Most previous research on human cognition has focused on problem-solving, and has confined its investigations to the laboratory. As a result, it has been difficult to account for complex mental processes and their place in culture and history. In this startling - indeed, disco in forting - study, Jean Lave moves the analysis of one particular form of cognitive activity, - arithmetic problem-solving - out of the laboratory into the domain of everyday life. In so doing, she shows how mathematics in the 'real world', like all thinking, is shaped by the dynamic encounter between the culturally endowed mind and its total context, a subtle interaction that shapes 1) Both tile human subject and the world within which it acts. The study is focused on mundane daily, activities, such as grocery shopping for 'best buys' in the supermarket, dieting, and so on. Innovative in its method, fascinating in its findings, the research is above all significant in its theoretical contributions. Have offers a cogent critique of conventional cognitive theory, turning for an alternative to recent social theory, and weaving a compelling synthesis from elements of culture theory, theories of practice, and Marxist discourse. The result is a new way of understanding human thought processes, a vision of cognition as the dialectic between persons-acting, and the settings in which their activity is constituted. The book will appeal to anthropologists, for its novel theory of the relation of cognition to culture and context; to cognitive scientists and educational theorists; and to the 'plain folks' who form its subject, and who will recognize themselves in it, a rare accomplishment in the modern social sciences.

An accessible introduction to the principles of computational and mathematical modeling in psychology and cognitive science This practical and readable work provides students and researchers, who are new to cognitive modeling, with the background and core knowledge they need to interpret published reports, and develop and apply models of their own. The book is structured to help readers understand the logic of individual component techniques and their relationships to each other.

Edwin Hutchins combines his background as an anthropologist and an open ocean racing sailor and navigator in this account of how anthropological methods can be combined with cognitive theory to produce a new reading of cognitive science. His theoretical insights are grounded in an extended analysis of ship navigation—its computational basis, its historical roots, its social organization, and the details of its implementation in actual practice aboard large ships. The result is an unusual interdisciplinary approach to cognition in culturally constituted activities outside the laboratory—"in the wild." Hutchins examines a set of phenomena that have fallen in the cracks between the established disciplines of psychology and anthropology, bringing to light a new set of relationships between culture and cognition. The standard view is that culture affects the cognition of individuals. Hutchins argues instead that cultural activity systems have cognitive properties of their own that are different from the cognitive properties of the individuals who participate in them. Each action for bringing a large naval vessel into port, for example, is informed by culture: the navigation team can be seen as a cognitive and computational system. Introducing Navy life and work on the bridge, Hutchins makes a clear distinction between the cognitive properties of an individual and the cognitive properties of a system. In striking contrast to the usual laboratory tasks of research in cognitive science, he applies the principal metaphor of cognitive science—cognition as computation (adopting David Marr's paradigm)—to the navigation task. After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that are larger than an individual. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales. Hutchins's conclusion illustrates the costs of ignoring the cultural nature of cognition, pointing to the ways in which contemporary cognitive science can be transformed by new meanings and interpretations. A Bradford Book

"This book applies the principles of research in the study of human cognition to games, with chapters representing 15 different disciplines in the learning sciences (psychology, serious game design, educational technology, applied linguistics, instructional design, eLearning, computer engineering, educational psychology, cognitive science, digital media, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, computer science, anthropology, education)"--Provided by publisher.

Unique and stimulating, this book addresses metacognition in both the neglected area of teaching and the more well-established area of learning. It addresses domain-general and domain-specific aspects of metacognition, including applications to the particular subjects of reading, speaking, mathematics, and science. This collection spans theory, research and practice related to metacognition in education at all school levels, from elementary through university.

Cognition: Theory and Practice provides the link between theory, experimental findings, and ordinary human activity, showing students how the field of cognitive psychology relates to their everyday lives. Engagingly written, the book captivates students by explaining common experiences such as why answering a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as closing your eyes for a half-second, but talking with your passenger for a minute can be perfectly safe. Research coverage draws heavily on the rapidly accumulating discoveries of human neuroscience and brain imaging.

This book examines how and what teachers think in their practice of language teaching.

This volume is based on papers presented at the 30th Carnegie Mellon Symposium on Cognition. This particular symposium was conceived in reference to the 1974 symposium entitled Cognition and Instruction. In the 25 years since that symposium, reciprocal relationships have been forged between psychology and education, research and practice, and laboratory and classroom learning contexts. Synergistic advances in theories, empirical findings, and instructional practice have been facilitated by the establishment of new interdisciplinary journals, teacher education courses, funding initiatives, and research institutes. So, with all of this activity, where is the field of cognition and instruction? How much progress has been made in 25 years? What remains to be done? This volume proposes and illustrates some exciting and challenging answers to these questions. Chapters in this volume describe advances and challenges in four areas, including development and instruction, teachers and instructional strategies, tools for learning from instruction, and social contexts of instruction and learning. Detailed analyses of tasks, subjects' knowledge and processes, and the changes in performance over time have led to new understanding of learners' representations, their use of multiple strategies, and the important role of metacognitive processes. New methods for assessing and tracking the development and elaboration of knowledge structures and processing strategies have yielded new conceptualizations of the process of change. Detailed cognitive analysis of expert teachers, as well as a direct focus on enhancing teachers' cognitive models of learners and use of effective instructional strategies, are other areas that have seen tremendous growth and refinement in the past 25 years. Similarly, the strong impact of curriculum materials and activities based on a thorough cognitive analysis of the task has been extended to the use of technological tools for learning, such as intelligent tutors and complex computer based instructional interfaces. Both the shift to conducting a significant portion of the cognition and instruction research in real classrooms and the increased collaboration between academics and educators have brought the role of the social context to center stage.

The study of teacher cognition - what teachers think, know and believe - and of its relationship to teachers' classroom practices has become a key theme in the field of language teaching and teacher education. This new in paperback volume provides a timely discussion of the research which now exists on language teacher cognition. The first part of the book considers what is known about the cognitions of pre-service and practicing teachers, and focuses specifically on teachers' cognitions in teaching grammar, reader and writing. The second part of the book evaluates a range of research methods which have been used in the study of language teacher cognition and provides a framework for continuing research in this fascinating field. This comprehensive yet accessible account will be relevant to researchers, teacher educators and curriculum managers working in language education contexts.

This book presents a wide range of methodological perspectives on researching what teachers think and do in language teaching. It contains chapters by the editors and a leading teacher cognition researcher that highlight key themes, as well as eight case studies by new researchers, recounting their experience of designing and using data collection tools.