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Essential Learning Theories & Frameworks in IDT: Distributed Cognition

Distributed Cognition

Classified as a sociocognitive theory, this theory posits that cognitive processes are not confined to an individual but are distributed across objects, individuals, artifacts, and tools within the environment.

Developed by Edwin Hutchins.

Distributed Cognition: Resources

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. https://doi.org/10.1145/353485.353487

Hutchins, E. (2001). Cognition, distributed. In International Encyclopedia of Social & Behavioral Sciences (Vol. 3, pp. 2068–2072). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/01636-3

Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild (1st ed.). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/1881.001.0001

Hutchins, E. (2010). Cognitive ecology. Topics in Cognitive Science, 2(4), 705–715. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-8765.2010.01089.x

Anderson, M., Wheeler, M., & Sprevak, M. (2022). Distributed cognition and the humanities. In Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture (pp. 1–17). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474438155-003

Chen, L., Huang, S., & Ding, B. Y. (2021). Willingness and evaluation model of college students’ online learning behavior based on distributed cognition. Scientific Programming, 2021, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6386455

Hillesund, T. (2023). Scholarly reading (and writing) and the power of impact factors: A study of distributed cognition and intellectual habits. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1165700–1165700. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1165700

McClung, J. S., Placì, S., Bangerter, A., Clément, F., & Bshary, R. (2017). The language of cooperation: Shared intentionality drives variation in helping as a function of group membership. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1863), 20171682.

Olson, A. P. J., Durning, S. J., Fernandez Branson, C., Sick, B., Lane, K. P., & Rencic, J. J. (2020). Teamwork in clinical reasoning – cooperative or parallel play? Diagnosis, 7(3), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2020-0020

Pimmer, C., Pachler, N., & Genewein, U. (2013). Reframing clinical workplace learning using the theory of distributed cognition. Academic Medicine, 88(9), 1239–1245. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e31829eec0a

Queiros, L. M., Silva, C. J. P., Gomes, A. S., Moreira, F., Uden, L., Rodríguez-González, S., Sanchez, G., & Liberona, D. (2019). Context analysis of teachers’ learning design practice through activity theory, distributed cognition, and situated cognition. In Learning Technology for Education Challenges (Vol. 1011, pp. 247–259). Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20798-4_22

Xu, L., & Clarke, D. (2012). Student difficulties in learning density: A distributed cognition perspective. Research in Science Education (Australasian Science Education Research Association), 42(4), 769–789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-011-9232-7

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