Thinking by doing and doing by thinking : a taxonomy of actions

Type of Publication: Contribution to a conference
URI (citable link): http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-283861
Author: Neth, Hansjörg; Müller, Thomas
Year of publication: 2008
Conference: CogSci, Jul 23, 2008 - Jul 26, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA
Published in: 30th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society : CogSci 2008 ; July 23 - 26, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA / Cognitive Science Society (ed.). - 2. - Red Hook, NY : Curran, 2008. - pp. 993-998. - ISBN 978-1-60560-542-5
Summary:
Taking a lead from existing typologies of actions in the philosophical and cognitive science literatures, we present a novel taxonomy of actions. To promote a notion of epistemic agency we distinguish theoretical (mental state-directed) from practical (world-directed) actions. Our basic structural unit is that of a teleological frame, which spans one specific goal of an agent. Relative to a given teleological frame, actions can be classified as focal (directed towards the end) or ancillary (directed towards a means). The framework is applied to further illuminate previous attempts to distinguish between pragmatic and epistemic actions (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994). Physical actions that substitute or support mental processes are reclassified as practical ancillary actions that are strategically contingent alternatives to theoretical actions.
Subject (DDC): 150 Psychology
Keywords: Action theory, basic actions, practical vs. theoretical actions, epistemic agency
Link to License: Terms of use

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NETH, Hansjörg, Thomas MÜLLER, 2008. Thinking by doing and doing by thinking : a taxonomy of actions. CogSci. Washington, D.C., USA, Jul 23, 2008 - Jul 26, 2008. In: COGNITIVE SCIENCE SOCIETY, , ed.. 30th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society : CogSci 2008 ; July 23 - 26, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA. 2. Red Hook, NY:Curran, pp. 993-998. ISBN 978-1-60560-542-5

@inproceedings{Neth2008Think-28386, title={Thinking by doing and doing by thinking : a taxonomy of actions}, year={2008}, isbn={978-1-60560-542-5}, address={Red Hook, NY}, publisher={Curran}, booktitle={30th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society : CogSci 2008 ; July 23 - 26, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA}, pages={993--998}, editor={Cognitive Science Society}, author={Neth, Hansjörg and Müller, Thomas} }

Müller, Thomas Müller, Thomas 2014-07-23T07:55:17Z Thinking by doing and doing by thinking : a taxonomy of actions Neth, Hansjörg terms-of-use 2008 30th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society : CogSci 2008; July 23 - 26, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA ; Vol. 2 / Cognitive Science Society. - Red Hook, NY : Curran, 2008. - S. 993-998. - ISBN 978-1-60560-542-5 eng Neth, Hansjörg Taking a lead from existing typologies of actions in the philosophical and cognitive science literatures, we present a novel taxonomy of actions. To promote a notion of epistemic agency we distinguish theoretical (mental state-directed) from practical (world-directed) actions. Our basic structural unit is that of a teleological frame, which spans one specific goal of an agent. Relative to a given teleological frame, actions can be classified as focal (directed towards the end) or ancillary (directed towards a means). The framework is applied to further illuminate previous attempts to distinguish between pragmatic and epistemic actions (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994). Physical actions that substitute or support mental processes are reclassified as practical ancillary actions that are strategically contingent alternatives to theoretical actions. 2014-07-23T07:55:17Z

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