Analysing an Interactive Problem-Solving Task Through the Lens of Double Stimulation

Abstract

Problem-solving activities have been studied from a diversity of epistemological perspectives. In problem-solving activities, the initial tensions of a problematic situation led to a cognitive dissonance between conflicting motives and instruments to reach the activity goal. We analyze problem-solving in the continuation of Sannino and Laitinen’s (2015) approach to the analysis of a decision-forming apparatus. The originality of this study is in consideration of the materialistic nature of double stimulation that appears during the activity of the CreaCube problem-solving task. This activity engages the participant in solving tasks with interactive robotic instruments. To solve a task, the subject is required to build interactive robotic modules into a specific configuration which will cause the artifact to move from an initial position to a predetermined final position. The conflict of stimuli in the CreaCube is strong and observable because of the tangibility of the artifact, which is manipulated by the participant into different configurations with the goal of solving the task. We discuss double stimulation in relation to the artifactual interactive affordances of educational robotics.