Cognitive Artifacts in Complex Work - Ambient Intelligence for Scientific Discovery - page 154

tributed among participants toward a goal of making sense of findings. The
empirical data show scientists using analogies to exchange metaphorical ideas in
arguing for interim approaches and toward obtaining consensus toward discovery.
In designing information systems for discovery, we must identify information
objects that assist scientists in the process. But where do we look for informa-
tion and cognitive structures that support analogy, and scientific reasoning? We
must also understand how scientists use search and retrieval to acquire knowl-
edge to confirm, disconfirm, or build upon incomplete but potentially important
unexpected findings. We suggest that current information resources, as powerful
and complete as they are, are insucient to support the cognitive processes of
discovery.
2 Research into Distributed Cognition
Distributed cognition is commonly shared knowledge that benefits a group but
cannot be known by any single individual [12]. It is the collective cognitive ac-
tivity in which individuals participate in order to accomplish shared goals. This
team mind [18] draws on the experience of all team members to create new, un-
expected ideas that are beyond individual ability. Because it is human behavior,
distributed cognition exists separate and apart from computer systems. As the
activity that computing systems intend to assist, it is essential to understand
distributed cognition according to its particular applications.
The two research studies reported in this chapter used two known research
approaches to investigate distributed cognition in complex tasks. The acute
health care study's author (CN) followed an ethnographic research approach,
using methods such as direct observation, informal interview, and artifacts anal-
ysis to gather field data. Analysis then revealed the process and strategies that
anesthesia coordinators use to develop assignment schedules. Case studies were
developed to synthesize field notes, showing how team members translated the
schedule into the reality of daily work. The life sciences research study's au-
thor (PJ) employed cognitive ethnography, using contextual interview and task
diaries to gather data, analyzing practice using an activity theory approach [16].
The approaches are different but their goals are similar. Both studies seek
to understand complex technical work domains. Both seek to understand dis-
tributed cognitive processes and to describe requirements for information tech-
nology to support it. There is no single approach to the study of cognitive work.
Each work domain evokes different questions, based on its unique demands.
2.1 Using Ethnography to Understand Work
As it is practiced by design-oriented researchers, ethnography has been described
as “ethnographically-informed ethnomethodology” [2]. This is a hybrid approach
to studying people in workgroups and their engagement with technological arti-
facts. Ethnography derives from cultural anthropology, in which researchers of
human culture literally record their observations of human social behavior with
minimal interpretation and representation. Ethnographic field research differs