Situated Cognition: On Human Knowledge and Computer Representations (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives) Hardcover – Import, 28 August 1997

Largely due to my modest background regarding the quite substantive content of this book, it was a rather slow read for me. That was also in part due to my need to intermittently revisit salient earlier portions of this quite topically coupled exposition, a need that was well-supported by the author’s in-line cross-references. In all, I believe my efforts were very much rewarded: a stimulating, illuminating, and compelling read, and one that undoubtedly will elicit my future if selective recourse to Clancey’s book.Basically, the book’s eclectic range, perspectival diversity, inherent thematic complexity, and sometimes polemical subject matter themselves present an appreciable challenge for readers, not to mention for the author himself. He has unquestionably handled his part of the challenge exceedingly well, with cogent elaboration, clarification, and integration of problematic topics and disparate theorist/researcher viewpoints.Although this book was copyrighted twenty years ago, I presume it still to be in general quite authoritative. Moreover, I have long adhered to the author’s counsel that “older books can be read and drawn upon for insights” (p. 357). Accordingly, I have now obtained a copy of the author’s sequel, ' Conceptual Coordination: How the Mind Orders Experience in Time '.General attributes that make this book rather more comprehensible and especially valuable include its:• deliberative/non-polemical tone• careful use & clarification of terminology• logical flow & overall cohesion• ample/cogent use of figures, tables & bulletized text• pertinent insertions of internal cross-references• citation & excerpting of excellent/diverse references.For orientation, “cognition is situated...by the way conceptualizing relates to sensorimotor coordination and...by the way conceptualization is...about the agent’s role, place, and values in society ” (pp. 27-28). More particularly, “Situated cognition is a both-and framework; it shows how different views can be reformulated in terms of different causal influences...that depend on each other....(It) is not merely about an agent located in an environment...but also a claim about the internal mechanism that coordinates sensory and motor systems ” (p. 343). In developing these themes, appreciable coverage is also devoted to the related subject of ecological psychology.Throughout the book Clancey distinguishes the received view in cognitive science and artificial intelligence of descriptive cognitive modeling from his ampliative exposition of situated cognition. In particular, he contrasts the former’s linear causality and signal flow/processing stages of mediated perception with an advocated alternative: reciprocal causality and the non-decomposability of the conjoined organism-environment in accomplishing perception. Ultimately, his compelling case for situated cognition with structural coupling fuses the organism and environment in two-way interaction; this concept displaces the facile conventional notion of encoded sensor stimuli information routed through afferent paths. The pivotal notion of structural coupling may be viewed as an adaptively tuneable, multidimensional bandpass filter that fashions a mutual alignment between an organism and its incident environment.The conjoined organism-environment exhibits reciprocal causality, where the requisite bonding is accomplished through aforementioned structural coupling (pp. 88-90). Here, no information is explicitly routed through such a coupling, which is an unequivocal departure from the descriptive cognitive modeling approach. Hence there is no information available for inferential categorization purposes. Instead, structural coupling supports non-inferential, pre-linguistic categorization in a manner similar to organism-environment perceptual transactions (Figure 9.3, p. 211). Such coupling is also employed in conceptualization among coincidentally activated categorizations. To facilitate analytical modeling, structural coupling can be captured precisely via the dialectical expressiveness of both-and logic. Here, Clancey’s exposition and exemplification of both-and logic are especially welcome and satisfying (pp. 227-230).Expanding on the foregoing elements, Clancey systematically describes their utility and aptness with respect to Gerald Edelman’s theory neuronal group selection (TNGS) and its associated robotic investigations (pp. 147-160). Accordingly, Clancey elucidates the role of structural coupling in augmenting and amplifying Edelman’s TNGS architecture, dynamics, and theoretical demonstrations/implications. Here, categorizations reside in corresponding neuronal groups within the brain. Then, Edelman’s classification couple construct realizes a structural coupling between two neuronal groups through reentrant signaling; in turn, the consequent classification yields a categorization (Figure 7.1, p. 149). More complex coupling configurations may subsequently produce even more intricate and expressive cognitive structures, e.g., concepts, sensorimotor sequences, and multilevel coordinations.Clancey also relates situated cognition to the reflective practitioner-work product interactions as articulated by Donald Schon. This coverage conveys an experiential account typical of situated professional practice. The framing of situated cognition with both its representative deployment and its underlying neurophysiological patterns engenders an encompassing appreciation of the nature, aptness, and grounding of the discipline. Of course, many other authorities or projects are introduced where appropriate, as for example the amazing insights and visionary contributions of John Dewey (e.g., a coordinative sensorimotor circuit supplanting the received view of the reflex arc - pp. 92-94).In sum, Clancey’s synthesis/exposition constitutes a richly value-added characterization of situated cognition. In particular, its grounding in both neurophysiology and ecological psychology is of essential import and notable value. Despite my admittedly modest background, I venture to rate this book as a tour de force offering of enduring worth - it has turned out to be exactly what I had vaguely been searching for! Conceptual Coordination: How the Mind Orders Experience in Time

Highly recommended!