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”
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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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.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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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.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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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.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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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.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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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
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981; Reason, 1990
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- Not matched
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 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
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The possibilities of disruption: Serendipity, accidents and impasse driven search
Ross, W. (2023) · Possibility Studies & Society · doi:10.1177/27538699231173625 · Cited by 15
“The changing of representations is no longer internal but external and the actions are no longer mental simulations but movements in the world (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994; Valle´e-Tourangeau et al., 2016).”
BackgroundSpontaneous body movements in spatial cognition
Popescu, S. E. (2012) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00136 · Cited by 14
“More indirectly, when playing the computer game Tetris, both novices and experts executed rapid rotations of figures (via keystrokes) as a substitute to costly mental rotations (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundDo sensorimotor dynamics extend the conscious mind?
Pepper, K. (2013) · Adaptive Behavior · doi:10.1177/1059712313508292 · Cited by 14
“In a now classic example, Clark & Chalmers cite experiments by Kirsh and Maglio (1994) showing that players of the retro videogame Tetris, rather than acting on prior decisions based on the formation and rotation of mental images, identify the best shape of fit for falling puzzle pieces on a…”
MethodComparing Tangible and Multi-touch Interaction for Interactive Data Visualization Tasks
Al-Megren, S., & Ruddle, R. A. (2016) · doi:10.1145/2839462.2839464 · Cited by 15
“Epistemic actions change the world and simplify the task, but do not necessarily bring the person closer to their goal [10].”
BackgroundClark, A. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190662813.003.0020 · Cited by 15
Rewilding Cognition: Complex Dynamics in Open Experimental Systems
Ross, W., & Vallée‐Tourangeau, F. (2021) · Journal of Trial and Error · doi:10.36850/e4 · Cited by 15
Clark, A. (2008) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-046616-3.00003-7 · Cited by 14
Interaction and the epistemic potential of digital libraries
Fast, K. V., & Sedig, K. (2010) · International Journal on Digital Libraries · doi:10.1007/s00799-011-0066-8 · Cited by 16
“Epistemic actions have been studied in a number of contexts, such as learning to play Tetris [60,71], solving problems like Towers of Hanoi [72], learning complex procedures such as tying knots [73], and interpreting field observations of rock formations [74].”
BackgroundInfluentialRahaman, J., Agrawal, H., Srivastava, N., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2018) · Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1111/cogs.12518 · Cited by 16
Modeling business representational activity online: A case study of a customer-centered business
Flor, N. V., & Maglio, P. P. (2003) · Knowledge-Based Systems · doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2003.08.011 · Cited by 15
Self-citationIntroduction to special issue: Video games as research instruments
Calvillo-Gámez, E. H., Gow, J., & Cairns, P. A. (2011) · Entertainment Computing · doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2011.03.011 · Cited by 15
Information Dynamics: Its Theory and Application to Embodied Cognitive Systems
Williams, P. L. (2011) · doi:10.13140/2.1.1401.2162 · Cited by 17
Walter, S., & Kästner, L. (2010) · Cognitive Systems Research · doi:10.1016/j.cogsys.2010.10.001 · Cited by 15
The Extended Mind: A Chapter in the History of Transhumanism
Theiner, G. (2021) · Studies in brain and mind · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-72644-7_13 · Cited by 15
How We Cope with Digital Technology
Turner, P. (2013) · Synthesis lectures on human-centered informatics · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-02201-2 · Cited by 15
Zambo, D. M. (2014) · Educational Action Research · doi:10.1080/09650792.2014.918902 · Cited by 20
“For example, Kirsh and Maglio (1994) sought to understand how players interact with video games.”
BackgroundUse of Complementary Actions Decreases with Expertise
Destefano, M., Lindstedt, J. K., & Gray, W. D. (2011) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 14
Driver assist system for human–machine interaction
Takada, Y., Boer, E. R., & Sawaragi, T. (2017) · Cognition Technology & Work · doi:10.1007/s10111-017-0439-x · Cited by 14
“These preliminary behaviors are called epistemic behaviors and allow a human actor to estimate the appropriate level and timing of a control action to be produced (Kirsh and Maglio 1994).”
