Depictive expressions of thought predate written language by thousands of years. They have evolved in communities through a kind of informal user testing that has refined them. Analyzing common visual communications reveals consistencies that illuminate how people think as well as guide design; the process can be brought into the laboratory and accelerated. Like language, visual communications abstract and schematize; unlike language, they use properties of the page (e.g., proximity and place: center, horizontal/up–down, vertical/left–right) and the marks on it (e.g., (...) dots, lines, arrows, boxes, blobs, likenesses, symbols) to convey meanings. The visual expressions of these meanings (e.g., individual, category, order, relation, correspondence, continuum, hierarchy) have analogs in language, gesture, and especially in the patterns that are created when people design the world around them, arranging things into piles and rows and hierarchies and arrays, spatial-abstraction-action interconnections termed spractions. The designed world is a diagram. (shrink)

This paper presents a new perspective of the impact of collaboration technology on the degrees of engagement and specific interaction zones in interactive workspaces. The study is at the intersection of the design of physical work spaces, i.e., bricks, rich electronic content such as video, audio, sketching, CAD, i.e., bits, and new ways people behave in communicative events, i.e., interaction. The study presents: (1) an innovative multi-modal collaboration technology, called RECALL (patented by Stanford University), that supports the seamless, real-time capture (...) of concept generation during project brainstorming and project review sessions, (2) the deployment of RECALL in an interactive workspace that supports real project review sessions, called FISHBOWL, and (3) the observations of the impact of RECALL and the interactive workspace on degrees of engagement and interaction zones as it is deployed in the specific FISHBOWL sessions. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to strengthen links between cognitive brain research and formal logic. The work covers three fundamental sorts of logical inferences: reasoning in the propositional calculus, i.e. inferences with the conditional “if...then”, reasoning in the predicate calculus, i.e. inferences based on quantifiers such as “all”, “some”, “none”, and reasoning with n-place relations. Studies with brain-damaged patients and neuroimaging experiments indicate that such logical inferences are implemented in overlapping but different bilateral cortical networks, including parts of the (...) fronto-temporal cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the visual cortices. I argue that these findings show that we do not use a single deterministic strategy for solving logical reasoning problems. This account resolves many disputes about how humans reason logically and why we sometimes deviate from the norms of formal logic. (shrink)

Although deductive reasoning is a closed system, one's beliefs about the world can influence validity judgements. To understand the associated functional neuroanatomy of this belief-bias we studied 14 volunteers using event-related fMRI, as they performed reasoning tasks under neutral, facilitatory and inhibitory belief conditions. We found evidence for the engagement of a left temporal lobe system during belief-based reasoning and a bilateral parietal lobe system during belief-neutral reasoning. Activation of right lateral prefrontal cortex was evident when subjects inhibited a prepotent (...) response associated with belief-bias and correctly completed a logical task, a finding consistent with its putative role in cognitive monitoring. By contrast, when logical reasoning was overcome by belief-bias, there was engagement of ventral medial prefrontal cortex, a region implicated in affective processing. This latter involvement suggests that belief-bias effects in reasoning may be mediated through an influence of emotional processes on reasoning. (shrink)

A decision delay can translate into significant financial and business losses. One way to accelerate the decision process is through improved communication among the stakeholders engaged in the project. Capturing, transferring, managing, and reusing data, information, and knowledge in the context it is generated can lead to higher productivity, effective communication, reduced number of requests for clarification, and a shorter time-to-market cycle. We formalized the concept of reflection in interaction during communicative events among multiple project stakeholders. This concept extends Donald (...) Schon’s theory of reflection in action of a single practitioner. We model the observed reflection in interaction with a prototype system called TalkingPaperTM. It is a ubiquitous client-server collaborative environment that facilitates knowledge capture, sharing, and reuse during synchronous and asynchronous communicative events. TalkingPaperTM bridges the paper and digital worlds. It transforms the analog verbal discours, annotated paper corporate documents, and the paper and pencil sketches into indexed and synchronized digital content that is published on and streamed on-demand from a TalkingPaperTM web server. The TalkingPaperTM sessions can be accessed by all stakeholders for rapid knowledge sharing and decision-making. (shrink)

Research on innovation often highlights analogies from sources outside the current problem domain as a major source of novel concepts; however, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. We analyzed the temporal interplay between far analogy use and creative concept generation in a professional design team's brainstorming conversations, investigating the hypothesis that far analogies lead directly to very novel concepts via large steps in conceptual spaces . Surprisingly, we found that concepts were more similar to their preceding concepts (...) after far analogy use compared to baseline situations . Yet far analogies increased the team's concept generation rate compared to baseline conditions. Overall, these results challenge the view that far analogies primarily lead to novel concepts via jumps in conceptual spaces and suggest alternative pathways from far analogies to novel concepts. (shrink)

This individual differences study examined the relationships between three executive functions (updating, shifting, and inhibition), measured as latent variables, and performance on two cognitively demanding subtests of the Adult Decision Making Competence battery: Applying Decision Rules and Consistency in Risk Perception. Structural equation modelling showed that executive functions contribute differentially to performance in these two tasks, with Applying Decision Rules being mainly related to inhibition and Consistency in Risk Perception mainly associated to shifting. The results suggest that the successful application (...) of decision rules requires the capacity to selectively focus attention and inhibit irrelevant (or no more relevant) stimuli. They also suggest that consistency in risk perception depends on the ability to shift between judgement contexts. (shrink)

Recent data show that human children (up to 8 years old) perform poorly when required to innovate tools. Our tool-rich culture may be more reliant on social learning and more limited by domain-general constraints such as ill-structured problem solving than otherwise thought.

