ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter, I discussed the proposition that since media utilize different symbol systems, they vary as to the mental operations they require. My next proposition is that media can cultivate the mastery of mental skills through the differential effects of the symbol systems they use. This, if supported, should be in keeping with Edward Sapir’s claim that the product—thought—grows with the tools and media we use (Bruner, Olver, and Greenfield, 1966). In light of what has been said thus far, there should be little doubt that increased experience with coded messages improves one’s skill in extracting information from such messages. However, one’s experience with media’s symbol systems may encompass more than the improved mastery of skills that serve better information extraction from the media. Eisner (1976, p. 6) expects from media and art more than the mere cultivation of “media literacy”: “When in a culture certain expressive forms prevail, people are covertly encouraged to do their thinking in these modes of expression.” Tikomirov (1974), analyzing the possible cognitive effects of computers, hypothesized that computers serve as a new tool for mental activity and “thereby transform thought.” Although not yet emprically tested, such a hypothesis is of great interest, as it pertains to the cultivation of relatively general and widely transferable mental abilities.