BackgroundThe Translator’s Extended Mind
Balashov, Y. V. (2020) · Minds and Machines · doi:10.1007/s11023-020-09536-5 · Cited by 14
“…easier, faster or more reliable”; they are “designed to change the input to an agent’s information-processing system” by “modifying the external environment [in order] to provide crucial bits of information just when they are needed most” (Kirsh and Maglio 1994; quoted in Clark 2014: 194).”
BackgroundAdaptive Rooms, Virtual Collaboration and Cognitive Workflow
Kirsh, D. (1998) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/3-540-69706-3_10 · Cited by 14
Self-citationGesture analysis in a case study with a tangible user interface for collaborative problem solving
Anastasiou, D., Maquil, V., & Ras, E. (2014) · Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces · doi:10.1007/s12193-014-0158-z · Cited by 14
“They aim at altering the environment in order to better understand the context and search for a solution or strategy to perform a next step (Kirsh and Maglio [16]).”
MethodResultInfluentialRivolier, G., Quinton, J., Gonthier, C., & Smeding, A. (2020) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-020-01484-3 · Cited by 12
“A movement of the mouse aiming to selectively access part of an APM item can be viewed as an epistemic action (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994): an action performed to uncover information that is hidden or hard to compute mentally (by contrast with pragmatic actions, which are performed to bring one…”
BackgroundExtending organizational cognition: A conceptual exploration of mental extension in organizations
Islam, G. (2014) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726714531996 · Cited by 15
“At the same time, by distinguishing between ‘pragmatic’ and ‘epistemic’ activity (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994), these perspectives do allow a degree of separation between the activity of representing and that of manipulating external artefacts, although this separation is much more fluid than in…”
Interacting with 3D and 2D Mobile Maps: An Exploratory Study
Oulasvirta, A., Nurminen, A., & Nivala, A. (2007) · Cited by 14
Simulation and Analysis of Shared Extended Mind
Bosse, T., Jonker, C. M., Schut, M. C., & Jan Treur, A. (2005) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-32243-6_20 · Cited by 15
Cognitive Offloading in Short-Term Memory Tasks: Trust Toward Tools as a Moderator
Peng, J.-L., & Yeh, S. (2025) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2474449 · Cited by 13
“The concept of cognitive offloading traces back to two key ideas: epistemic actions, which are physical actions that make mental computation easier (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994), and computational offloading, which involves using different external representations to reduce cognitive effort required to…”
Pouw, W. T. J. L., & Hostetter, A. B. (2016) · MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) · doi:10.12832/83918 · Cited by 14
Phenomenal transparency, cognitive extension, and predictive processing
Facchin, M. (2022) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-022-09831-9 · Cited by 15
“Researchers (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994) found that players’ button presses are not finalized just to move (translate and rotate) zoids to target locations to then drop them.”
Revisiting embodiment for brain–computer interfaces
Serim, B., Spapé, M., & Jacucci, G. (2023) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/07370024.2023.2170801 · Cited by 15
“In contrast, researchers working in the tradition of distributed cognition study the interdependence between mental processing and interactions with the environment (e.g., Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
Facchin, M., & Leonetti, G. (2024) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-024-04579-y · Cited by 14
“A way to make sense of Clark (2019) and Chalmers’s (2019) claim that in cases of genuine cognitive extension perception-action loops are part of the cognitive processing is by casting such loops as epistemic actions (Maglio & Kirsh 1992; Kirsh & Maglio 1994; Kirsh 2019; Clark 2008, 2022).”
Augmented reality interactive experiences for multi-level chemistry understanding
Olim, S. C., Nisi, V., & Romão, T. (2024) · International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100681 · Cited by 34
“We also believe that PF games can promote learning through epistemic actions, that is, actions performed to uncover complex information to compute mentally, sometimes through trial-and-error (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
Torres–Martínez, S. (2021) · Semiotica · doi:10.1515/sem-2019-0113 · Cited by 13
Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. J. (2011) · CIC Cuadernos de Información y Comunicación · doi:10.5209/rev_ciyc.2011.v16.1 · Cited by 13
Embodied cognitive ecosophy: the relationship of mind, body, meaning and ecology
Jones, D. (2017) · Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography · doi:10.1080/04353684.2017.1306971 · Cited by 13
“For example, if you are writing in the margins of this paper you are doing just that – offloading cognitive load to your context and environment (e.g. Kirsh and Maglio 1994; Aizawa 2014).”
