The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 11 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
On Distinguishing Epistemic from Pragmatic Action
Open accessAbstract
We present data and argument to show that in Tetris—a real‐time, interactive video game—certain cognitive and perceptual problems are more quickly, easily, and reliably solved by performing actions in the world than by performing computational actions in the head alone. We have found that some of the translations and rotations made by players of this video game are best understood as actions that use the world to improve cognition. These actions are not used to implement a plan, or to implement a reaction; they are used to change the world in order to simplify the problem‐solving task. Thus, we distinguish pragmatic actions—actions performed to bring one physically closer to a goal—from epistemic actions—actions performed to uncover informatioan that is hidden or hard to compute mentally. To illustrate the need for epistemic actions, we first develop a standard information‐processing model of Tetris cognition and show that it cannot explain performance data from human players of the game—even when we relax the assumption of fully sequential processing. Standard models disregard many actions taken by players because they appear unmotivated or superfluous. However, we show that such actions are actually far from superfluous; they play a valuable role in improving human performance. We argue that traditional accounts are limited because they regard action as having a single function: to change the world. By recognizing a second function of action—an epistemic function—we can explain many of the actions that a traditional model cannot. Although our argument is supported by numerous examples specifically from Tetris, we outline how the new category of epistemic action can be incorporated into theories of action more generally.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
The paper argues that Tetris players perform some rotations and translations not to advance a physical goal but to simplify cognition, introducing epistemic actions as distinct from pragmatic actions. A classical sequential information-processing model and an interleaving variant fail to explain extra rotations and translate-to-wall routines, which are better explained as actions that uncover information, reduce mental rotation, or verify placement.
Key findings
- Players rotate zoids more than expected for purely pragmatic placement: each zoid is rotated more than half its possible rotations; for a shape with four distinct orientations, the expected average would be 1.5 rotations, but observed rotations exceed this. Rotations sometimes begin before 100 ms, before the zoid is fully visible.
- Early rotation can expose hidden parts 150 to 300 ms earlier than waiting for natural appearance; partially hidden zoids ambiguous in both shape and position are more likely to be rotated than those ambiguous in shape alone, though no player reported noticing that zoids begin falling in different columns.
- Physical rotation of a zoid 90° can take as few as 100 ms, whereas mental rotation of a zoid 90° is estimated at 800 to 1200 ms. The translate-to-wall verification routine occurs in about 1% of drops; experts drop a zoid on average 15.65 squares from resting position ordinarily versus 20.05 squares after the translate routine, with intermediate players 13.18 versus 19.04 and advanced players 13.69 versus 19.33.
- The translate-to-wall routine moves the zoid away from the intended column, so it cannot be a pragmatically good move; its function is to verify the column and reduce error, and higher drops are more likely to be verified this way.
Methods
- Design: Tetris was used as a real-time, interactive video game domain; the authors implemented a computational laboratory to unobtrusively record the timing of all keystrokes and game situations, collected tachistoscopic mental rotation tests, and designed and implemented the RoboTetris expert system to compare human and machine performance.
- Sample: the mental rotation pilot had three Tetris players—one intermediate, one advanced, and one expert—each seeing eight presentations of each possible pair of L-shaped or S-shaped zoids; human gameplay data came from subjects playing Tetris.
- Analysis: a classical four-phase information-processing model was constructed (bitmap representation, chunked symbolic representation, placement computation, motor plan computation), then relaxed to allow cascade/interleaving; model predictions such as expected rotation counts were compared with observed keystroke timing and frequency, and deviations were interpreted as epistemic actions.
Limitations
- The paper states it is often hard to prove that an agent performs a particular action for epistemic rather than pragmatic reasons, because an action can serve both epistemic and pragmatic purposes simultaneously, making the relative influence difficult to quantify.
- The paper states it is an open question whether agents use multiple-perspective representations of zoids; the mental rotation data are described as pilot data from only three players, so the mental rotation time estimates are preliminary.
- Evident from the text: many epistemic interpretations are inferred from timing and behavioral regularities rather than direct experimental manipulation, and the mental rotation comparison rests on a very small sample.
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Claims the paper makes
74 Own interpretation · 18 No basis given · 15 Own result · 4 Sources not found · 2 No full text of the sources · 1 Own method
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In the paper
“By rotating an emerging zoid, players can expose its hidden parts, thereby uncovering its complete visual image 150 to 300 ms earlier than if they waited for it to appear naturally.”
