Description
A cognitive psychologist and an industrial design engineer draw on their own experiences of cognition in the context of everyday life and work to explore how people attempt to find practical solutions for complex situations. The book approaches these issues by considering higher-order relations between humans and their ecologies such as satisfying, specifying, and affording. This approach is consistent with recent shifts in the worlds of technology and product design from the creation of physical objects to the creation of experiences.
Featuring a wealth of bespoke illustrations throughout, A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition bridges the gap between controlled laboratory experiments and real-world experience, by questioning the metaphysical foundations of cognitive science and suggesting alternative directions to provide better insights for design and engineering.
An essential read for all students of Ecological Psychology or Cognitive Systems Design, this book takes the reader on a journey beyond the conventional dichotomy of mind and matter to explore what really matters.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Praise for this book
PART 1
The Metaphysics of Meaning
1 The Reality of Experience
2 Putting Things Into Perspective
3 Can’t You Read the Signs?
4 What Matters?
PART 2
The Dynamics of Circles
5 Abduction
6 Thinking in Circles
7 Controlling
8 Observing
PART 3
The Pragmatics of Problem Solving
9 Muddling Through
10 Heuristics: Biases or Smart Instruments?
11 Deep Structure?
12 The Heart of the Matter?
PART 4
Broadening the Perspective
13 Dynamics Matter
14 Social Dynamics
15 Putting Experience to Work
16 Closing the Circle
Index
Contents
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