Ziemke T. (2005) Cybernetics and embodied cognition: On the construction of realities in organisms and robots. Kybernetes 34(1/2): 118–128. https://cepa.info/784
Ziemke T.
(
2005)
Cybernetics and embodied cognition: On the construction of realities in organisms and robots.
Kybernetes 34(1/2): 118–128.
Fulltext at https://cepa.info/784
Purpose: To point out the relevance of Heinz von Foerster’s work to modern embodied cognitive science and artificial intelligence research. Approach: The paper discusses (a) von Foerster’s contributions to understanding the limitations of the computer metaphor which has long dominated cognitive science, and (b) his theories concerning how reality is constructed in organizationally closed organisms, and what the underlying neural mechanisms are. The latter is exemplified with a simple neuro-robotic model that illustrates the constructive and anticipatory nature of memory. Findings: von Foerster’s work on the integration of a radical constructivist philosophy of knowledge construction with models of the underlying neurophysiological and sensorimotor mechanisms is still highly relevant to the understanding of embodied cognition and robotic models thereof. Value: This paper identifies conceptual contributions that von Foerster’s constructivist cybernetics can make to cognitive science’s still limited understanding of the embodiment of cognition and “representation.” Relevance: The paper addresses the relevance of radical constructivism in general, and von Foerster’s work in particular, to modern embodied cognitive science and artificial intelligence research.
Zimmer R. S. (2001) Variations on a string bag: Using Pask’s principles for practical course design. Kybernetes 30(7/8): 1006–1024.
Zimmer R. S.
(
2001)
Variations on a string bag: Using Pask’s principles for practical course design.
Kybernetes 30(7/8): 1006–1024.
Situation and problem: a course‐writing team needs to converge rapidly to what it regards as: an agreed topic structure, which is keyed to agreed learning objectives, which specify relevant assessment questions in a natural learning sequence. Only then can the team members go away individually to write, knowing that everything that they write will fit together. In normal practice, this convergence is only partial: the topic structure harbors gaps, ambiguities and contradictions; the learning objectives are not keyed explicitly to the concepts in the topic structure; and questions for assessment of learners’ understanding do not directly exemplify conceptually keyed learning objectives. The result is courseware which does not help people to learn as well as it otherwise could, and which has been created with more effort than otherwise would have been needed. This paper shows how systemic methods inspired by Gordon Pask can be used to complete the necessary convergence with ease.