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In the paper
“We have observed that occasionally a zoid will be rotated very early (before 100 ms), well before we would expect an agent to have any good idea of where to place the zoid.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“As shown in Table 1, experts drop a zoid, on average, when it is about 13 squares from its rest- ing position.”
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“The shortest time between keystrokes in our data is about 75 ms”
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“as shown in Figure 15, the greater the drop distance, the more likely the drop will be verified using the translate-to-wall routine.”
- Also stated in: § 546 KIRSH AND MAGLIO · plain
“we found that the higher the drop, the more often the translate-to-wall routine is used.”
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- Also stated in: § 546 KIRSH AND MAGLIO · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Rotations and translations occur in abundance, almost from the moment a zoid enters the Tetris screen.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“the average time between keystrokes is around 250 ms”
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In the paper
“Our observations, however, indicate that agents learn qualitatively different behavioral tricks.”
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“Our data show that a player is more likely to rotate a partially hidden zoid that is ambiguous in both shape and position than one ambiguous in shape alone.”
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“But we have found at least one unambiguously epistemic use of transiation: to verify judgment of the column of a zoid.”
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- Probably not a substantial claim. 17
- It may state two separate claims as one. 8
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“In fewer than 10 hours, a newcomer can play at an intermediate level.”
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“Agents learn how to expose information early, how to prime themselves to recognize zoids faster, and how to perform external checks or verifications to reduce the uncertainty of judgments.”
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“This is particularly clear given that at 100 ms, the zoid is not yet completely in view, and sometimes the agent cannot even reliably guess the zoid's shape.”
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“Some players do report having hot spots in mind before an episode begins.”
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“P emerges in column 4, and R emerges in column 5”
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“First, it is a fast, repetitive game requiring split-second decisions of a perceptual and cognitive sort.”
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“In such studies, actions are defined as transformations in physical or social space.”
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In the paper
“There are only four possible actions a player can take: translate a zoid right, translate left, rotate, and drop.”
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“Because time is at a premium in this game, a standard perfor- mance model would predict that players develop strategies that minimize the number of moves, creating sequences of pragmatic actions which head directly toward goal states.”
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In the paper
“The effects of rotating a zoid are wholly determinate.”
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“The only certain way to get information about new candidates into the iconic buffer is through perception.”
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In the paper
“In Phase Three, players determine where to put the zoid.”
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In the paper
“there are a host of separate brain regions involved in encoding the bitmap features in the iconic buffer. Some of these have close connections to motor cortex (Felleman & Van Essen, 1991; Sereno & Allman, 1991).”
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Felleman & Van Essen, 1991 source
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Sereno & Allman, 1991
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In the paper
“In Phase Three-the decision phase-rotation also serves a variety of epistemic functions.”
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In the paper
“By definition, it requires moving the zoid away from the currently intended column, and hence it cannot be a pragmatically good move.”
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In the paper
“Of course, such epistemic procedures may be cached, but they are not pragmatic procedures; they are procedures that direct the agent to exploit the environment to make the most of his or her limited cognitive resources.”
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None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“standard accounts of skill acquisition explain enhanced performance as the result of chunking, cach- ing, or compiling (Anderson, 1983; Newell, 1990; Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981; Reason, 1990).”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Anderson, 1983
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Newell, 1990
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- Not matchedcites Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981; Reason, 1990
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- Not matched
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In the paper
“It is clearly in the interest of a player to identify the complete shape as soon as possible.”
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In the paper
“The processing model this suggests to us is a significant departure from classical theories of action. Its chief novelty lies in allowing individual func- tional units inside the agent to be in closed-loop interaction with the outside world.”
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In the paper
“the greater the drop height, the more in- formative the verification and the less risky (costly) the action.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“it is not outrageous to suppose that there is motor involvement in selective attention since there already exists a close connection between attention and the oculo- motor system responsible for saccades.”
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“This kind of model follows the distributed framework proposed by Minsky (1986).”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Minsky (1986)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
The authors state this as an assumption.
Tetris cognition proceeds in four major phases.
“It is based on a classical information-processing model of expertise based on the sup- position that Tetris cognition proceeds in four major phases:”
The authors state this as an assumption.
The model is fully sequential: Phase Two is completed before Phase Three begins, and Three is completed before Four begins.
“As we have stated it, the model is fully sequential: Phase Two is completed before Phase Three begins, and Three is completed before Four begins.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Each zoid emerges in a random orientation, and on average any zoid can be expected to be placed in any of its orientations with equal probability.
“This follows because each zoid emerges in a random orientation, and on average, any zoid can be expected to be placed in any of its orientations with equal probability.”
The paper relies on this without support.
