oh boi oh boi
new theories, or should I say theories new to me, gets me excited!
I've been researching Norman's (2003), and Hutchins' (1996) similar theories pertaining to the designing of COGNITIVE ARTIFACTS and how they provide support to our Executive Functions and the relationship EF's have with Working memory and eventually Long Term Memory.
The implications are astounding ... I didn't know that in my creating things like to-do-lists, shopping lists, maps, calendars, and as Norman says "a string tied to your finger as a reminder" were my designing cognitive artifacts to use as tools to record items from working memory into a plan to address daily tasks.
The rub lies in actually remembering what the artifacts are for, e.g. a detailed shopping list is of little value if you walk out and leave it lying on the kitchen table, as much as tying a string around my finger with forgetting what it symbolized to remember.
To clarify, an 'artifact' is an object such as a tool or piece of jewelry that was made by a human being. In context a cognitive artifact is defined as "an artificial device designed to maintain, display, or operate on information in order to serve as a representational function." (Norman, 1991)
That is, a man-made object with the purpose to enhance or facilitate the PERCEPTION of cognition of the human mind. For example, Time Perception is not the same type of perception as our perception of vision or sound. Time Perception is dependent on emotion, attention, and event markers. [relative to PTSD and time perception later ,)]
Deeper issues can arise in the spatial storage and spatial central executive function rather than the phonological storage and central executive function ... could this be in our primary Ni function for an INFJ stack?
In everyday life a poor working memory, (data holding tank basically), affect how individuals with high functioning Ni are capable of dealing with complex tasks such as planning their goals, but that temporal planning has been shown to be associated with and also
engage other cognitive abilities including a deeper understanding of Time, and Time/Space Perception? (Schubotz, Friederici, & von Cramon, 2000)
So then how does time perception coexist with Planning if planning is considered a separate executive function in most agreed upon theories?
Planning is the "Looking Ahead" function. (Again, in relation to Ni, is predictability for an INFJ stack tied into this function as well?) For my purpose to stay in the link between temporal injury or underdeveloped executive functioning, aka temporal brain issues and EF's, do they or not have underlying issues with inhibition and resolving goal/subgoal conflict and this reduces their ability to plan? Which brings up the concept of whether the person fears designing the plan or fears that the plan will fail and what is the logic in building a failed plan?
I've been saying for years and years that individuals do not plan to fail it is that they fail to plan.
Cognitive Function Supports
attention
calculation
emotion
experience of self
perception of self (where we see ourselves in the phonological scheme of perceived reality)
Working memory
recording
long term memory
(Gillesphe, Best & O'Neil, 2011)
planning ability
time perception and management
In my rudimentary conclusion, with need for more facts, Cognitive Artifacts do not simply amplify cognition and thus increase Executive Function, instead it changes the nature of the task performed by the person. Cognitive artifacts is a process of organizing functional skills, (Ni-Fe
) into functional systems instead of single set skills.
The object itself is not the center point of the cognitive artifact, and neither is the goal. Rather it is the process that produces cognitive effect, (not to be confused with cognitive affect which are feelings regardingthe task), and these cognitive effects are the focus. Cognitive artifacts can also facilitate higher cognition.
For example, mapping facilitates how a maze of data is built through the organizing of information that otherwise would not have been perceived and perhaps lost in the hallways of working memory. Graphs and Tables are examples where perception of a complex data set has been organized and presented in a readable way by a group to agree upon whereas if presented in an individual way it may facilitate the group to interpret the data in several different perceptual ways.
Creating successful cognitive artifacts is not easily done ... problems will still arise even with the simplest tasks...that shopping list you worked so hard to detail is of little value on the kitchen table as you search every pocket for it while standing in the market, here's where working memory may fail while your list items are wandering its halls
For now, understanding that the more complex the task is that the artifact is suppose to perform, the higher the demands are on the person designing it. I.e. Apps for our phone are considered cognitive artifacts.