BackgroundAre online games a blessing or evil? The moderating role of self-worth
Ding, J., Shan, R., Chenmeng, M., Tu, M., Yu, Q., Kong, F., & Zhao, Q. (2021) · Thinking Skills and Creativity · doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100915 · Cited by 17
Language Processing Embodied and Embedded
Spivey, M. J., & Richardson, D. C. (2001) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816826.020 · Cited by 13
Addition as Interactive Problem Solving
Neth, H., & Payne, S. J. (2001) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 13
THE IXIQUARKS: MERGING CODE AND GUI IN ONE CREATIVE SPACE
Magnusson, T. (2007) · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · Cited by 13
Evaluating Effort: Influences of Evaluation Mode on Judgments of Task‐specific Efforts
Dunn, T. L., Koehler, D. J., & Risko, E. F. (2017) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.2018 · Cited by 15
Reactive Agents Learn to Add Epistemic Structures to the World
Chandrasekharan, S., & Stewart, T. (2004) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 13
Representational transformations: Using maps to write essays
Binks, A., Toniolo, A., & Nacenta, M. A. (2022) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102851 · Cited by 12
“…action (it does not directly contribute to goal of writing the essay) and is instead an epistemic action: it aims to improve the writer ’ s internal environment, perhaps by reducing the space complexity, time complexity, or chance of error in future mental operations (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundAugmenting spatial skills with mobile devices
Boari, D., Fraser, M., Fraser, D. S., & Cater, K. F. (2012) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2207676.2208284 · Cited by 12
“…of smart phones, and the affordability of in car GPS navigation systems, it has become commonplace to rely on turn-by-turn instructions to efficiently navigate as people become reliant on the technology and are not required to go through complex cognitive moves in order to complete the task [19].”
BackgroundThe Extended Mind Thesis and Its Applications
Farina, M., & Levin, S. M. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-78471-3_6 · Cited by 13
Mouse tracking performance: A new approach to analyzing continuous mouse tracking data
Meyer, T., Kim, A. D., Spivey, M. J., & Yoshimi, J. (2023) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-023-02210-5 · Cited by 12
“In a similar fashion, expert Tetris players have been shown to rely heavily on the rotate button, allowing them to offload some of their cognition (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
BackgroundBrain–Behavior Relationships of Trust in Shared Space Human–Robot Collaboration
Hopko, S. K., Zhang, Y., Yadav, A., Pagilla, P. R., & Mehta, R. K. (2023) · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction · doi:10.1145/3632149 · Cited by 18
“In this investigation, we found sex differences for how operators reacted to cobot reliability manipulation as well as main effect differences between the sexes.”
BackgroundEthics of Artificial Intelligence in Academia
Khan, Z. R. (2024) · Springer International Handbooks of Education · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_188 · Cited by 19
An ecological approach to conceptual thinking in material engagement
Alessandroni, N., Malafouris, L., & Gallagher, S. (2024) · Europe’s Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.13227 · Cited by 16
“For example, Kirsh and Maglio (1994) provided evidence that, during a Tetris game, certain translations and rotations can work by relieving the cognitive load of problem-solving processes intrinsic to the game, even if they are not inten ded to improve board position.”
BackgroundEcologically Grounded Multimodal Design: The Palafito 1.0 Study
Keller, D., Cons, L. L., Capasso, A., et al. (2014) · Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University) · doi:10.13140/2.1.4278.0484 · Cited by 12
Applying the Norman 1986 User-Centered Model to Post-WIMP UIs
Poor, G. M., Jaffee, S. D., Leventhal, L. M., Ringenberg, J., Klopfer, D. S., Zimmerman, G., & Klein, B. A. (2016) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/2983531 · Cited by 12
“Epistemic behaviors in the CCT would be manipulations of the problem environment to get a better mental representation of the task and UI, though the action was not directly related to problem solving (see also Kirsh and Maglio [1994]).”