When a zoid first enters at the top of the screen, only a fraction of its total form is visible.
“When a zoid first enters at the top of the screen, only a fraction of its total form is visible.”
The paper relies on this without support.
At medium speed, a zoid descends at a rate of one square every 150 ms.
“At medium speed, a zoid descends at a rate of one square every 150 ms.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The close coupling between attention and saccades is already accepted.
“The close coupling between attention and saccades is already accepted”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Matching is a primitive process in working memory: Zoid chunk and contour chunk can be compared and matched only if they are explicitly represented in working memory.
“So far we have assumed that matching is a primitive process in working memory: Zoid chunk and contour chunk can be compared and matched only if they are explicitly represented in working memory.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The local effects of an action in Tetris are totally determinate, with no hidden states, exogenous influences, or other agents to change the result of hitting the rotate key.
“The property of Tetris which makes such a strategy pay off is that the local effects of an action are totally determinate. There are no hidden states, exogenous influences, or other agents to change the result of hitting the rotate key.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Exploratory epistemic actions (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994) are performed to unveil hidden information or to gain insight that would otherwise require a great deal of mental computation.”
From Physical and Virtual Tools: Activity Theory Applied to the Design of Groupware (2002) · cites this paper as Kirsh and Maglio, 1994
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Empirically, such externalisations have been shown to improve problem-solving accuracy as well as speed (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
From Consequences of cognitive offloading: Boosting performance but diminishing memory (2021) · cites this paper as Kirsh & Maglio, 1994
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Hence, cognitive offloading with technical tools might enable performance beyond internal cognitive limitations and thus increase immediate performance (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994; Salomon & Perkins, 2005).”
From Consequences of cognitive offloading: Boosting performance but diminishing memory (2021) · cites this paper as Kirsh & Maglio, 1994
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Kirsh and Maglio (1994) argue that it is cognitively more economical to rotate the figure on screen by pushing a controller button than to mentally simulate the correct rotation.”
From The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization (2023) · cites this paper as Kirsh and Maglio (1994)
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ 538 KIRSH AND MAGLIO
“As shown in Table 1, experts drop a zoid, on average, when it is about 13 squares from its rest- ing position. On those occasions when they also perform the translate-to- wall routine, the zoid is dropped, on average, from about 19 squares above its resting position”
§ 538 KIRSH AND MAGLIO
“Intermediate Advanced Expert M Drop Distance 13.18 13.69 15.65 M Drop Distance after Translate Routine 19.04 19.33 20.05”
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. (1998) · Analysis · doi:10.1093/analys/58.1.7 · Cited by 6,333
Six views of embodied cognition
Wilson, M. (2002) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03196322 · Cited by 4,782
“For example, Kirsh and Maglio (1994) have studied the procedures ! 9/2/03 4:43 PM Six Views of Embodied Cognition”
InfluentialBeing There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again.
van Gelder, T., & Clark, A. (1998) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/2998391 · Cited by 3,134
Being there: putting brain, body, and world together again
(1997) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.34-6204 · Cited by 2,631
Hollan, J., Hutchins, E., & Kirsh, D. (2000) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/353485.353487 · Cited by 2,300
Self-citationSupersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension
Clark, A. (2008) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333213.001.0001 · Cited by 2,201
Embodiment and Cognitive Science
Gibbs, R. W. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511805844 · Cited by 1,757
Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002 · Cited by 1,502
“One crucial function that these mind/body/world interactions afford is cognitive offloading (see Glossary)–the use of physical action to alter the information processing requirements of a task so as to reduce cognitive demand (see also computational offloading [5]; epistemic actions [6]).”
BackgroundEmbodiment and cognitive science
Gibbs, R. W. (2007) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.45-2314 · Cited by 1,264
(2014) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,154
Radical embodied cognitive science
Chemero, A. P. (2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-3480 · Cited by 1,144
Embodied Cognition: A field guide
Anderson, M. L. (2003) · Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/s0004-3702(03)00054-7 · Cited by 1,184
“[W]e should acknowledge an important role for what Kirsh and Maglio [67] nicely term 'epistemic actions': namely, actions whose purpose is not to alter the world so as to advance physically toward some goal (e.g., laying a brick for a walk), but rather to alter the world so as to help make available information requir…”
BackgroundDeictic codes for the embodiment of cognition
Ballard, D. H., Hayhoe, M. M., Pook, P. K., & Rao, R. P. N. (1997) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x97001611 · Cited by 1,082
The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control
Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005 · Cited by 1,084
“In an interesting series of papers Maglio and colleagues (Kirsh & Maglio , 1994; Maglio & Kirsh, 1996; Maglio, Wenger, & Copeland, 2008) examined expertise in Tetris.”
