Re: CP8:

Charles Bazerman (bazerman who-is-at humanitas.ucsb.edu)
Fri, 11 Jul 1997 09:15:18 -0700 (PDT)

Ania,
"Cognitive Practice" was a term I invoked, but I do not believe
Mike uses in this chapter (although he does have an extended discussion of
practice and activity in chapter 5.) In Chapter 8 Mike uses "cognitive
tasks" and "cognitive processes." I invoked the term cognitive practice
not to distinguish it from physiological--of course both internal "nervous
system events" and external "limb and voice events" are physiological.
What I wanted to characterize were those activities Mike examines, both
internal and external that are part of the individual's coming to a social
response rather than the social response itself--so that when a vendor is
asked to calculate a price (from the kinds of studies cited in the book)
they might vocalize or subvocalize or mentally rehearse certain routines,
they might manipulate objects and calculating devices, they might gesture
towards body parts. The term, rather than to create a class of
insubstantial "mental events" was to create a continuity between external
and internal rehearsals. Of course there are methodological problems in
making these cognitive processes visible and isolatable--these problems
are at the heart of Mike's chapter and also I think at the heart of the
question he is calling our attention to in a message that followed shortly
after yours.

Chuck

On Fri, 11 Jul 1997, Ania Lian wrote:

> what are "cognitive practices"? and as opposed to which ones?
> physiological?
>
> my best,
> ania
>
>
>