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Torranceaddsthat"manykindsofagency,inparticulartheagencyofhumanbeings,cannotbe
understoodseparatelyfromunderstandingthenatureoftheinteractionthatoccursbetweenagents."That
viewintroducesthesocialapplicationsofenactivism."Socialcognitionisregardedastheresultofaspecial
formofaction,namelysocialinteraction...theenactiveapproachlooksatthecirculardynamicwithinadyad
ofembodiedagents."[44]
Inculturalpsychology,enactivismisseenasawaytouncoverculturalinfluencesuponfeeling,thinkingand
acting.[45]BaerveldtandVerheggenarguethat"Itappearsthatseeminglynaturalexperienceisthoroughly
intertwinedwithsocioculturalrealities."Theysuggestthatthesocialpatterningofexperienceistobe
understoodthroughenactivism,"theideathattherealitywehaveincommon,andinwhichwefind
ourselves,isneitheraworldthatexistsindependentlyfromus,norasociallysharedwayofrepresenting
suchapregivenworld,butaworlditselfbroughtforthbyourwaysofcommunicatingandourjoint
action....Theworldweinhabitismanufacturedof'meaning'ratherthan'information'.[46]
LuhmannattemptedtoapplyMaturanaandVarela'snotionofautopoiesistosocialsystems.[47]"Acore
conceptofsocialsystemstheoryisderivedfrombiologicalsystemstheory:theconceptofautopoiesis.
ChileanbiologistHumbertoMaturanacomeupwiththeconcepttoexplainhowbiologicalsystemssuchas
cellsareaproductoftheirownproduction.""Systemsexistbywayofoperationalclosureandthismeans
thattheyeachconstructthemselvesandtheirownrealities."[48]

Educationalaspects

[edit]

ThefirstdefinitionofenactionwasintroducedbypsychologistJeromeBruner,[49][50]whointroduced
enactionas'learningbydoing'inhisdiscussionofhowchildrenlearn,andhowtheycanbestbehelpedto
learn.[51][52]Heassociatedenactionwithtwootherwaysofknowledgeorganization:IconicandSymbolic.[53]
"Anydomainofknowledge(oranyproblemwithinthatdomainofknowledge)canberepresentedin
threeways:byasetofactionsappropriateforachievingacertainresult(enactiverepresentation)bya
setofsummaryimagesorgraphicsthatstandforaconceptwithoutdefiningitfully(iconic
representation)andbyasetofsymbolicorlogicalpropositionsdrawnfromasymbolicsystemthatis
governedbyrulesorlawsforformingandtransformingpropositions(symbolicrepresentation)"
Theterm'enactiveframework'waselaborateduponbyFranciscoVarelaandHumbertoMaturana.[54]
Sriramenarguesthatenactivismprovides"arichandpowerfulexplanatorytheoryforlearningand
being."[55]andthatitiscloselyrelatedtoboththeideasofcognitivedevelopmentofPiaget,andalso
thesocialconstructivismofVygotsky.[55]Piagetfocusedonthechild'simmediateenvironment,and
suggestedcognitivestructureslikespatialperceptionemergeasaresultofthechild'sinteractionwiththe
world.[56]AccordingtoPiaget,childrenconstructknowledge,usingwhattheyknowinnewwaysandtesting
it,andtheenvironmentprovidesfeedbackconcerningtheadequacyoftheirconstruction.[57]Inacultural
context,Vygotskysuggestedthatthekindofcognitionthatcantakeplaceisnotdictatedbythe
engagementoftheisolatedchild,butisalsoafunctionofsocialinteractionanddialoguethatiscontingent
uponasociohistoricalcontext.[58]Enactivismineducationaltheory"looksateachlearningsituationasa
complexsystemconsistingofteacher,learner,andcontext,allofwhichframeandcocreatethelearning
situation."[59]Enactivismineducationisverycloselyrelatedtosituatedcognition,[60]whichholdsthat
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"knowledgeissituated,beinginpartaproductoftheactivity,context,andcultureinwhichitisdeveloped
andused."[61]Thisapproachchallengesthe"separatingofwhatislearnedfromhowitislearnedand
used."[61]

Artificialintelligenceaspects

[edit]

