%u2026 following my previous post Thus, in our brain exists neuron deputed to the coding of objective, named visuo-motor neuron (which match the intuition of Gibson). But, for how astonishing was this discovery, it was nothing in respect to the next step made by the Rizzolatti%u2019s group, that is, the discovery that some of these neuron does fire not only when the animal is to perform grasping, but also when the animal see another individual grasping. These neurons do not tell if the goal-oriented action is carried out by the individual they belong to or by another individual, there are sensible just to the goal that has to be pursued. Rizzolatti named these neurons %u201Cmirror neuron%u201D. The current interpretation is that mirror neuron allow to an animal to understand what other individuals are trying to do. When mirror neuron fires in a %u201Cpassive%u201D way they signal to the organism the same action that they signal when it is actually carried out. In this way an individual who observe put herself in the boots of the real actor of the scene. I understand what another does since this give rise in me a close neural activity to the one I produce when I perform that action.
For a fancy introduction to mirror neuron http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html For a proper understanding Rizzolatti, G. and Craighero, L. (2004). The Mirror-Neuron System. Annual Review of Neuroscience. vol27: 169%u2013192. The mirroring process mediated by these neurons allow us to know the world through the action we can perform in the world, and such performance would be defined by the intentional states we learn to generate along our social life, from birth forward. When children observe other people using cultural tools and artefacts, they often engage in the process of imitative learning in which they attempt to place themselves in the %u201Cintentional space%u201D of the user%u2014discerning the user%u2019s goal, what she is using the artefact %u201Cfor.%u201D By engaging in this imitative learning, the child joins the other person in affirming what %u201Cwe%u201D use this object %u201Cfor%u201D: we use hammers for hanging frames, a vacuum cleaner to make mommy happy, a refrigerator to prepare dinner. As children are involved in such intentional mirroring process they start to perceive objects and artefacts as elements that evoke, beyond basic sensory-motor affordances, another set of affordances, the intentional affordances, as named by Micheal Tomasello. Such affordances rest upon the understanding of the intentional relations that other persons have with that object or artefact%u2014that is, the intentional relations that other persons have to the world through the artefact. Affordances have a double nature that can be mutually supported and that is nested in the history of the artefacts and in their social evolution as well as in the ontogenetic development of each individual. Designing intentional affordances means allowing people that are going to use our new products the production of new intentions and goals that, perhaps, where not even thinkable before the creation of the new artefact. The interplay between sensory-motor and intentional affordances is an extremely interesting issue both for the cognitive scientist and for the designer, and the dynamics between them open new spaces for design that will act at the core of interaction design. With my colleague (Silvia, Leonardo, Maria) we have experimented both in establishing affordances for objects in young children (12-18 months) and in adults. You can find a first sketch of these researches here: Rizzo, A. (2006).The origin and design of intentional affordances. Invited Speech Proceedings of the 6th ACM Cconference on Designing Interactive systems %u2013. New York: ACM Press Sorry for the long post, Ciao antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=27380 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