BackgroundKirsh, D. (1995) · Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/0004-3702(94)00017-u · Cited by 980
Self-citationVisible embodiment: Gestures as simulated action
Hostetter, A. B., & Alibali, M. W. (2008) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/pbr.15.3.495 · Cited by 936
“Kirsh and Maglio (1994) described epistemic actions, or actions that are produced not to bring the actor closer to an external goal, but to make perception and computation easier.”
BackgroundActive inference and epistemic value
Friston, K., Rigoli, F., Ognibene, D., Mathys, C., Fitzgerald, T., & Pezzulo, G. (2015) · Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17588928.2015.1020053 · Cited by 731
“Second, by performing an epistemic action (i.e., exploration) to disclose information that enables pragmatic action in the long run; for example, exploring a maze to discover unknown reward sites (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundA Multi-Level Typology of Abstract Visualization Tasks
Brehmer, M., & Munzner, T. (2013) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2013.124 · Cited by 745
“Distributed cognition: The distributed cognition literature offers us a useful distinction between pragmatic and epistemic actions [30, 38].”
BackgroundEmbodiment in Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Evidence From Learners' and Teachers' Gestures
Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2011) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508406.2011.611446 · Cited by 766
Formative Assessment: Assessment Is for Self-regulated Learning
Clark, I. (2012) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-011-9191-6 · Cited by 854
“The process of active agency is well expressed by Kirsh and Maglio (1995), who use the term “epistemic actions”, i.e., conscious self-regulatory actions, such as social interaction (e.g., discourse) and environmental structuring (e.g., adjusting noise or temperature), allowing individuals to access…”
BackgroundHow bodies matter: five themes for interaction design
Klemmer, S. R., Hartmann, B., & Takayama, L. (2006) · Proceedings of the 6th conference on Designing Interactive systems · doi:10.1145/1142405.1142429 · Cited by 645
Tangible User Interfaces: Past, Present, and Future Directions
Shaer, O., & Hornecker, E. (2010) · Foundations and Trends® in Human–Computer Interaction · doi:10.1561/1100000026 · Cited by 602
Motor processes in mental rotation
Wexler, M., Kosslyn, S. M., & Berthoz, A. (1998) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/s0010-0277(98)00032-8 · Cited by 550
“Kirsh and Maglio (1994) , for instance, have shown that in the computer game Tetris, where properly orienting the ‘stimuli’ is crucial, such manual‐visual rotation is the strategy of choice for experts.”
Thinking with external representations
Kirsh, D. (2010) · AI & SOCIETY · doi:10.1007/s00146-010-0272-8 · Cited by 525
“…argument others and I have long advanced is that people interact and create external structure when thinking because: Through interaction it is easier to process more efficiently and more effectively than by working inside the head alone (Clark 2008; Kirsh 1995, 1996, 2009; Kirsh and Maglio 1994).”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe cognitive benefits of interactive videos: learning to tie nautical knots
Schwan, S., & Riempp, R. (2004) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.06.005 · Cited by 483
“Kirsh and Maglio (1994) have termed this user-triggered modification of an external information presentation an ''epistemic action'', which may serve important cognitive purposes.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialEmbodied cognition and the magical future of interaction design
Kirsh, D. (2013) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/2442106.2442109 · Cited by 465
Self-citationThe Multiple Self-Aspects Framework: Self-Concept Representation and Its Implications
McConnell, A. R. (2010) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868310371101 · Cited by 478
Virtual reality and augmented reality in social learning spaces: a literature review
Scavarelli, A., Arya, A., & Teather, R. J. (2020) · Virtual Reality · doi:10.1007/s10055-020-00444-8 · Cited by 510
“Epistemic action, described by Kirsh and Maglio as “physical actions that make mental computation easier, faster, or more reliable” (Kirsh and Maglio 1994) also suggest great potential for using digital tools in learning, enhancing arguments for connectivism (Siemens 2005) and the ability for…”
BackgroundTangible User Interfaces: Past, Present, and Future Directions
Shaer, O. (2009) · now publishers, Inc. eBooks · doi:10.1561/9781601983299 · Cited by 414
The function of gesture in learning to count: more than keeping track
Alibali, M. W., & DiRusso, A. A. (1999) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/s0885-2014(99)80017-3 · Cited by 397
“One way to overcome such resource limitations is to represent some of the contents of working memory in the external environment (see Kirsh, 1995; Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundA neurocognitive model of the ethical decision-making process: Implications for study and practice.
Reynolds, S. J. (2006) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.737 · Cited by 407
The Cognitive Science of Visual‐Spatial Displays: Implications for Design
Hegarty, M. (2011) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2011.01150.x · Cited by 388
Gray, W. D., Sims, C. R., Fu, W.-T., & Schoelles, M. J. (2006) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.113.3.461 · Cited by 360
“Initially, researchers were content to demonstrate that the task environment in which interactive behavior takes places could influence the higher-level strategies that people adopt for decision making (Lohse & Johnson, 1996), problem solving (O’Hara & Payne, 1998, 1999), or game playing ( Kirsh & Maglio, 1994 ).”
BackgroundA Few Thoughts on Cognitive Overload
Kirsh, D. (2000) · Intellectica Revue de l Association pour la Recherche Cognitive · doi:10.3406/intel.2000.1592 · Cited by 356
Self-citationDesigning Robots With Movement in Mind
Hoffman, G., & Ju, W. G. (2014) · Journal of Human-Robot Interaction · doi:10.5898/jhri.3.1.hoffman · Cited by 340
“We use the word pragmatic after Kirsh and Maglio (1994), who distinguish between pragmatic and epistemic actions in human behavior and define pragmatic actions as “actions performed to bring one physically closer to a goal.””
MethodEmbodied learning: introducing a taxonomy based on bodily engagement and task integration
Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2018) · Cognitive Research Principles and Implications · doi:10.1186/s41235-018-0092-9 · Cited by 385
“Melcer and Isbister (2016) developed a framework encompassing several categories that enables comparisons between the design of embodied learning settings.”
BackgroundHeller, J., Chylinski, M., de Ruyter, K., Mahr, D., & Keeling, D. I. (2019) · Journal of Retailing · doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2019.03.005 · Cited by 311
Reflective physical prototyping through integrated design, test, and analysis
Hartmann, B., Klemmer, S., Bernstein, M. S., Abdulla, L., Burr, B., Robinson-Mosher, A., & Gee, J. (2006) · ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) · doi:10.1145/1166253.1166300 · Cited by 305
“The epistemic production [23] of concrete prototypes affords unexpected realizations that a designer could not have arrived at without producing a concrete artifact.”
BackgroundTrading spaces: Computation, representation, and the limits of uninformed learning
Clark, A., & Thornton, C. (1997) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x97000022 · Cited by 299
The Newell Test for a theory of cognition
Anderson, J. R., & Lebiere, C. J. (2003) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x0300013x · Cited by 292
Martin, T., & Schwartz, D. L. (2005) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog0000_15 · Cited by 300
“As players improve, they learn to repurpose the keystrokes so that the movements of the pieces also yield information about where they will fit ( Kirsh & Maglio, 1994 ).”
BackgroundRadical Embodied Cognitive Science
Chemero, A. P. (2013) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032923 · Cited by 282
“This much can be seen from the way Kirsh and Maglio (1994) described the zoid-rotations of their Tetris players: they said that zoid-rotation is a matter of off-loading computational complexity onto the environment, so that the rotation is part of the computation.”
BackgroundEfficiency and Innovation in Transfer
Schwartz, D. L., Bransford, J. D., & Sears, D. (2000) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-60752-673-520251002 · Cited by 289
Reasons, Robots and the Extended Mind
Clark, A. (2001) · Mind & Language · doi:10.1111/1468-0017.00162 · Cited by 255
“This idea takes its cue from Dennett, 1995, 1996; Hutchins, 1995; Kirsh and Maglio, 1994 and many others.”
An empirical evaluation of graspable user interfaces: towards specialized, space-multiplexed input
Fitzmaurice, G. W., & Buxton, W. (1997) · Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in computing systems · doi:10.1145/258549.258578 · Cited by 244
“Finally, the design goals of Graspable UIs are guided by research in areas such as 2-handed interactions [6], the use of physical artifacts as cognitive aids [12, 15] and the intelligent use of space and spatial arrangements to simplify choice, perception and internal computation [8, 9].”
MethodGesturing on the telephone: Independent effects of dialogue and visibility
Bavelas, J. B., Gerwing, J., Sutton, C., & Prevost, D. (2007) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2007.02.004 · Cited by 235
“If, as lexical access theory implies, hand gestures are a kind of epistemic action ( Kirsh & Maglio, 1994 ), then this prediction can best be tested by experimental tasks and conditions designed to reveal directly their contribution to word searches.”
