TABLE OF CONTENTS So far in this chapter we have ranged over some broad issues of design, invention and the way in which the personal experiences and mental states (cognitive development) of the designer might influence the outcomes of a design. It is appropriate that we formalise these concepts, inasmuch as they are of some interest to researchers in cognitive science and its application to design. Although Herbert Simon wrote about human decision-making behaviour over half a century ago, [2.22] his views on this topic expressed most cogently in his Nobel Memorial lecture may be summarised by the statement: [2.23]
It is a vulgar fallacy to suppose that scientific inquiry can not be fundamental if it threatens to become useful, or if it arises in response to problems posed by the everyday world. The real world, in fact, is perhaps the most fertile of all sources of good research questions calling for basic scientific inquiry.
Cognitive science is "the study of intelligence and intelligent systems, with particular reference to intelligent behaviour as computation." [2.24] Computer modelling of intelligent (rational) behaviour includes the study of creative problem solving. In one study an artist, Harold Cohen, programmed a robot to produce original works of art. [2.25] The notion of programming and originality may seem self-contradictory. Yet, a MaT project for student designers at Stanford, in the early 1970s, asked for the design and construction of a simple mechanism to produce an original work of...
