Homogenization, Automatization and Externalization. The Influence of Computer Technology on the Course and Organization of Human Cognitive Processes

Abstract

Cognitive activity, which essentially consists of the use of signs, depends not only on the “internal” (mental or brain) processes. The hypothesis of the “extracortical organization of higher nervous activity” assumes that internal mental functions occur at times due to the existence of functional sets in which “internal” cognitive activity is supported by cultural means instruments. The simplest example of such an activity based on internal cognitive processes and external means is calculation which, although possible to perform without a calculator, necessitates at least a piece of paper and a pencil, together with the socially acquired skill of doing arithmetics on paper. The use of computer is another example of the coordination between internal cognitive or nervous processes and external use of cultural instruments. This coordination is, in fact, the extracortical modification of individual’s cognitive activity. Human mentality has changed after the invention of the alphabet and writing. The invention of the computer caused the other revolution in human mentality.