BackgroundAdapting the Environment Instead of Oneself
Kirsh, D. (1996) · Adaptive Behavior · doi:10.1177/105971239600400307 · Cited by 230
Self-citationRapanta, C., Garcia-Mila, M., & Gilabert, S. (2013) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654313487606 · Cited by 228
Understanding the Role of Body Movement in Player Engagement
Bianchi‐Berthouze, N. (2012) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/07370024.2012.688468 · Cited by 237
“Particularly in the case of advanced players, an increased use of task-facilitating movements was observed, consistent with Kirsh and Maglio (1994). Head movements simulating the navigation within the virtual environment in Half-Life may have facilitated the controlling of the key pressing actions to move within the e…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialMetaphor, imagination, and simulation
Raymond W. Gibbs, & Matlock, T. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816802.011 · Cited by 222
After the Philosophy of Mind: Replacing Scholasticism with Science*
Chemero, A. P., & Silberstein, M. (2008) · Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1086/587820 · Cited by 228
Pezzulo, G., Barsalou, L. W., Cangelosi, A., Fischer, M. H., McRae, K., & Spivey, M. J. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00612 · Cited by 229
“Furthermore, embodiment can alleviate brain processing in multiple ways, for example by providing solutions to control problems (Pfeifer and Bongard, 2006), constraining choice to a space of possibilities that is body-scaled (Gibson, 1979), and implementing situated problem-solving strategies (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundLife's a beach but you’re an ant, and other unwelcome news for the sociology of culture
Martin, J. L. (2009) · Poetics · doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2009.11.004 · Cited by 208
Menary, R. (2007) · Language Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2007.01.005 · Cited by 214
An Embedded and Embodied Cognition Review of Instructional Manipulatives
Pouw, W. T. J. L., van Gog, T., & PAAS, F. G. W. C. (2014) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-014-9255-5 · Cited by 226
“Interestingly, this use of space is highly similar to epistemic actions performed by Tetris players (Kirsh and Maglio 1994) as spacing allows the task to be structured as to reduce computational load.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialStoring information in-the-world: Metacognition and cognitive offloading in a short-term memory task
Risko, E. F., & Dunn, T. L. (2015) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.014 · Cited by 193
“Human cognition often involves, as an integral part, the manipulation of the body and/or physical/social environment (e.g., Barrett, 2011; Clark & Chalmers, 1998; Goldin-Meadow, 2005; Hutchins, 1995; Kirsh & Maglio, 1994; Pfeifer & Bongard, 2006; Zhang & Norman, 1994).”
BackgroundA Short Primer on Situated Cognition
Robbins, P., & Aydede, M. (2001) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816826.001 · Cited by 195
“One of the best articulations of the idea of cognitive off-loading involves the concept of epistemic action ( Kirsh & Maglio, 1994 ).”
BackgroundGestures, but not meaningless movements, lighten working memory load when explaining math
Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2012) · Language and Cognitive Processes · doi:10.1080/01690965.2011.567074 · Cited by 192
“For example, Tetris players rotate pieces on the screen to avoid rotating pieces mentally (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994 ), and map readers turn maps so that they are oriented in the direction of travel.”
BackgroundEmbodied and Enactive Approaches to Cognition
Gallagher, S. (2023) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009209793 · Cited by 236
Saving-Enhanced Memory: The Benefits of Saving on the Learning and Remembering of New Information
Storm, B. C., & Stone, S. M. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797614559285 · Cited by 192
Manual and cognitive benefits of two-handed input
Leganchuk, A., Zhai, S., & Buxton, W. (1998) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/300520.300522 · Cited by 188
Mechanical constraints as computational constraints in tabletop tangible interfaces
Patten, J., & Ishii, H. (2007) · ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) · doi:10.1145/1240624.1240746 · Cited by 184
Buxton, W. A. S., & Fitzmaurice, G. W. (1996) · Cited by 178
Richardson, D. C., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.46 · Cited by 184
“During the first 6 months of life, infants develop many intersensory capacities, which allow them to perceive correlations across modalities (for a review of this literature, see Lewkowicz, 2000). For example, newborns bind a visual stimulus with an auditory stimulus to the extent that they expect the sound to move wi…”
BackgroundWhat's that thing called embodiment?
Ziemke, T. (2003) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 184
Keehner, M., Hegarty, M., Cohen, C. A., Khooshabeh, P., & Montello, D. R. (2008) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1080/03640210801898177 · Cited by 176
Dimensions of integration in embedded and extended cognitive systems
Heersmink, R. (2015) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-014-9355-1 · Cited by 191
“When playing Tetris, for example, a user only has a few seconds to decide in which orientation the zoid should be dropped into a lower template (Kirsh and Maglio 1994).”
