In this paper, we argue that several recent ‘wide’ perspectives on cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive, and distributed) are only partially relevant to the study of cognition. While these wide accounts override traditional methodological individualism, the study of cognition has already progressed beyond these proposed perspectives towards building integrated explanations of the mechanisms involved, including not only internal submechanisms but also interactions with others, groups, cognitive artifacts, and their environment. The claim is substantiated with reference to recent developments in the (...) study of “mindreading” and debates on emotions. We claim that the current practice in cognitive (neuro)science has undergone, in effect, a silent mechanistic revolution, and has turned from initial binary oppositions and abstract proposals towards the integration of wide perspectives with the rest of the cognitive (neuro)sciences. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to discuss the concept of distributed cognition in the context of classic questions posed by mainstream cognitive science. We support our remarks by appealing to empirical evidence from the fields of cognitive science and ethnography. Particular attention is paid to the structure and functioning of a cognitive system, as well as its external representations. We analyze the problem of how far we can push the study of human cognition without taking into account what is (...) underneath an individual’s skin. In light of our discussion, a distinction between DCog and the extended mind becomes important. (shrink)

In these reflections, we want to prove a thesis whereby normativity of rules and norms may be linked to the domain of artefacts which we understand as social things. We claim that some norms and rules are situated in human socio-material ecosystems especially when it comes to the role played by affordances. The thesis advanced in this article will also enable us to indicate one of the potential interpretations of Wittgenstein’s ‘forms of life’ concept, demonstrating that some solutions suggested by (...) the author of Philosophical Investigations are still relevant today. We will relate the issue of the normativity of artefacts to the problem of rule recognition which Wittgenstein also raises in some of his later studies. We will demonstrate that the problem of normativity recognition is linked to relational properties of objects, that is affordances; structured nature of the world of human communities; and the ability to recognise affordances related to the ability to create predictions about future states of affairs. The analyses presented herein will show that it is possible to link the perspectives of cognitive ecology, design practice and philosophical analyses focused on the problem of normativity. (shrink)

The article presents the interdisciplinary approach of Edwin Hutchins, analyzing his conception of distributed cognition as probably the most important and lasting contribution of anthropology to the repertoire of theoretical tools in cognitive science. At the same time, this conception resulted in one of the most interesting relationships between cognitive science and social sciences. These relationships are made possible by the assumptions of Hutchins’ conception, which directly contribute to interdisciplinary collaboration. His account of distributed cognition has enormous potential, allowing the (...) integration of research into cognitive and social processes. This is also because it breaks with methodological individualism. (shrink)

Studies on music in the area of cognitive sciences – quite varied despite their short history – meet with scepticism. The author of this introduction, presenting some spectacular examples of research on musical improvisation, tries to demonstrate that they enrich rather than reduce our understanding of this phenomenon.

David Hume; Enactivism; Cognitive Science; Phenomenology; Philosophy of mind.

The organization of the cyclical open-air festival Night of Culture in Lublin in cooperation with a research group works on two levels. The first is the level of an offer of experiences and reflections for the audience of the Night of Culture. The second is the level of research – social and other – on the design, implementation and effects of the first level. On both levels, a phenomenon plays an important role that can be described from the perspective of (...) cognitive ecology with the term "affordance." A systematic analysis of this can lead to the third level: a meta-analysis of the street festival under discussion. I will not undertake such a complex task in this text, which is partly a review and then a "report", but I will make a brief reconstruction of the conceptual and design work of the Affordances Activity, in which I participated significantly and regularly, as well as will consider the stage of the production of designed objects and their subsequent operation during this year's (2023) edition of the Night of Culture, in which a group of volunteers (students of the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University) played an important role. Remarks of the aforementioned meta-research dimension of the project constitute a wide margin of the article. (shrink)

The authors' commentary on Bruno Latour's "Technology is society made durable" provides the reader with an opportunity to become acquainted with actor-network theory.