Prior to the twentieth century, theories of knowledge were inherently perceptual. Since then, developments in logic, statis- tics, and programming languages have inspired amodal theories that rest on principles fundamentally different from those underlying perception. In addition, perceptual approaches have become widely viewed as untenable because they are assumed to implement record- ing systems, not conceptual systems. A perceptual theory of knowledge is developed here in the context of current cognitive science and neuroscience. During perceptual experience, association areas in the (...) brain capture bottom-up patterns of activation in sensory-motor areas. Later, in a top-down manner, association areas partially reactivate sensory-motor areas to implement perceptual symbols. The stor- age and reactivation of perceptual symbols operates at the level of perceptual components – not at the level of holistic perceptual expe- riences. Through the use of selective attention, schematic representations of perceptual components are extracted from experience and stored in memory (e.g., individual memories of green, purr, hot). As memories of the same component become organized around a com- mon frame, they implement a simulator that produces limitless simulations of the component (e.g., simulations of purr). Not only do such simulators develop for aspects of sensory experience, they also develop for aspects of proprioception (e.g., lift, run) and introspec- tion (e.g., compare, memory, happy, hungry). Once established, these simulators implement a basic conceptual system that represents types, supports categorization, and produces categorical inferences. These simulators further support productivity, propositions, and ab- stract concepts, thereby implementing a fully functional conceptual system. Productivity results from integrating simulators combinato- rially and recursively to produce complex simulations. Propositions result from binding simulators to perceived individuals to represent type-token relations. Abstract concepts are grounded in complex simulations of combined physical and introspective events. Thus, a per- ceptual theory of knowledge can implement a fully functional conceptual system while avoiding problems associated with amodal sym- bol systems. Implications for cognition, neuroscience, evolution, development, and artificial intelligence are explored. (shrink)

This article discusses the epistemology of design as a process, arguing specifically that sketching and drawing are essential modes of thinking and reasoning. It demonstrates that the commonly accepted notion of a spontaneous and intuitive vision in the mind’s eye—encapsulated in the cliché of the napkin sketch—obscures the exploratory inferences that are made while scribbling with a pencil on a sheet of paper. The draughtsperson, along with their work tools, modes of notation, specific techniques, and epistemic strategies as well as (...) the resulting design artefacts form milieus of reflection that facilitate complex processes of exploration. Case studies, including the genesis of the Mini by Alec Issigonis, samples of work by Alvar Aalto, and a reinterpretation of student sketches from a classical design study by Gabriela Goldschmidt, serve to illustrate how drawing inferences with pencil and paper occurs. (shrink)

During the idea generation phase of the design process, designers often search for inspirations in external sources of information, such as photographs, written descriptions and physical examples. These sources have potential to enhance creative performance. However, they sometimes become too attached to particular ideas of external precedents or various examples. It refers to fixation which is identified as inadequate adoption of features from existing examples. Influence of the existing examples on creativity and fixation, specifically textual examples, have been discussed in (...) this research. -/- For the nature of design, researchers highlighted the restructuring process of design problem by new sources because the capabilities and boundaries of design problems are not defined very well. Further, the design problem is not knowable at any specific point. Design knowledge identifies itself by its ambiguity. Many models have been developed for design process. The various numbers of divided phases of the models can be seen as having two main areas: (1) idea generation phase (or “ideation”); (2) later phase for details. Idea generation plays an important role in the design process. It is the area of new and creative configurations on design. -/- Creativity is an integral part of the design process. Designers purpose to achieve original ideas to demonstrate their ability and unique designs. External stimuli or inspirational inputs play important roles to increase creativity. They can support moments of stimulation. Associations between information from memory and external stimuli can contribute to the creation of new meanings. Designers are widely influenced by their surroundings in daily lives. However, each stimulus may not be the part of a more creative result Even if designers want to utilize stimulus as an inspirational source, somehow it may fixate their mind to its surface features and they may lose potential creative contributions of the source. It is called fixation. There is much research that shows significant evidence of conformity effects across the design problems. -/- The given examples to designers may cause higher-level fixation and lower-level creativity or vice versa. Fixation may occur when example solutions are introduced, on the other hand, the designers may create more original ideas as well. There is a need for research to find ways to avoid fixation traps or reduce their adverse impact. Thus, this research focuses on variables of the given example. -/- The following claims show some research areas remained unclear: (1) Some researchers investigated textual examples as - one of the modalities of representation - but did not focus on forms of textual examples. (2) Much research has been conducted with examples which are selected by the researcher. Nevertheless, designers can also choose or produce their own stimuli. There is not much research on this possibility. In this context, my research focuses on the following two variables through two studies (Study 1 and 2): (1) forms of textual examples; (2) self-construction of textual examples. First, most of the studies in the literature have focused on visual presentation and there is not enough research on the content and form of the text. The study of textual examples has still not been awarded enough attention especially as various forms of text. Some forms of text are as follows: keyword, paragraph, sentence, poem. These observations lead me to the following research question: Which forms of textual example increase creativity and reduce fixation more? (Study 1). -/- Second, most of the studies regarding textual examples have used prose or keywords. The poems have been ignored. However, poems imply more meaning with fewer words. The structure of the poems enables more creative narratives than structure of prose. Because unusual organization of words stimulates the readers and draws their attention. This activates the creative performance of the reader. The surrealist poem is the extreme form of this activation. It is random assemblies with headlines and sentences which is cut from newspapers. Thus, novel meaning networks are formed. The method of creating a surrealist poem offers a new way of getting inspiration. It is termed as self-construction practice by this research. Through this method, designers create their own example from the given one. Reconstruction of the text may increase the creative process and prevent fixations from the given text. This suggestion led me to the following research question: If the designers write their own poem instead of a given poem (as a self-construction practice), can they internalize the textual example? In addition, does it produce more creative and less fixated designs? (Study 2). Two experimental studies were planned to partially answer the research questions, in which novice students of architecture were asked to solve two different design problems, under different conditions. All of the experimental sessions were conducted in a design education studio. The participants produced sketches and added a written explanation relating to their designs. Fluency, flexibility and repetition of key attributes were calculated by the researcher. -/- Originality, practicality, understanding of the task and quality were ranked by judges. Study 1 shows us tendencies of using various textual forms. Distinctions of keywords and of poems have appeared among them. This emphasizes the role of keyword and poem in the design process as inspirational sources and provides many tips for their potential use. The keyword also leads to a high degree of fixation. However, a low degree of fixation is observed when poems are presented as inspirational examples. -/- In Study 2, the self-constructed poem seems to support develop more successful design ideas from many perspectives. In the context of the surrealist poem, writing and reading the surrealist poem trigger the designers’ imagination. At first, the words and lines of poems seem unrelated to each other and designers try to relate them and solve the puzzle of meaning. Hence, novel meaning networks are formed. It indicates that surrealist poems are able to activate the creative performance of the designers. Writing their own surrealist poems ,as a self-construction practice, motivated designers to begin to produce by having fun. Motivated designers have stimulated themselves to produce creative ideas. In other words, the self-construction process may be added to the design process models in the earlier part of the idea generation phase which is called as pre-design and warm-up phase. This earlier phase makes designers highly motivated and they internalized the given examples. -/- Following the conclusions, several implications and recommendations for the design process and education are discussed. (shrink)

In recent years, the growing scientific interest in design has led to great advances in our knowledge of authentic design processes. However, as these findings go counter to the existing theories in both design research and cognitive science, they pose a serious challenge for both disciplines: there is a wide gap between what the existing theories predict and what designers actually do. At the same time, there is a growing movement of research on authentic cognitive activities, which has among other (...) things documented the central roles of action and the physical environment in these activities, something that existing cognitive theories have overlooked and cannot properly account for. This creates an explanatory gap analogous to the one found in design. This book aims to fill both of these gaps with a cognitive theory of how designers work. It revolves around the roles of physical activities and working materials in design, and the theory explains at length how these have functions that are essential to cognition. The two threads of design and cognition run in parallel throughout the book: the cognitive theory is applied to design, but is also consistently related to cognition in general. The result is, in back cover text parlance, a 'provocative' account of cognition and human performance, which should be of interest to cognitive scientists as well as to design researchers. (shrink)

The computational paradigm, which has dominated psychology and artificial intelligence since the cognitive revolution, has been a source of intense debate. Recently, several cognitive scientists have argued against this paradigm, not by objecting to computation, but rather by objecting to the notion of representation. Our analysis of these objections reveals that it is not the notion of representation per se that is causing the problem, but rather specific properties of representations as they are used in various psychological theories. Our analysis (...) suggests that all theorists accept the idea that cognitive processing involves internal information-carrying states that mediate cognitive processing. These mediating states are a superordinate category of representations. We discuss five properties that can be added to mediating states and examine their importance in various cognitive models. Finally, three methodological lessons are drawn from our analysis and discussion. (shrink)

This paper examines how the role of sketching in design process has been disseminated previously through a review of prior perspectives into the field. We identify that the studies of design sketching has been dominated by two perspectives: studies into what is known as ‘visual thinking’, which examines the designers reflective conversation with the sketch, and a second perspective on sketching as way of ‘visual communication’ with others in the design process. We raise the question of whether it is reasonable (...) to combine the two different roles of sketching to form a more intertwined relationship - seeing the two as sides of the same coin. Based on the terminology of Olofsson & Sjöflen four functions are identified as being representative for the different roles sketching can take in the design process: investigative, explorative, communicative, and persuasive. We appropriate these categories into a tension field, reflecting how the role of the same sketch may change over the course of time in the design project, based upon the type of knowledge required to gain from the sketch at a given time. (shrink)