A MEANING PROCESSING APPROACH TO COGNITION

A cognitive psychologist and an industrial design engineer draw on their own experiences of cognition in the context of everyday life and work to explore how people attempt to find practical solutions for complex situations. The book approaches these issues by considering higher-order relations between humans and their ecologies such as satisfying, specifying, and affording. This approach is consistent with recent shifts in the worlds of technology and product design from the creation of physical objects to the creation of experiences.

Featuring a wealth of bespoke illustrations throughout, A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition bridges the gap between controlled laboratory experiments and real-world experience, by questioning the metaphysical foundations of cognitive science and suggesting alternative directions to provide better insights for design and engineering.

An essential read for all students of Ecological Psychology or Cognitive Systems Design, this book takes the reader on a journey beyond the conventional dichotomy of mind and matter to explore what really matters.

Fred Voorhorst received his Ph.D. in Industrial Design Engineering from The Delft University of Technology in 1998. He then took up a position as researcher at the ETH Zürich, before moving to industry where he worked in various sectors such as software, automotive, fashion, and financial, always linking product design, product development, and business development, and preferably exploring the boundaries of the impossible. Whenever possible he would grasp the opportunity to teach on product design in the tradition of ecological perception.