Abstract
Human cognition generally is construed as an abstract activity involving symbol manipulation in the mind/brain of the individual. A corollary of this position is that the unit of analysis in research is the isolated mind. However, human cognitive practices generally take place in interaction with others, and, furthermore, they rely on the use of (socio-)material artifacts (documents, computers). One of the most distinctive features of Homo sapiens is the capacity to convert ideas into artifacts that support intellectual and physical activities, and that later will intervene in our daily practices. In this sense, artifacts are important outcomes of human learning that contribute to the building up of a cultural memory and that give the human mind its distinctive hybrid character where thinking relies on the use of artifacts that have emerged in society. As a consequence innovations continuously change our cognitive practices and capacities as is illustrated in the chapter.
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Säljö, R. (2019). Materiality, Learning, and Cognitive Practices: Artifacts as Instruments of Thinking. In: Cerratto Pargman, T., Jahnke, I. (eds) Emergent Practices and Material Conditions in Learning and Teaching with Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10764-2_2
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