Chapter 24 - The Social Context of Cognition

Summary

Our minds evolved for the on-line control of behavior under the demands of survival rather than for detached puzzle solving or abstract cogitation. This principle implies the existence of close connections among cognition, motivation, and action, connections that have been core topics of study in social psychology. An emphasis on action as the goal of cognitive activity suggests the importance of the physical body, the vehicle of all action, as a constraint on cognition. Social psychology, by definition, is concerned with the influence of the situation on cognition. One familiar illustration of distributed cognition is the fact that most of us would have great difficulty multiplying two three-digit numbers in our heads, but do it with ease given a pencil and paper. Social psychology may offer one insight above all others to readers interested in situated cognition.