Cognition in Practice

Cognition in Practice by Jean Lave

Most previous research on human cognition has focused on problem-solving, and has confined its investigations to the laboratory. As a result, it has been difficult to account for complex mental processes and their place in culture and history. In this startling - indeed, disco in forting - study, Jean Lave moves the analysis of one particular form of cognitive activity, - arithmetic problem-solving - out of the laboratory into the domain of everyday life. In so doing, she shows how mathematics in the 'real world', like all thinking, is shaped by the dynamic encounter between the culturally endowed mind and its total context, a subtle interaction that shapes 1) Both tile human subject and the world within which it acts. The study is focused on mundane daily, activities, such as grocery shopping for 'best buys' in the supermarket, dieting, and so on. Innovative in its method, fascinating in its findings, the research is above all significant in its theoretical contributions. Have offers a cogent critique of conventional cognitive theory, turning for an alternative to recent social theory, and weaving a compelling synthesis from elements of culture theory, theories of practice, and Marxist discourse. The result is a new way of understanding human thought processes, a vision of cognition as the dialectic between persons-acting, and the settings in which their activity is constituted. The book will appeal to anthropologists, for its novel theory of the relation of cognition to culture and context; to cognitive scientists and educational theorists; and to the 'plain folks' who form its subject, and who will recognize themselves in it, a rare accomplishment in the modern social sciences.

"..a new, improved view of cognition.." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
"Narrowly construed, Cognition in Practice is a study of the use of arithmetic outside of school. This research should be read by anyone interested in education. Jean Lave's aims are much broader, however. She is interested not just in one form of cognition or practice, but in the relations among cognition, practice, culture, and society generally. Her work is written for and deserves a wide audience of social scientists." Contemporary Sociology

Lave, Jean: - Jean Lave is Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a social anthropologist and critical theorist. Her books include one of the most cited works in the social sciences Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (with E. Wenger, Cambridge, 1991) as well as the prize winning Understanding Practice (with S. Chaiklin, Cambridge, 1993).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521357340
ISBN 10	0521357349
Title	Cognition in Practice
Author	Jean Lave
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1988-07-29
Number of pages	232
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable