Rethinking cognitive tools: from augmentation to mediation

Abstract

When discussing computer tools it is common to say that these artefacts "augment" human cognition by the functionality that has been programmed in them. Augmentation is a powerful idea: the hypothesis is that a person becomes more capable when the functionality of a cognitive tool is added to his or her own cognitive functionality-in augmentation a new, more capable cognitive system emerges. We discuss two general approaches to distribute cognition between humans and artefacts. The first approach the current "augmentation" approach-begins by making a distinction between the individual, who is unaided by any artefacts, and a broader cognitive system comprising the individual and certain objects in his/her environment. This approach, which considers distributed cognition as a structural expansion of unaided cognition, is contrasted with another approach-a mediational approach which from the very beginning focuses on the interaction between the individual and the world. As we demonstrate, this difference is associated with conflicting views on the very nature of distributed cognition.