Cognition in Practice: Mind, Mathematics and Culture in Everyday Life

by Jean Lave

In this innovative study, Jean Lave moves the analysis of one particular form of cognitive activity--arithmetic problem-solving--out of the laboratory and into the domain of everyday life. In so doing, she shows how mathematics in the "real world", such as that entailed in grocery shopping or dieting, is, like all thinking, shaped by the dynamic encounter between the culturally-endowed mind and its total context, a subtle interaction that shapes both the human subject and the world within which it acts.

Genres: Psychology, Education, Mathematics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Programming, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 1988

Reviews

[Jan D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was an interesting read, relatively accessible though occasionally I needed to look up some latin-ish words. It has a good balance between empirical data and theory. I would have liked some more thick descriptions and particularly, some photos and illustrations of what is described.
The criticism of both cognitive psychology and functionalist sociology is well researched; the empirical data is extensive.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take-aways I remember from this book. Most people do not use standard algorithms to do the math they need to do in their daily lives, and yet people rarely miscalculate in important areas (eg... determining which of similar items of disparate size is the better deal).

[Sean.stromsten · Rating 1 out of 5]

For those who like lit. crit. linguistic inflation with a side of cognitive science.

[Jasim]

good one