David&Kirsh&Cogni/ve&Science&UCSD&

Thinking&with&Body&and&&Other&Things&

Topics&

•  Thinking&with&Things&

•  Thinking&with&the&Body&

•  Conclusions&

PART 1 - THINKING WITH THINGS

Prove:&&all&three&medians*&of&a&triangle&always&&&intersect&at&a&single&point.&

Thinking&with&external&support&

* Median: a line from a vertex of the triangle to the midpoint of the side opposite that vertex. !

Why make a diagram?

Because&too&hard&to&do&it&in&your&head&

Key&interac/ve&strategy&

Project ! Create ! Project structure

Create figure Project 1st construction

Project 2nd construction if you can. Else

write it in.

. . . .

Sketching&for&Design&

Projec/on&vs.&Imagina/on&

•  Projection anchors the imagined "structure onto an external structure "!

•  External structure supports projected extension!

•  Projection is imagination tied to structure!

Experiment&

Projec/on&Experiment&

Blank

4 5 6

1 2 3

7 8 9

Training

X O

Table + X OTable

Training&image&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&Three&condi/ons&&

Imagination Projection Projection2

Blank

4 5 6

1 2 3

7 8 9

Training

X O

Table + X OTable

Conjecture:++Subjects+will+play+be5er+under+projec7on+condi7on.+

Results&

Blank XO Table Blank XO Table Blank XO Table

3 by 3: Mean Time Per Move

All Weak StrongVisualization Ability

Mea

n(Ti

me

Per M

ove)

in s

econ

ds

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

5.4 5.3 5.3

4.94.7

4.94.8 4.6

4.9

• &Nothing&is&to&be&gained&by&projec/on&or&any&condi/on.&

• &Imagina/on&is&just&as&good&&

Surprise: we were wrong!

Lower&is&beLer&

What&about&at&4&by&4?&

•  In&3&by&3&subjects&never&need&remember&more&than&5&or&6&moves.&&&Task&is&not&hard&enough&to&warrant&scaffolding&spa/al&working&memory.&&

3 by 3: Mean Time Per Move

All Weak StrongVisualization Ability

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Mea

n(Ti

me

Per M

ove)

in se

cond

s

4.8 4.6 4.9 4.9 4.7 4.95.4 5.3 5.3

Blank XO Table Blank XO Table Blank XO Table

All

Mea

n(Ti

me

Per M

ove)

in se

cond

s

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Blank XO Table

10.7

9.59.1

4 by 4: Mean Time Per Move

Weak StrongVisualization Ability

Blank XO Table Blank XO Table

14.1

11.6

10.4 10.19.4 9.3

4&by&4&&&&T&&&A&Grid&helps&

p&=&.002&

p&=&.014&

New&Projec/on&Experiment&

Training&image&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&Four&condi/ons&&

Blank

4 5 6

1 2 3

7 8 9

Training

X O

Table + X OTable Blank

4 5 6

1 2 3

7 8 9

Training

X O

Table + X OTable

Imagination Projection Projection2 Blank

45

61

237

89Training

XO

Table+XO

Table

Skewed&Blindfolded&

!"!#

$"%#

!"&#

!"'#

!"$#

$"'#

$"$#

("'#

)*+,-# .+/*0# .+/*0#1#23#

!"#$%&'(%)*)+#",*-%

).($(..(/%0#"-1%

In&simple&cases&imagina/on&is&easier&for&some&

•  Many subjects found it easier "to play the 3 by 3 game "

in their imagination. """"Conjecture!

•  Why? Because there is a cost to anchoring, to aligning mental projection – cost to augment reality "!

Implica/on&Imagination is powerful. Sometimes better than projection. But there�s only so far you can go by imagining before you need to project onto structure.

Benefits of Projection

Imagination Complexity Cost of anchoring > benefits of projection

The benefits of projecting increase as the complexity of the thing to be imagined increases.

Blank

4 5 6

1 2 3

7 8 9

Training

X O

Table + X OTable

Research&Opportuni/es&

•  New&experiments&on&Interac/ve&Cogni/on&– We&can&redo&many&classical&psychological&experiments&about&reasoning&that&were&done&on&paper.&&They&are&transformed&when&done&for&real&in&3D&–&e.g.&&water&jug&problem&&

•  New&experiments&on&Projec/on&– How&projec/on&is&involved&in&geometry,&in&design,&in&gesture,&in&other&types&of&problem&solving&

– UCSD&now&has&the&Arthur&C&Clarke&Center&for&Human&Imagina/on&

Simula/ng&in&the&world&instead&of&the&head&

Background&

Hypothesis&in&Embodied&Cogni/on&is&that&&

&people&mentally&simulate&things&&&to&understand&them&

Language&understanding&

•  How&do&we&understand&a&phrase?&&

“…&squeezed&the&lemon&...”&

&

Comprehension&involves&

•  &Sensory&simula/on&•  Possibly&tacit&(unconscious)&

•  &Sensory&priming&

We&think&that&way&too&

Maybe&to&understand&things&we&simulate&them&in&our&mind’s&eye&

My&inquiry&

If&we&can&do&it&in&our&mind’s&eye&maybe&we&do&it&in&the&world&too,&rather&than&in&our&mind.&&& & & & &(When&we&can)&

&

Real%simula*on%as%part%of%cogni*on%

My&inquiry&

If&we&can&do&it&in&our&mind’s&eye&maybe&we&do&it&in&the&world&too,&rather&than&in&our&mind.&&& & & & &(When&we&can)&

Will these&pieces&make&this&image?&

Here&you&have&to&do&it&in&your&mind’s&eye.&

Oops&

•  It’s more reliable. If you can do it you must be right.