BackgroundEPISTEMIC ACTION, EXTENDED KNOWLEDGE, AND METACOGNITION
Proust, J. (2014) · Philosophical Issues · doi:10.1111/phis.12038 · Cited by 13
Using Augmented Reality Prototypes in Design Education
Chandrasekera, T. (2023) · Journal of design and technology education/Design and technology education · doi:10.24377/dteij.article1612 · Cited by 12
Environmental Representation of the Body
Cussins, A. (2012) · Review of Philosophy and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s13164-012-0086-3 · Cited by 12
Ubiquitous music : concepts and metaphors
Flores, L. V., Pimenta, M. S., Capasso, A., et al. (2009) · Lume (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) · Cited by 12
Representation control increases task efficiency in complex graphical representations
Moritz, J., Meyerhoff, H. S., Meyer-Dernbecher, C., & Schwan, S. (2018) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196420 · Cited by 11
New literacy theories for participatory design
Taylor, J. L., Soro, A., & Brereton, M. F. (2018) · Participatory Design Conference · doi:10.1145/3210586.3210588 · Cited by 16
Distributed Attention: A Cognitive Ethnography of Instruction in Sport Settings
Muntanyola‐Saura, D., & García, R. S. (2018) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/jtsb.12183 · Cited by 12
Kirsh, D. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190662813.003.0011 · Cited by 13
Self-citationWide coding: Tetris, Morse and, perhaps, language
Cowley, S. J. (2019) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2019.104025 · Cited by 12
“Later, this was rethought around the 410 epistemic actions (Kirsh and Maglio, 1994) that are more fully discussed below.”
BackgroundPredicting instabilities: an embodied perspective on unstable experiences with art and design
Muth, C., & Carbon, C. (2023) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2022.0416 · Cited by 11
“For instance, ‘ epistemic actions ’ [11] are not oriented toward a distant goal but facilitate the perceptual task: e.g. we move toward an object in order to inspect it more closely.”
BackgroundThinking by Doing? Epistemic Actions in the Tower of Hanoi
Neth, H., & Payne, S. J. (2019) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315782379-154 · Cited by 12
“…general support for a deliberate learning mode nested within problem solving activity can be derived from the work of Kirsh and colleagues (1995, Kirsh & Maglio, 1994), who have explored a distinction between goal-directed pragmatic actions and epistemic actions whose primary purpose is to…”
BackgroundLanguage and biosemiosis: Towards unity?
Cowley, S. J. (2006) · Semiotica · doi:10.1515/sem.2006.088 · Cited by 12
Barceló, J. A. (2007) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262033534.003.0023 · Cited by 12
Mueller, F., & Bianchi‐Berthouze, N. (2015) · Human-computer interaction series · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15985-0_11 · Cited by 12
FORUM: Toward a Phenomenology of Interviews
Lemke, J. L., Kelly, G., & Roth, W. M. (2005) · Cultural Studies of Science Education · doi:10.1007/s11422-005-9001-x · Cited by 12
Codifying distributed cognition: a case study of emergency medical dispatch
Furniss, D. J. (2004) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 12
The Brain Evolved to Guide Action
Anderson, M. L., & Chemero, A. P. (2016) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118316757.ch1 · Cited by 14
Auditory and haptic feedback to train basic mathematical skills of children with visual impairments
Marichal, S., Rosales, A., Perilli, F. G., Pires, A. C., & Blat, J. (2022) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2022.2060860 · Cited by 11
“…(e.g. Cuisenaire Rods (Cuisenaire and Gattegno 1957)) support embodied cognition (Wilson 2002; Anderson 2003), the execution of epistemic actions (Kirsh and Maglio 1994), and foster conceptual metaphors (Nunemacher, Lakoff, and Nunez 2002) during the processes common within the acquisition of…”
BackgroundInfluentialAntrilli, N. K., & Wang, S. (2022) · British Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.1111/bjet.13269 · Cited by 13
Reconceptualizing Simulations: Epistemic Objects and Epistemic Practices in Professional Education
Sellberg, C., & Solberg, M. (2024) · Philosophy & Technology · doi:10.1007/s13347-024-00764-6 · Cited by 14
“…as “epistemic actions” taken to acquire novel information about the professional world or transmit knowledge and skills, and which are usefully contrasted to “pragmatic actions” undertaken to change the material world to bring something physically closer to a goal (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994).”
