Addendum to previous post

In the previous article, the researchers attempted to objectively measure the cognitive structuring of new knowledge using a questionnaire, despite admitting previously that this can best be done by getting their students to actively perform a task that demonstrated their learning.

This was an example of using a tool in place of the real thing. At the time of writing, I knew of an example from the design of airline cockpits, but I couldn't find the reference so I didn't include it - how annoying! Since submitting that assessment, I found the reference.

In the paper 'Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research', (Hollan, J., Hutchins, E., & Kirsh, D., 2000) the authors describe a study performed by Hutchins and Palen (1997). This study looked at how the flight engineer interacts with the fuel gauge on his instrument panel. They write "He interacts with the panel both as if it is the fuel system it depicts, and, at other times, as if it is just a representation of the fuel system..." In this case, the tool is design well enough that it is as good as what it is depicting: looking at the fuel gauge is as accurate as physically going into the fuel tanks and measuring the amount of fuel.

 In the case of the researchers mentioned in my previous post, the tool they designed was likely not as good as what it depicted: the questionnaire they used to objectively measure structuring allowed for subjectivity by the respondents. Consequently, the results gained from this questionnaire were not as strong as they could have been.

Refs:
Hollan, J., Hutchins, E., & Kirsh, D., 2000. Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. 7(2) 174-196. (2000)

Hutchins, E., and Palen, L., 1997. Constructing Meaning from Space, Gesture and Speech. In Tools and reasoning: Essays in Situated Cognition, L. B. Resneck, R. Saljo, C. Pontecorvo, and B. Burge, Eds. Springer-Verlag, Vienna, Austria.