The Pragmatics of Interaction

this paper we identify one of the key advances that has been made within cognitive science, the change of emphasis from coding accounts to constructivist/inferential accounts of cognition, communication and action. We argue that most H-CI and CSCW research has failed to understand this sea change. We then show how a constructivist/inferential account of cognition communication and action is necessary for an adequate understanding of people interact with each other and with complex technologies. Following Sperber and Wilson (op. cit..), we argue that such an account does not replace a coding account but provides the additional theoretical machinery required for a complete explanation of cognition communication and action. Early students of perception pointed out that most of the activities of human perception involve not simply a bottom-up processing of information provided by the stimuli of perception, but rather a top-down interpretative or constructive process based on a priori cognitive structures. Bruner argued that the key operational mode of human perception was its ability to @go beyond the information given in generating a coherent interpretation of a visual scene. Essentially, perception was a knowledge-driven process which strives for a coherent understanding of reality. As Von Glaserfeld points out (1989) such a similar model is at the heart of Piaget s theory of cognitive development. Simple action schemata are used to structure the world and development proceeds by a process of assimilation and ensuing accommodation of these cognitive structures. 3 September 22, 199