly becoming a standard on websites, collaborative tagging allows users to upload or select materials (e.g. pictures, music files, texts, websites) and associate tags with these materials. Tags can be chosen freely, and are similar to keywords. Other users can then browse through tags; a click on a tag connects a user to similarly tagged materials. Tags furthermore enable [[tag cloud]]s, which graphically represent the popularity of tags, demonstrating co-occurrence relations between tags and thus jump from one tag to another.
Dcog has also been used to understand learning and communication in clinical settings and to obtain an integrated view of clinical workplace learning. It has been observed how medical actors use and connect gestural practices, along with visual and haptic structures of their own bodies and of artifacts such as technological instruments and computational devices. In so doing they co-construct complex, multimodal representations that go beyond the mental representations usually studied from a cognitive perspective of learning.<ref name="Pimmer_2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pimmer C, Pachler N, Genewein U | title = Reframing clinical workplace learning using the theory of distributed cognition | journal = Academic Medicine
Distributed cognition can also be seen through cultures and communities. Learning certain habits or following certain traditions is seen as cognition distributed over a group of people. Exploring distributed cognition through community and culture is one way to understand how it may work.
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With the new research that is emerging in this field, the overarching concept of distributed cognition enhances the understanding of interactions between individual human beings and artifacts such as technologies and machines, and complex external environments.{{Nonspecific|date=August 2013}} This concept has been applied to educational research in the areas of [[Distributed Leadership|distributed leadership]] and distributed instruction{{Nonspecific|date=November 2015}}.
Distributed cognition between internal and external processing has also been used to study [[Problem solving|problem-solving]] and [[Bayesian reasoning]]. For example, it has been observed that the use of external manipulable materials such as cards and tokens can help improve performance and reduce [[cognitive bias]] such as the [[Base rate fallacy|base-rate fallacy]], even among adult problem-solvers, as long as they physically interact with these artefacts.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vallée-Tourangeau G, Abadie M, Vallée-Tourangeau F | title = Interactivity fosters Bayesian reasoning without instruction | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology. General | volume = 144 | issue = 3 | pages = 581–603 | date = June 2015 | pmid = 26030173 | doi = 10.1037/a0039161 | url = https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/31315/1/Vallee-Tourangeau-G-31315.pdf }}</ref> It has also been reported that interacting with tokens can reduce the impact of [[mathematical anxiety]] on [[mental calculation]] performance<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vallée-Tourangeau F, Sirota M, Vallée-Tourangeau G | title = Interactivity mitigates the impact of working memory depletion on mental arithmetic performance | journal = Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications| volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 26 | date = December 2016
==Metaphors and examples==
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The process of working out the answer requires not only the perception and thought of two people, it also requires the use of a tool (paper) to extend an individual's memory. So the intelligence is distributed, both between people, and a person and an object.
Another well-researched site for analyzing distributed cognition and applying the discovered insights towards the design of more optimal systems is aviation, where both cockpits and air traffic control environments have been studied as scenes that technologically and socially distribute cognition through systems of externalized representational media. It is not the cognitive performance and expertise of any one single person or machine that is important for the continued operation or the landing and takeoff of airplanes. 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.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hutchins E | title = How a Cockpit Remembers Its Speeds | journal = Cognitive Science | date = July 1995 | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 265–88 | doi = 10.1207/s15516709cog1903_1 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
Hutchins also examined another scene of distributed cognition within the context of navigating a US navy vessel.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Caroll JM |title= HCI Models, Theories, and Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science |date=2003 |publisher=Morgan Kaufmann |___location=San Francisco, Calif. |isbn=978-0-08-049141-7}}</ref> In his book on USS Palau,<ref
In his study on process, representation and
==Quotes==
On [[educational psychology]]:
{{
On [[cognitive science]]:
{{
{{
== See also ==
{{Portal|Philosophy|Psychology}}▼
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
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* [[Distributed language]]
* [[Distributed leadership]]
* [[Education]]
* [[Extended mind]]
{{Col-2}}
* [[Collective consciousness]]
* [[Global brain]]
* [[List of thought processes]]
* [[Language]]
* [[Situated cognition]]
* [[Social cognition]]
* [[Standing on the shoulders of giants]]
{{Col-end}}
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== Further reading ==
▲{{Portal|Philosophy|Psychology}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Brown AL,
*
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Gureckis TM, Goldstone RL | title = Thinking in groups. | journal = Pragmatics & Cognition | date = January 2006 | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 293–311 | doi = 10.1075/pc.14.2.10gur }}
* {{cite conference | vauthors = Heylighen F, Heath M, Van F | author-link1 = Francis Heylighen | title = The Emergence of Distributed Cognition: a conceptual framework. | conference = Proceedings of collective intentionality IV | date = 2004 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249812898 }}
* {{cite web | vauthors = LaGrandeur
* {{cite book | vauthors = Norman DA |title=Things That Make Us Smart : Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine. |date=December 2014 |publisher=Diversion Books |___location=New York |isbn=978-1-62681-537-7}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Pea RD | date = 1993 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m8Yna0cjxAgC&pg=PA47 | chapter = Practices of distributed intelligence and designs for education | veditors = Salomon G | title = Distributed cognitions | pages = 47–87 | ___location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-57423-5 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Perry
* {{cite book | veditors = Resnick L, Levine S, Teasley L |title=Perspectives on socially shared cognition |date=1991 |publisher=American Psychological Association |___location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-55798-376-3 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Roberts JM |author-link=John Milton Roberts |year=1964 |chapter=The Self-Management of Cultures | veditors = Goodenough WH |title=Explorations in Cultural Anthropology |publisher=McGraw Hill |___location=New York}}
* {{cite book | vauthors =
* {{cite book | vauthors = Salomon G |year=1997 |title=Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn =978-0-521-57423-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVFFnwEACAAJ}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Zhang J | title = The nature of external representations in problem solving. | journal = Cognitive Science | date = April 1997 | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 179–217 | doi = 10.1016/S0364-0213(99)80022-6 | doi-access = free }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Zhang J, Patel VL | title = Distributed cognition, representation, and affordance. | journal = Pragmatics & Cognition | date = January 2006 | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 333–41 | doi = 10.1075/pc.14.2.12zha | s2cid = 18296228 }}
{{refend}}
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