BackgroundMethodExtended cognition and the space of social interaction
Krueger, J. W. (2010) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.09.022 · Cited by 178
“For example, beavers enact ecological changes (dam modifications, nests, burrows, paths, etc.) in response to seasonal and predatory challenges that carry over to subsequent generations by altering selection pressure (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
Designing for collaborative creative problem solving
Hilliges, O., Terrenghi, L., Boring, S., Kim, D., Richter, H., & Butz, A. M. (2007) · Creativity and Cognition · doi:10.1145/1254960.1254980 · Cited by 171
Physical and Virtual Tools: Activity Theory Applied to the Design of Groupware
Fjeld, M., Lauche, K., Bichsel, M., Voorhorst, F., Krueger, H., & Rauterberg, M. (2002) · Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1023/a:1015269228596 · Cited by 168
“Exploratory epistemic actions (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994) are performed to unveil hidden information or to gain Figure 3.”
BackgroundThe efficacy of prototyping under time constraints
Dow, S. P., Heddleston, K., & Klemmer, S. (2009) · Creativity and Cognition · doi:10.1145/1640233.1640260 · Cited by 175
“People leverage the physical world to overcome limitations in memory capacity [5,46], to convert highly cognitive tasks into perceptual/motor tasks [12,25,27,38], to effectively represent problems [36,58], and to explore alternatives [33,41,42].”
BackgroundA Taxonomy of Cognitive Artifacts: Function, Information, and Categories
Heersmink, R. (2013) · Review of Philosophy and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s13164-013-0148-1 · Cited by 164
“Numerous philosophical and empirical studies conceptualize how we deploy artifacts to perform cognitive tasks (Kirsh and Maglio 1994; Kirsh 1995; Hutchins 1995; Clark and Chalmers 1998; Clark 2008; Heersmink 2013).”
BackgroundRepresentational Translation With Concrete Models in Organic Chemistry
Stull, A. T., Hegarty, M., Dixon, B., & Stieff, M. (2012) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1080/07370008.2012.719956 · Cited by 161
“Although the minimum memory hypothesis of Kirsh and Maglio (1994) proposes that performing actions in the world takes priority over internalizing actions in memory, the soft constraints hypothesis (Gray & Fu, 2004; Gray, Sims, Fu, & Schoelles, 2006) recognizes that substituting external actions for…”
BackgroundMethodHacking, Mashing, Gluing: Understanding Opportunistic Design
Hartmann, B., Doorley, S., & Klemmer, S. (2008) · IEEE Pervasive Computing · doi:10.1109/mprv.2008.54 · Cited by 160
Embodied, Situated, and Distributed Cognition
Clark, A. (2017) · doi:10.1002/9781405164535.ch39 · Cited by 158
(2010) · Cited by 186
Problem Solving and Situated Cognition
Kirsh, D. (2001) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816826.015 · Cited by 159
Self-citationInteracting with large displays from a distance with vision-tracked multi-finger gestural input
Malik, S., Ranjan, A., & Balakrishnan, R. (2005) · ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) · doi:10.1145/1095034.1095042 · Cited by 157
“Kirsh and Maglio [22] argued that certain cognitive and perceptual tasks are better solved by doing things in the real world as opposed to solving them mentally.”
BackgroundA cognitive scientific view on technical A cognitive scientific view on technical
Risku, H. (2010) · Target International Journal of Translation Studies · doi:10.1075/target.22.1.06ris · Cited by 173
The Effects of Operator Implementation Cost on Planfulness of Problem Solving and Learning
O'Hara, K. P., & Payne, S. J. (1998) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1006/cogp.1997.0676 · Cited by 155
“planning process and by the ability to discover operator effects by manipulation of the external display ( Kirsh and Maglio, 1995 ).”
BackgroundThe impact of tangible user interfaces on spatial cognition during collaborative design
Kim, M. J., & Maher, M. L. (2008) · Design Studies · doi:10.1016/j.destud.2007.12.006 · Cited by 150
Grounding Procedural and Declarative Knowledge in Sensorimotor Anticipation
Pezzulo, G. (2011) · Mind & Language · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0017.2010.01411.x · Cited by 151
“For instance, we can rotate puzzle pieces to facilitate our understanding of where to put them (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994), and use eye movements to ‘compute’ the relationships (e.”