Thissectioncontainsinformationof
unclearor
questionableimportanceorrelevanceto
thearticle'ssubjectmatter.Please
helpimprovethisarticlebyclarifyingor
removingsuperfluousinformation.(May2014)
Mainarticle:Enactiveinterfaces
Theideasofenactivismregardinghoworganismsengagewiththeirenvironmenthaveinterestedthose
involvedinroboticsandmanmachineinterfaces.Theanalogyisdrawnthatarobotcanbedesignedto
interactandlearnfromitsenvironmentinamannersimilartothewayanorganismdoesthat,[62]anda
humancaninteractwithacomputeraideddesigntoolordatabaseusinganinterfacethatcreatesan
enactiveenvironmentfortheuser,thatis,alltheuser'stactile,auditory,andvisualcapabilitiesareenlisted
inamutuallyexplorativeengagement,capitalizinguponalltheuser'sabilities,andnotatalllimitedto
cerebralengagement.[63]Intheseareasitiscommontorefertoaffordancesasadesignconcept,theidea
thatanenvironmentoraninterfaceaffordsopportunitiesforenaction,andgooddesigninvolvesoptimizing
theroleofsuchaffordances.[64][65][66][67][68]
TheactivityintheAIcommunityalsohasinfluencedenactivismaswhole.Referringextensivelytomodeling
techniquesforevolutionaryroboticsbyBeer,[69]themodelingoflearningbehaviorbyKelso,[70]andto
modelingofsensorimotoractivitybySaltzman,[71]McGann,DeJaegher,andDiPaolodiscusshowthis
workmakesthedynamicsofcouplingbetweenanagentanditsenvironment,thefoundationofenactivism,
"anoperational,empiricallyobservablephenomenon."[72]Thatis,theAIenvironmentinventsexamplesof
enactivismusingconcreteexamplesthat,althoughnotascomplexaslivingorganisms,isolateand
illuminatebasicprinciples.

Seealso

[edit]

Actionspecific
perception

Enactiveinterfaces

Autopoesis

Extendedmind

Biosemiotics

Externalism#Enactivism
andembodied
cognition

Cognitivescience
Cognitive
psychology
Computational

Extendedcognition

Mindbodyproblem
Phenomenology

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theoryofmind

(philosophy)

Connectivism

Representationalism

Culturalpsychology

Situatedcognition

Distributed
cognition

Socialcognition

Embodiedcognition

Subjectobject
problem

Embodied
embedded
cognition

Furtherreading

[edit]

DeJaegher,H.,andDiPaolo,E.A.(2007).Participatorysensemaking:Anenactiveapproachtosocial
cognition.PhenomenologyandtheCognitiveSciences,6(4),485507.
DiPaolo,E.A.,Rohde,M.andDeJaegher,H.,(2010).HorizonsfortheEnactiveMind:Values,Social
Interaction,andPlay.InJ.Stewart,O.GapenneandE.A.DiPaolo(eds),Enaction:TowardsaNew
ParadigmforCognitiveScience,Cambridge,MA:MITPress,pp.3387.ISBN9780262014601
Hutto,D.D.(Ed.)(2006).RadicalEnactivism:Intentionality,phenomenology,andnarrative.InR.D.
Ellis&N.Newton(SeriesEds.),Consciousness&Emotion,vol.2.ISBN9027241511
McGann,M.&Torrance,S.(2005).Doingitandmeaningit(andtherelationshipbetweenthetwo).In
R.D.Ellis&N.Newton,Consciousness&Emotion,vol.1:Agency,consciouschoice,andselective
perception.Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.ISBN1588115968
TomFroese,EzequielADiPaolo(2011)."Theenactiveapproach:Theoreticalsketchesfromcellto
society".PragmaticsandCognition19(1):136.doi:10.1075/pc.19.1.01fro .CiteSeerX:10.1.1.224
.5504 .
SteveTorrance,TomFroese(2011)."Aninterenactiveapproachtoagency:participatorysense
making,dynamics,andsociality.".Humana.Mente15:2153.CiteSeerX:10.1.1.187.1151 .

Notes

[edit]

1. ^Cognitionasinformationprocessinglikethatofadigitalcomputer.FromEvanThompson.Mindin
Life.ISBN9780674057517.Cognitivism,p.4SeealsoStevenHorst(December10,2009).EdwardN.Zalta,ed,
ed."Thecomputationaltheoryofmind" .TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy(Spring2011Edition).
2. ^Cognitionasemergentpatternsofactivityinaneuralnetwork.FromEvanThompson.MindinLife.ISBN978
0674057517.Connectionism,p.8SeealsoJamesGarson(July27,2010).EdwardN.Zalta,ed,
ed."Connectionism" .TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy(Spring2011Edition).

References

[edit]

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indexfoundhere .
2. ^MarkRowlands(2010)."Chapter3:Themindembedded5Themindenacted".Thenewscienceofthemind:
Fromextendedmindtoembodiedphenomenology .MITPress.pp.70ff.ISBN0262014556.Rowlands
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