Erindringens natur og historie

This paper first proposes a classification of individuals' knowledge which is an extension of Tulving's episodic-semantic distinction. Recollected knowledge is episodic, Le. it is both situational (it refers to a specific situation in space and time) and personal (it refersto a specific person, viz., the subject himself). Second, the paper rejects the common assumption that episodic knowledge - and, by implication, recollection - are ontogenetically as well phylogenetically primary forms of knowing. On the contrary, it is claimed thatboth the coding and the recollection of experiences as being situational and personal episodes presuppose schematic knowledge in relation to which the place, time, and subject of the episodes can be specified. Finally, an account of the historical development of spatial, temporal, and subject (or se!O schemas is sketched, based on the assumed requirements of material and social processes of subsistence in different historical epochs. Schemas are generally seen as developing from procedural to declarative and from socially centered to socially decentered forms.I artiklens første del karakteriseres den viden, vi erindrer, som situationel (dvs. visende hen til en specifik situation) og personlig (dvs. visende hen til at subjektet selv har oplevet situationen). Denne såkaldte episodiske viden afgrænses endvidere fra almengjorte vidensformer (ikke-situationel og/eller ikke-personlig viden). I artiklens anden del afvises den almindelige antagelse, at tilegnelse af episodisk viden er en primitiv, onto- og fylogenetisk oprindelig erkendelsesform. Der argumenteres tværtimod for, at erindring af episoder som situations- og personspecifikke forudsætter, at subjektet i forvejen råder over en betydelig almen viden i form af skemaer, som episodernes sted, tid og subjekt kan bestemmes i forhold til. Endelig skitseres den historiske udvikling af spatiale og temporale skemaer samt subjekt-skemaer (dvs. subjektets selv-begreb) med udgangspunkt i de krav, som livsvirksomhedens materielle og sociale processer må antages at have stillet i historiens løb. Skemaernes udvikling betragtessom forløbende fra operationelle til deklarative skemaer og videre fra centrerede tildecentrerede skemaer

Kognitionens logikker: Handling, sprog og datamater

For at belyse datamaters mulige betydning for individuel menneskelig erkendelse stilles spørgsmålet, om denne erkendelse er logisk i samme forstand som forarbejdningen af information i en datamat, dvs formal-logisk. Det søges vist at tankeprocesserne ikke følger formallogiske slutningsregler, og at den begrebsmæssige viden, som er genstand for tænkningen, ikke er struktureret i logiske klasser. Tænkningens og begrebernes "logik" synes derimod at være virksomhedernes - de reele handlingers - logik. Handlingerne bestemmer hvilke træk ved virkelighedens genstande, der begrebsliggøres; i  dette univers af operationel (handlingsmæssig) viden er logiske regler unødvendige idet handlingernes må/rationalitet er indbygget i selve vidensstrukturen. Imidlertid kan brugen af symbolske udtryksmidler føre til selektiv eksplicitering og bevidstgørelse af den operationelleviden. De formelle sprog, der anvendes til at programmere og styre datamater, synes særlig velegnede til at eksplicitere procedure-viden, dvs viden om hvordan handlinger og tankeprocesser udføres. Forudsætningerne for at høste en sådan erkendelsesgevinst ved at bruge datamater i undervisningen er sandsynligvis, at eleverne lærer selv at udtrykke sig i et passende programmeringssprog, og at de i forvejen har operationel viden om de processer, de prøver at programmere.In this paper, the possible influence of computers on human cognition is discussed. It is asked whether cognition is logical in the same sense as information processing in computers, i. e., formal logic. Evidence is cited to show that processes of thinking do not follow rules of formal logic, and that conceptual knowledge, which is the object of thinking, is not organized in logical classes. On the contrary, the "logic" of thought appears to be logic of activity - of real-world action. Our acts (operations) determine which properties of the world are conceptualized. In this universe of operational knowledge, logical rules are unnecessary because the knowledge is itself strructured to support acitivty, intemal as well as external. However, the use of symbolic media of ex pression results in selective explication of operational knowledge, potentially making it conscious. The formal languages of computer programming and control seem particularly powerful media for explication procedural knowledge, i. e., knowledge about how acts and thought processes are performed. Preconditions for achieving this gain in explicit knowledge are presumably that students Iearn to express themselves in a suitable programming language and that they possess previous operational knowledge of the processes they attempt to program

Kognitionsforskning i Danmark

Nærværende notat er et oplæg til et særligt arbejdsudvalg ( FTU-udvalget) under Det Humanistiske Forskningsråd, som overvejer at gøre kognitionsforskning til særligt prioriteret forskningsområde. Notatet, der er udarbejdet af de to forfattere i en ad hoc arbejdsgruppe med deltagelse af Henning Boje Andersen, Risø, og Peter Bøgh Andersen, Århus Universitet, er endnu ikke færdigbehandlet i forskningsrådet, hvor drøftelsen iøvrigt nødvendigvis må udvides fra vores humanistiske udgangspunkt til også at omfatte de naturvidenskabelige og tekniske discipliner, som er de nødvendige samarbejdspartnere i dette grænseoverskridendeområde. I notatet introduceres det forskningsområde, som internationalt benævnes Cognitive Science, og som her i landet foreslås navngivet Kognitionsforskning; en afgrænsning af området og en præcisering af dets indhold forsøges, og rammerne for en dansk forskningsindsats på dette område skitseres - med udgangspunkt i de humanistiske fag, men i samarbejde med de naturvidenskabelige og tekniske discipliner.This paper has been prepared by a working group for the Danish Research Council for the Humanities as material for the council's future work in this area. In the paper is introduced the research field called cognitive science, which we propose should be translated to the Danish as »kognitionsforskning« (cognitive research). An attempt is made to define the characteristics and the content of this field, and the organisation of a national research program (in which the disciplines of the natural and technical sciences will be the partners of the humanities) is discussed

Late Onset Retinoblastoma Presenting with Vitreous Haemorrhage

Our work describes the management of young patients who presents with vitreous haemorrhage. It is important to note that the causes differ significantly from adults with vitreous haemorrhage

Occupational Pattern and Income Inequality in A Sichuan Village

This article is based on a stay in Xin Cun village in Sichuan province during most of the month of March 1988. The participants of the field work were organized in four groups, dealing with agriculture, village industry, family Peter Fenger, Steen Folke, Allan Jsrgensen, Peter Milthers and Ole Odgaard and womens issues and organization and decision making. All groups carried out numerous interviews with village leaders and ordinary villagers, using formal questionnaires as well as informal checklists. All interviews were undertaken without accompanying officials, and no questionnaires were subject to official approval. Important knowledge was acquired when accomodated in the private homes of villagers, who patiently answered our innumerable questions. We have chosen to concentrate on the occupation and income situation, as we succeeded in obtaining detailed quantitative data on these issues for each and every household in the village. We are aware of the question of reliability. The data material is not without lacunae and inconsistencies, and some of these will be discussed in this presentation. However, we have no reason to believe that this detailed statistical material, obtained from the village authorities, should not be authentic and, generally speaking, correct. The interviews we conducted with numerous families both confirmed the overall validity and revealed some minor discrepancies