A Model of Mental Effort and Endogenous Estimation Risk

I present a simple model that formalizes Kahneman's (1973) ideas and experimental work on attention limitations. In addition, I extend his framework to account for the interaction between attention and memory deficits. In particular, I propose that individuals optimally allocate their divisible, but limited, attention to estimate parameters of an economic model, by retrieving observations from a stock of memories, by means of a cognition technology. I speculate that the model might help explain several stylized facts that are at odds with an infinite capacity (fully rational) model.

Pass it on: towards a political economy of propensity

The paper argues that the work of Gabriel Tarde on imitation provides a fertile means of understanding how capitalism is forging a new affective technology which conforms to a logic of propensity rather than to means-end reasoning. This it does by drawing together a biological understanding of semiconscious cognition with various practical geometric arts so as to re-stage the world as a series of susceptible situations which can be ridden rather than rigidly controlled. The paper examines the advent of technologies which attend to the variable geometry of so-called animal spirits in the realm of business and then, using Tarde's work as a springboard, considers some alternative means of understanding imitative rays which have less instrumental undertones. The paper is an illustration of the way in which biology and culture have increasingly become intertwined

Causal cognition, force dynamics and early hunting technologies

Abstract: With this contribution we analyze ancient hunting technologies as one way to explore the development of causal cognition in the hominin lineage. Building on earlier work, we separate seven grades of causal thinking. By looking at variations in force dynamics as a central element in causal cognition, we analyze the thinking required for different hunting technologies such as stabbing spears, throwing spears, launching atlatl darts, shooting arrows with a bow, and the use of poisoned arrows. Our interpretation demonstrates that there is an interplay between the extension of human body through technology and expanding our cognitive abilities to reason about causes. It adds content and dimension to the trend of including embodied cognition in evolutionary studies and in the interpretation of the archeological record. Our method could explain variation in technology sets between archaic and modern human groups

Technology Frames: The Art of Perspective and Interpretation in Strategy

In this paper, I bring together the literatures of the economics of innovation, corporate strategy and managerial and organizational cognition to explore how and why companies come to different conclusions and strategies for technology when presented with essentially very similar situations and information. Building on the work of Orlikowski and Gash (1994) on technological frames, I seek to explore the role of the technology frame of key senior managers in defining corporate strategy with respect to technology. To provide an empirical basis for the study, I take the case of the 6 leading US vertically integrated oil companies involved in the exploration and production of petroleum during the period 1984 to 1997. The analysis considers two key salients for the technology frame which are operationalised for the six companies based on their R&D expenditures, patents, publications and contrasted with their operational performance measures. These salients reflect respectively adaptational mapping (whereby signals in the environment prompt adaptation) and formational mapping (whereby experience and path-dependency influence interpretation) within the technology frame. The findings indicate support for the proposed approach to proxying technology frames on the two key points of salience for the upstream petroleum industry, and the paper concludes with a short discussion of future lines of research.technology frames, upstream petroleum, technology strategy, adaptational mapping, formational mapping

Grounding knowledge and normative valuation in agent-based action and scientific commitment

Philosophical investigation in synthetic biology has focused on the knowledge-seeking questions pursued, the kind of engineering techniques used, and on the ethical impact of the products produced. However, little work has been done to investigate the processes by which these epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical forms of inquiry arise in the course of synthetic biology research. An attempt at this work relying on a particular area of synthetic biology will be the aim of this chapter. I focus on the reengineering of metabolic pathways through the manipulation and construction of small DNA-based devices and systems synthetic biology. Rather than focusing on the engineered products or ethical principles that result, I will investigate the processes by which these arise. As such, the attention will be directed to the activities of practitioners, their manipulation of tools, and the use they make of techniques to construct new metabolic devices. Using a science-in-practice approach, I investigate problems at the intersection of science, philosophy of science, and sociology of science. I consider how practitioners within this area of synthetic biology reconfigure biological understanding and ethical categories through active modelling and manipulation of known functional parts, biological pathways for use in the design of microbial machines to solve problems in medicine, technology, and the environment. We might describe this kind of problem-solving as relying on what Helen Longino referred to as “social cognition” or the type of scientific work done within what Hasok Chang calls “systems of practice”. My aim in this chapter will be to investigate the relationship that holds between systems of practice within metabolic engineering research and social cognition. I will attempt to show how knowledge and normative valuation are generated from this particular network of practitioners. In doing so, I suggest that the social nature of scientific inquiry is ineliminable to both knowledge acquisition and ethical evaluations