Philosophical hermeneutics, understood as the theory of nterpretation, investigates some questions that are also asked in the cognitive sciences. The nature of human understanding, the way that we gain and organize knowledge, the role played by language and memory in these considerations, the relations between conscious and unconscious knowledge, and how we understand other persons, are all good examples of issues that form the intersection of hermeneutics and the cognitive sciences. Although hermeneutics is most often contrasted with the natural sciences, (...) there are some clear ways in which hermeneutics can contribute to the cognitive sciences and vice versa. (shrink)

Artykuł ten jest recenzją książki Mechanizmy predykcyjne i ich normatywność, skoncentrowaną na trzech zakresach tej publikacji. Pierwszy zakres obejmuje kontekst wydawniczy, czyli kwestię zapotrzebowania na taką pracę, biorąc pod uwagę język publikacji, jej dostępność itd. Drugi zakres dotyczy akademickiego potencjału tej książki jako obszernego opracowania koncepcji przetwarzania predykcyjnego. Trzeci zakres natomiast wiąże się z główną ambicją Autora książki i jednocześnie najbardziej wymagającym wątkiem tej pracy, jako studium problemu normatywności w ujęciu koncepcji przetwarzania predykcyjnego i wyjaśniania (neo)mechanistycznego.

An overview of: "Why Red Doesn't Sound Like a Bell. Understanding the feel of consciousness".

The purpose of this article is to present Andrzej Lewicki’s account of cognition as orientation in the environment, comparing it with James J. Gibson’s ecological psychology. To do so, we conduct a comparative analysis of the former’s theory of indicators and the latter’s theory of affordance. The theoretical frame for our study is cognitive ecology, a research tradition characteristic of various studies of cognition, including contemporary ones. This allows us to show that, despite differences in the backgrounds and methodologies of (...) these researchers, Lewicki can be considered one of the pioneers of contemporary ecological trends in cognitive science, although his influence has not been as widespread as that of Gibson. Our analysis proceeds in several steps. We begin with an overview of the biographies, backgrounds, and interests of the two researchers, as well as a brief introduction to cognitive ecology and related terms. Next, we discuss action/value indicators theory and affordances theory. We then compare Lewicki’s and Gibson’s approaches in more detail in terms of their use of similar research heuristics. The article ends with conclusions that go beyond historical issues. (shrink)

An interview with Róża Puzynowska by Witold Wachowski.

Introduction to a special issue published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the premiere of 'The Rite of Spring' by Igor Stravinsky. The articles cover the field of musicology as well as history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, ethnography and cognitive science of music.

Artykuł stanowi przegląd recenzyjny książki Victora Kaptelinina Affordances and Design, w której omówiono koncepcję afordancji w interakcji człowiek–komputer. Adresowany do polskiego czytelnika, umożliwia mu zorientowanie się w podstawowych relacjach i różnicach między filozofią i psychologią ekologiczną a teoriami projektowania, głównie na przykładzie pionierskiej propozycji Jamesa Gibsona i koncepcji Donalda Normana, w pewnym odniesieniu do szerszego kontekstu.

Cognitive ecology as a research tradition in cognitive science: The article presents cognitive ecology as a research tradition in cognitive science, under which studies on embodied cognition and various forms of situated cognition are conducted. At the same time, the basic heuristic of cognitive ecology and its relationship to methodological individualism are identified. The paper includes the history of the concept of “cognitive ecology”, historical approaches preceding this research tradition, as well as an outline of contemporary research related to it. (...) At the end of the article, the role of the ecological heuristic is summarized. (shrink)

Review of the book Między humanistyką a przyrodoznawstwem. Od podstaw psychologii do eksperymentalnej psychologii klinicznej [Between humanities and natural science. From basics of psychology to experimental clinical psychology] including a collection of works by Andrzej Lewicki, as well as an introduction to them.