A Theoretical Model of Using Extended Reality in Architecture Design Education
Darwish, M., Kamel, S. M., & Assem, A. M. (2022) · Engineering Research Journal - Faculty of Engineering (Shoubra) · doi:10.21608/erjsh.2022.168677.1099 · Cited by 11
Exploring Augmented Reality for Situated Analytics with Many Movable Physical Referents
Calepso, A. S., Fleck, P., Schmalstieg, D., et al. (2023) · ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) · doi:10.1145/3611659.3615700 · Cited by 11
“In contrast, a situated visualization/analytics application may very well have lightweight use of visualization, but high complexity in the user’s sensemaking engagement with referents in the real world – or, epistemic actions in the language of Kirsh [33].”
BackgroundExpert Knowledge and Video-Aided Ethnography. A Methodological Account
Muntanyola‐Saura, D. (2012) · Revue de Synthèse · doi:10.1007/s11873-012-0176-x · Cited by 11
Flores, L. V., Miletto, E. M., Pimenta, M. S., et al. (2010) · ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (SIGDOC) · doi:10.1145/1878450.1878484 · Cited by 11
“facilitating, epistemic actions as a complement to pragmatic actions on the system [17, 8].”
BackgroundExtended cognition and epistemology
Clark, A., Pritchard, D., & Vaesen, K. (2012) · Philosophical Explorations · doi:10.1080/13869795.2012.679294 · Cited by 11
“In ‘The epistemic/pragmatic distinction’, Paul Loader reconsiders the relevance of the distinction between epistemic and pragmatic action that is drawn by David Kirsch and Paul Maglio in work that heavily influenced the development of the extended mind research program (see Kirsh and Maglio 1994 ).”
BackgroundDiscourse with Visual Health Data: Design of Human-Data Interaction
Ola, O., & Sedig, K. (2018) · Multimodal Technologies and Interaction · doi:10.3390/mti2010010 · Cited by 11
“Filtering and other epistemic actions transform the world to facilitate mental information-processing needs [28,63].”
BackgroundPezzulo, G., & Nolfi, S. (2019) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e21040350 · Cited by 10
“, rotate Tetris pieces before placing them) in order to unveil possible solutions that would be more difficult to identify by reasoning alone, thus rendering cognition more situated [57].”
BackgroundFast, K. V., & Sedig, K. (2006) · Texas Digital Library (University of Texas) · Cited by 11
Lebahn-Hadidi, M., Abildgren, L., Hounsgaard, L., & Steffensen, S. V. (2021) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-021-09780-9 · Cited by 11
Evolutionary psychology and the rehabilitation of offenders: Constraints and consequences
Ward, T. J., & Durrant, R. (2011) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2011.02.011 · Cited by 11
Epistemic action: A measure for cognitive support in tangible user interfaces?
Fjeld, M., & Barendregt, W. (2009) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.41.3.876 · Cited by 11
“Kirsh and Maglio [2] distinguish between ‘epistemic’ and ‘pragmatic’ actions.”
Sensory-motor Coordination in Object Detection
de Croon, G., & Postma, E. O. (2007) · IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life (ALIFE) · doi:10.1109/alife.2007.367790 · Cited by 11
Nova, N. (2004) · Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) · Cited by 11
Ip, J., & Cooperstock, J. R. (2011) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-24500-8_64 · Cited by 11
“…interaction is required, we expect that tangible objects will be preferred due to their assistance with planning through spatialization (Kirsh, 1995) (Kirsh & Maglio, 1994) (Patten & Ishii, 2000) and support of parallel actions between multiple people (Fitzmaurice, Ishii, & Buxton, 1995).”