Identity and affect in design cognition

Much Design Research effort has been afforded to investigating how designers think and what they do; often in the form of protocol analysis. These investigations have mainly focused on how designers influence material culture however, little attention has been paid to another line of enquiry; that is how the act of designing affects the individual undertaking the work and the role of social psychological phenomena e.g. attitudes, evaluations, emotions, impressions, motivations and social behaviour - on design activity. This interplay of affect between design activity and a designer’s social psychological behaviour is a complex two way process that warrants further investigation. Our research agenda focuses on the individual undertaking design activity and asks how does designing affect the designer and their behaviour? In this paper two issues are addressed: 1. The immediate effects of design activity on the designer 2. The role of self-concept in design cognition These two issues are investigated through a series of experiments carried out under semi-controlled conditions using several forms of observation and novel self-concept inventories. This paper draws attention to the need to consider self-concept and affect in design cognition and introduces the idea of design identity, which is uniquely different to the concept of design experience often quoted in the literature. This is an area of the ongoing research agenda within the Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University, UK. Keywords: Design Activity; Design Behaviour; Psychology of Design; Self-Concept; Immediate Effects</p

Capturing information technology use by senior secondary school students in New Zealand

The Ultrafast broadband rollout in New Zealand places a priority on delivering broadband to schools. The expectation that “Ultrafast broadband is transforming education” is moving schools to embed ICT in the classroom, placing pressure on limited budgets to further leverage already substantial investments. School principals are asking, what are the benefits of this investment? This research in progress explores how students use digital technology, using critical realism and activity theory over multiple case studies, and finds that the technology available is diverse, multiple and malleable. A three-dimensional conceptualisation of these devices is proposed: as a tool for cognition, metacognition and distributed cognition. An example of collaborative work is used to elaborate how classes use multiple technologies along each of these dimensions, and how fast broadband supports these experiences. This study contributes by providing a guide to assess the potential use and usefulness of information technology in the classroom

How do I enhance motivation to learn and higher order cognition among students of Science through the use of a virtual learning environment?

In this paper I explore the capacity of Moodle to enhance the teaching and learning of Leaving Certificate Biology within a small urban secondary school. I simultaneously investigate the potential of the technology to enhance higher-order cognition and motivation to learn among the students. Adopting an action research approach has led me to a much deeper understanding of the tacit knowledge that inspires my work. The chief stimulus to my research was the realisation that my explicit practice was in negation of my implicit values. I have come to know my practice and over time changed it. I can now see evidence of a greater congruence between my espoused core educational values and my explicit actions. Cycle one of the research focuses on setting up and introducing Moodle to a group of Biology students. The second cycle shows the feasibility of a community of enquiry through a discussion-forum. A process of social validation runs concurrently, in which interested individuals substantiate my claim that my core educational values are being translated into my practice. Throughout I learn to strike a balance between co-learner and guide. Consequently the students come to act as co-authors in moving away from authoritarian dissemination of facts. This facilitates a community of inquiry, revolving around the collaborative negotiation of meaning. There is clear evidence of increased higher-order cognition and motivation to learn among the participants within this virtual community

Cognition and the Web

Empirical research related to the Web has typically focused on its impact to social relationships and wider society; however, the cognitive impact of the Web is also an increasing focus of scientific interest and research attention. In this paper, I attempt to provide an overview of what I see as the important issues in the debate regarding the relationship between human cognition and the Web. I argue that the Web is potentially poised to transform our cognitive and epistemic profiles, but that in order to understand the nature of this influence we need to countenance a position that factors in the available scientific evidence, the changing nature of our interaction with the Web, and the possibility that many of our everyday cognitive achievements rely on complex webs of social and technological scaffolding. I review the literature relating to the cognitive effects of current Web technology, and I attempt to anticipate the cognitive impact of next-generation technologies, such as Web-based augmented reality systems and the transition to data-centric modes of information representation. I suggest that additional work is required to more fully understand the cognitive impact of both current and future Web technologies, and I identify some of the issues for future scientific work in this area. Given that recent scientific effort around the Web has coalesced into a new scientific discipline, namely that of Web Science, I suggest that many of the issues related to cognition and the Web could form part of the emerging Web Science research agenda