The Basic Premise
Michael Cole asserts in his presentation speech that the culture has a deep impact on cognition and therefore, is a significant factor determining the development and strength of cognitive abilities of humankind. As cognitive science has been receiving great attention from psychologists, anthropologists and other scientists researching cognition, it is vitally important that this field is reviewed and analyzed critically. In order to get a sound understanding and a holistic view of what effects cognition and how it matures and grows, it is crucial that the affect of cultural and social influence intertwined with the use of artifacts be taken into account and carefully examined. Cole maintains creation of different models or experimenting with systems helps in comprehending the theories of cognition. He and his students design systems or activities which represent doctrine of cultural-historical psychology. This way he is able to test his theories by determining the capability of the designed systems to develop the forms of transformation which are pivotal to the fundamental processes. According to him, his approach differs from that of other researchers in that he concentrates on how the concept of using artifacts as aid and developing them come to the human mind and how can these artifacts assist in enhancing reasoning ability. He terms his experiment as a research on the bearing of culture on human thinking mediated through artifacts and believes that cognitive artifacts impact the cognition of the individual. Nonetheless, the general perception is that thought is an autonomous human activity and that artifacts are external elements influencing human thinking rather than participating in it or comprising it.
Theories of Social Scientists
The primary issue which perplexes social scientists and makes them take different experimental approaches is that there is no known latent relationship between thought and artifact. One view is that artifacts are not part of the cognitive system but influence it. Another belief is that artifacts make the tasks simpler. However, the principal split between task and cognition remains uninfluenced. Cole states that cognition is a process which takes place in the minds of the individuals and the fundamental stimulus-response paradigm remains unchanged. He presented and discussed the theories of preceding and contemporary psychologists and anthropologists. He started off by explaining Howard Gardener’s philosophy but did not base the crux of the speech on it. The reason for this was that Gardener did not consider cognition in cultural context. However, he compared the ideologies of different social scientists particularly Ed Hutchins and Don. Both these researchers of cognitive have worked together. Therefore, they think along the same lines. Nonetheless, Ed Hutchins’ philosophy and approach to cognition in cultural context is can be said to be a variant of Cole’s own theory.
The Main Issue
The socio-cultural impact on cognitive thinking is a subject which has been addressed by many social scientists in the 20th century. However, not much focus has yet been given to this area of concern. Cole placed an emphasis on promoting and incorporating culture and cognition as an academic and scientific field of study. There is a need to discover the real impact of culture on cognition and how it has helped elevate human imagination and assisted human thinking by supplementing it with artifacts such as artificial intelligence. Until Cole’s speech was published, there was not a mutual consensus on how culture intertwined with artifacts influence cognition and the human ability to perceive, sense and understand matters.
Works Cited
Cole, Michael. “Culture and Cognitive Science.” Talk Presented to the Cognitive Science Program, 1997, U.C. Santa Barbara. Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, U.C. San Diego. 2007. Web.