ABSTRACT

A cognitive psychologist and an industrial design engineer draw on their own experiences of cognition in the context of everyday life and work to explore how people attempt to find practical solutions for complex situations. The book approaches these issues by considering higher-order relations between humans and their ecologies such as satisfying, specifying, and affording. This approach is consistent with recent shifts in the worlds of technology and product design from the creation of physical objects to the creation of experiences.

Featuring a wealth of bespoke illustrations throughout, A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition bridges the gap between controlled laboratory experiments and real-world experience, by questioning the metaphysical foundations of cognitive science and suggesting alternative directions to provide better insights for design and engineering.

An essential read for all students of Ecological Psychology or Cognitive Systems Design, this book takes the reader on a journey beyond the conventional dichotomy of mind and matter to explore what really matters.

part 1|55 pages

The Metaphysics of Meaning

chapter 1|14 pages

The Reality of Experience

chapter 2|10 pages

Putting things into Perspective

chapter 3|14 pages

Can’t you Read the Signs?

chapter 4|16 pages

What Matters?

part 2|69 pages

The Dynamics of Circles

chapter 5|22 pages

Abduction

chapter 6|14 pages

Thinking in Circles

chapter 7|16 pages

Controlling

chapter 8|16 pages

Observing

part 3|100 pages

The Pragmatics of Problem Solving

chapter 9|22 pages

Muddling Through

chapter 10|30 pages

Heuristics

Biases or Smart Instruments?

chapter 11|28 pages

Deep Structure?

chapter 12|19 pages

The Heart of the Matter?

part 4|91 pages

Broadening the Perspective

chapter 13|20 pages

Dynamics Matter

chapter 14|26 pages

Social Dynamics

chapter 15|30 pages

Putting Experience to Work

chapter 16|14 pages

Closing the Circle