Badania kognitywistyczne nad muzyką – dość różnorodne mimo krótkiej historii – spotykają się ze sceptycyzmem. Autor niniejszego wprowadzenia, prezentując kilka spektakularnych przykładów badań nad improwizacją muzyczną, próbuje pokazać, że mają one charakter wzbogacający, a nie redukujący naszą wiedzę o tym fenomenie.

Studies on music in the area of cognitive sciences – quite varied despite their short history – meet with scepticism. The author of this introduction, presenting some spectacular examples of research on musical improvisation, tries to demonstrate that they enrich rather than reduce our understanding of this phenomenon.

W artykule rozważa się, na ile normatywność jest usytuowana w ludzkich ekosystemach biologicznych i kulturowych, z naciskiem na rolę artefaktów. Podstawowe pytanie dotyczy tego, czy afordancje – różnie konceptualizowane – mogą mieć charakter normatywny. Tekst krótko wprowadza do ekologii poznawczej oraz psychologii ekologicznej, po czym przedstawia możliwość zastosowania klasycznej teorii afordancji do normatywności wraz z krytyką, a następnie – próbę modyfikacji tego ujęcia przez odwołanie się do afordancji społecznych i kulturowych. Przegląd ten i płynące z niego wnioski uzupełniono oryginalną propozycją (...) wzbogacenia badań nad normatywnością afordancji o analizę ich struktur oraz roli projektowania interakcji człowiek–artefakt. (shrink)

My basic research question – well beyond the scope of this book – is what the relationships between cognitive processes and cultural structures and practices are. Here, I get closer to answering this question in the following five steps: (1) I present cognitive ecology as a research tradition in cognitive science, characteristic of the approaches to wide cognition, i.e., embodied, embedded, extended, ecological psychology, enactivism, etc. (2) I distinguish two dimensions of the distributed cognition approach: as a theoretical framework and (...) as a task model, focusing on the former. This distinction has so far eluded cognitive science theorists, and this approach has not been sufficiently analysed as a potential theory of cognitive science in general and the basis for its integration, being reduced to the dimension of the task model. (3) I discuss approaches in research on interactions in distributed cognitive systems, focusing more on the notion of external representations, and mostly on the notion of affordance. When assessing the potential of the latter, I look for consistency in what is crucial for understanding the interactions, between ecological psychology and design research. (4) I analyze the up to now underestimated potential of the distributed cognition approach in the dispute over the bounds of cognitive processes. (5) I identify and assess the analogies between the distributed cognition approach and the neo-mechanistic model of explanation that has become popular in cognitive science, and indicate possible benefits for the integration of the latter. As one can see, I am not trying to fully answer the question about the relationship between cognition and culture, but rather assess to what extent cognitive science in its current form is capable of. (shrink)

Artykuł ten ma celu zaakcentowanie i uzupełnienie wybranych wątków książki Witolda Wachowskiego Poznanie rozproszone. Od heurystyk do mechanizmów (2022). W tekście uwzględniono aktualną sytuację, w jakiej znajdują się nauki poznawcze, z perspektywy koncepcji poznania rozproszonego i związanych z nią badań. Podczas gdy książka koncentruje się bardziej na strukturze tej koncepcji i jej osadzeniu w tradycjach badawczych, w artykule nacisk kładzie się na przedstawienie wciąż niedocenianego potencjału poznania rozproszonego jako uniwersalnego rozumienia poznania, faktycznych konsekwencji badawczych tej perspektywy, przy jednoczesnym doprecyzowaniu relacji (...) z mechanicyzmem, jak i potencjału integracyjnego – wszystko to w świetle aktualnej kondycji kognitywistyki. ----------------------------------------- Zgłoszono: 31/12/2023. Zrecenzowano: 10/04/2024. Zaakceptowano do publikacji: 13/05/2024. (shrink)

The paper is a short introduction to the article 'Affordances for robots' by Thomas E. Horton, Arpan Chakraborty and Robert St. Amant, in the context of applications of ecological psychology.