BackgroundAttacking the Bounds of Cognition
Menary, R. (2006) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515080600690557 · Cited by 147
Information Processing and Dynamics in Minimally Cognitive Agents
Beer, R. D., & Williams, P. L. (2014) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12142 · Cited by 150
Distributed Cognition as a Theoretical Framework for Information Visualization
Liu, Z., Nersessian, N. J., & Stasko, J. (2008) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2008.121 · Cited by 149
“Kirsh and Maglio call this kind of action an “epistemic action” [20] (Figure 3).”
BackgroundThe Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of the Social Mind
(2016) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315530178 · Cited by 151
Cognitively active externalization for situated reflection
Shirouzu, H., Miyake, N., & Masukawa, H. (2002) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog2604_3 · Cited by 154
Rhythms of the body, rhythms of the brain: Respiration, neural oscillations, and embodied cognition
Varga, S., & Heck, D. H. (2017) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2017.09.008 · Cited by 151
Exploring bimanual camera control and object manipulation in 3D graphics interfaces
Balakrishnan, R., & Kurtenbach, G. (1999) · doi:10.1145/302979.302991 · Cited by 146
“As Kirsh and Maglio have described [14], humans perform actions not only to bring them closer to the physical goals of a task (pragmatic action), but also to facilitate perception and cognition (epistemic action).”
BackgroundWestern University, Sedig, K., Parsons, P., & Western University (2013) · AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.17705/1thci.00055 · Cited by 145
Suboptimal tradeoffs in information seeking
Fu, W. T., & Gray, W. D. (2005) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2005.08.002 · Cited by 151
“The results also contribute to recent research on interactive behavior, which stresses the importance of the study of the interaction of cognition, the environment, and the task (Byrne, 2001; Gray, 2000, in press; Kirsch & Maglio, 1994 ).”
BackgroundResultConsequences of cognitive offloading: Boosting performance but diminishing memory
Grinschgl, S., Papenmeier, F., & Meyerhoff, H. S. (2021) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218211008060 · Cited by 147
“Empirically, such externalisations have been shown to improve problem-solving accuracy as well as speed (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundThe Cognitive Basis of Material Engagement: Where Brain, Body and Culture Conflate
Malafouris, L. (2004) · CogPrints (University of Southampton) · Cited by 158
An Investigation into the Cognition Behind Spontaneous String Pulling in New Caledonian Crows
Taylor, A. H., Medina, F. S., Holzhaider, J. C., Hearne, L. J., Hunt, G. R., & Gray, R. D. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009345 · Cited by 139
“This cognition is similar to that involved in time-pressured human spatial decision making such as steering a car or playing a computer game like Tetris [29].”
BackgroundSkulmowski, A., Pradel, S., Kühnert, T., Brunnett, G., & Rey, G. D. (2016) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2015.10.011 · Cited by 136
“However, similar to Kirsh and Maglio (1994) and Gray and Fu (2004), our results highlight exceptions from the often confirmed conclusion that high interactivity can be a burden.”
ResultOn tangible user interfaces, humans and spatiality
Sharlin, E., Watson, B. A., Kitamura, Y., Kishino, F., & Itoh, Y. (2004) · Personal and Ubiquitous Computing · doi:10.1007/s00779-004-0296-5 · Cited by 138
“Trial-and-error actions often fail to bring us any closer to our goal, but can sometimes reveal completely unexpected information and shortcuts that would have been very difficult to find by following a straightforward, pragmatic approach [12].”
BackgroundInteractivity and multimedia interfaces
Kirsh, D. (1997) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1023/a:1002915430871 · Cited by 135
Self-citationDeeny, S. P., Haufler, A. J., Saffer, M., & Hatfield, B. D. (2009) · Journal of Motor Behavior · doi:10.3200/jmbr.41.2.106-116 · Cited by 135
Clark, A. (2010) · Philosophical Studies · doi:10.1007/s11098-010-9598-9 · Cited by 147
Roth, W., & Jornet, A. (2013) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Cognitive Science · doi:10.1002/wcs.1242 · Cited by 174
Metadata
- Authors
- Kirsh, D., & Maglio, P.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kirsh, David
- Venue
- Cognitive Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1994-10
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 513-549
- ISSN
- 0364-0213 (ISSN-L)
- 1551-6709
- OpenAlex
- W2128922568
- Cited by
- 1,641
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 63 · 2025: 123 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 64 · 2022: 112 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 104 · 2019: 89 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 66 · 2015: 83 · 2014: 71 · 2013: 83 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 4.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cognitive Science (publishedVersion)
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI-based Problem Solving and Planning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- epistemic actions, Tetris, video gaming, cognition and action, information processing model, problem solving, philosophy of action
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-12, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-12 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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