Extreme Expertise: Exploring Expert Behavior in Tetris.
Lindstedt, J. K., & Gray, W. D. (2013) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 11
Reviving a Tangible Interface Affording 3D Spatial Interaction
Sutphen, S., Sharlin, E., Watson, B. A., et al. (2000) · Cited by 11
Design and Evaluation of Four AR Navigation Tools Using Scene and Viewpoint Handling
Fjeld, M., Ironmonger, N., Guttormsen, S., & Krueger, H. (2001) · doi:10.3929/ethz-a-010042274 · Cited by 11
“Keywords: augmented reality, tangible user interface, bricks, 3D navigation, usability evaluation”
BackgroundRosen, M. A. (2010) · ProQuest Demo Repository · Cited by 11
A metaphysical account of agency for technology governance
Soltanzadeh, S. (2024) · AI & Society · doi:10.1007/s00146-024-01941-z · Cited by 16
“Technologies such as dice, maps, radar systems and ultrasound technologies contribute to the creation of cognition, decision-making and intentional action (Clark and Chalmers 1998; Kirsh and Maglio 1994; Norman 1991; Sutton 2008; Verbeek 2011).”
Gärdenfors, P. (2014) · Outstanding contributions to logic · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06025-5_31 · Cited by 10
Interaction design and cognitive gameplay
Sedig, K., & Haworth, R. (2014) · Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play · doi:10.1145/2658537.2658691 · Cited by 10
“Since previous research has examined other aspects of interaction (e.g., [12, 21, 23]), we decided to explore the usefulness of activation time for the systematic design of cognitive gameplay, which is the focus of this paper.”
BackgroundEgocentric interaction as a tool for designing ambient ecologies—The case of the easy ADL ecology
Surie, D., Janlert, L.-E., Pederson, T., et al. (2012) · Pervasive and Mobile Computing · doi:10.1016/j.pmcj.2011.12.004 · Cited by 10
“Epistemic operations., i.e., physical operations performed to facilitate cognition rather than to further physical progress toward some external goal [27] , may offer particularly transparent access into the mind of the agent.”
BackgroundPatterns of Musical Interaction with Computing Devices
Flores, L. V., Pimenta, M. S., & Keller, D. (2014) · Cadernos de Informática · Cited by 10
Egocentric interaction for ambient intelligence
Surie, D. (2012) · Cited by 10
Brich, I. R., Bause, I. M., Hesse, F. W., & Wesslein, A. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.106860 · Cited by 9
Evaluation of user gestures in multi-touch interaction
Soro, A., Iacolina, S. A., Scateni, R., et al. (2011) · International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces · doi:10.1145/2070481.2070508 · Cited by 10
“More precisely: is multi-touch better than the desktop for some traditional application?”
BackgroundMeaning and the real life of language—Learning from “pathological” cases in science classrooms
Roth, W. (2015) · Linguistics and Education · doi:10.1016/j.linged.2015.03.010 · Cited by 10
Morse, A. F., Baxter, P. E., Belpaeme, T., et al. (2011) · IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) · doi:10.1109/devlrn.2011.6037349 · Cited by 10
“So what begins as an epistemic action – " external actions that an agent performs to change its own computational state " [5] p. 3 -can become internalised.”
BackgroundSemiotic Scaffolding in Mathematics
Johansen, M. W., & Misfeldt, M. (2015) · Biosemiotics · doi:10.1007/s12304-014-9228-6 · Cited by 10
Lessons and new directions for extended cognition from social and personality psychology
Skorburg, J. A. (2017) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2017.1282606 · Cited by 11
“I concur, and in this paper I will attempt to expand the range of empirical work that is relevant to the extended cognition debate beyond the usual suspects (e.g., Ballard, Hayhoe, Pook, & Rao, 1997; Brooks, 1991; Kirsh & Maglio, 1994) and into the domain of social and personality psychology.”
BackgroundCulture in the world shapes culture in the head (and vice versa)
Baggs, E., Raja, V., & Anderson, M. L. (2019) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x19001079 · Cited by 11
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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