•  The World guarantees truth.

Solving&it&in&the&world& Mental simulation is always fallible

Search Time (function of number of pieces)

Prob. correct 50%

100%

Physical

Mental

For large n pieces mental simulation approaches 50% correct

6 8 10 12 14

n pieces

Implica/on&

If&you&can&do&it&without&much&more&effort&why&not&do&it&in&the&world?&

Tetris&

Epistemic&ac/on&at&high&speed&•  Manipulate physical objects to save mental manipulation!

–  physical rotation saves mental "computation & is faster !

•  Piece recognition!•  Placement decision!

–  physical translation improves certainty!

•  Both interactive strategies involve"millisecond coordination!

•  The world changes at just the "moment we need it to help us decide"Tight temporal coupling.!

!31

Work done with Paul Maglio

Scrabble&

U&R&T& P&N&A&G&

Issue is the relentless force of the visible – data driven

Project&!&Create&!&Project&&&Cycle&

gantpru

g ant pur

g ant pru

grant up

Pant g ur

Timing&is&important&

Interact&with&leLers&

Cogni/on&flows&to&wherever&costs&are&lower&•  In closely coupled system, "

process and structure migrates "wherever costs are lowest!

!

•  Lots of odd things people do!–  we do not yet understand why!

THINKING&WITH&THE&BODY:&Choreography&T&a&case&study&&

What&we&studied&

Timeline&–&‘Dyad’&2009&

Wayne&McGregor&&

Jan&26th&& Feb&13th&&

UCSD&

Aug&25th&& Sept&7th&&

London&

Oct&13th&&

Premiere&

Total&=&6&weeks&

Random&Dance&&

Timeline&–&‘Far’&&2010&

Sept&13th&& Nov&13th&&&

London&

Nov&17th&&&

Premiere&

Total&=&6&weeks&

Timeline&–&‘Undance’&&2011&

Aug&26th&& Sept&25th&&&&

London&

Dec&2nd&&&&

Premiere&

Total&=&4&weeks&

Observa/on&SetTUp&

!  Mandeville Auditorium !  Cal-IT2

Field&Notes&•  Observa/ons&for&5&hours/day,&for&13&days&&

– !&Online&coding&of&ac/vity&in&FIELD&NOTES&•  Includes:&Time&of&ac/vity,&Ac/vity&code,&and&Descrip/on&of&ac/vity&

Interviews&

•  Interviews for 2 hours/day, for 23 days!

!

Before and after session each day

After session each day usually in two�s

MARKING&

MARKING&

A&dance&phrase&is&prac/ced,&explored&or&reviewed&in&a&less&energe/c&manner&than&doing&it&�fullTout�.&&&

Dancer&&abstracts&from&full&phrase&&&&focuses&aLen/on&on&&

some&specific&aspect&of&the&complete&form.&&&

&

Small marking

MARKING&&T&DURING&PRACTICE&

Marking: a universal phenomenon

•  Tennis swing – by aspect!

•  Cello – on the arm!

•  Staged Plays – an Italian run-through!

•  Imperfect modeling – aspectual – as a learning/practice technique!

What&it&is&•  Represent a full dance phrase by a less

energetic, less detailed one!

Marked Phrase

Full Phrase

Smaller Marking

Stylized

Small

–  It is a form of physical sketching !

Antoine - Full Antoine – Large marking

Antoine – Small marking

How&does&it&work&…&

•  It helps to manage attention on target issue!

•  It recruits the body to fill in timing, balance!

–  think about the end point and get trajectories for free !

•  Like interactive sketching: dancers can focus on specific aspects of their phrase!

Experiment&to&compare&learning&&

Which conditions facilitate learning most?!

Mark++ Full<Out++ Simulate in the head +

Measuring&Performance&

Three metrics: "!

1 2 3"" Technicality, Memory, Dynamics"Precision of positions, Completeness of detail, Speed, Force, Acceleration !

Experimental&Design&&

Trial&1&30&mins&

Trial&2&30&mins&

Trial&3&30&mins&

BREAK&I&&&&&5 min&

&&&&Teach&&&&&&&&&&Measure&&&&&&Prac/ce&&&&&&&Measure&&

10&mins& 10&mins&

Teach Practice

5&mins& 5&mins&

Phrase&1& Measure Measure Phrase&1&

BREAK&II&&&5 min&

10&mins& 10&mins&

Teach Practice

5&mins& 5&mins&

Phrase&2& Measure Measure Phrase&2&

10&mins& 10&mins&

Teach Practice

5&mins& 5&mins&

Phrase&3& Measure Measure Phrase&3&

Overall&Marking&was&best!&

Practicing by marking and full-out are significantly better than practicing by simulation

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Mean Improvement From Practice

Mea

n(ra

w d

elta

)

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Condition

Full

Marking

Simulation

Improvement&by&measured&factor&

Precision All elements Dynamics

Learning broken down by dimensionMeasure

Memory Technicality Timing Dynamics

Mean(Grade)

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

ConditionFull

Marking

Simulation

How&can&marking&be&the&best?&

•  When&dancers&mark&they&are&literally&doing&the&wrong&thing!&&How&can&it&facilitate&doing&the&right&thing?&

8&secs&T&FULL& 4&secs&&STANDARD&MARK& 4&secs&&SMALL&MARK&

Conclusions&

•  We&interact&with&the&world&in&all&sorts&of&way&that&had&not&been&appreciated&before&

•  We&have&evolved&to&think&with&things&

•  We&have&evolved&to&use&our&body&to&help&us&think&

•  It&is&a&good&/me&to&be&doing&cogni/ve&science&

–  The&field&is&wide&open!&

UCSD&class&and&Random&Dancers&

THE+END+