Media Cognitive Determinants

Marcin Sieńko

English version of the article

The media influence our cognitive mechanisms, often in a negative way, interfering with the process of knowledge acquisition. The goal of this article is to propose a plane for deliberations on this type of interference. When we take into account philosophic, social and biological studies' accomplishments, we can create a research paradigm which will allow us to characterize the cognitive determinants related to media. A fundament for the model proposed in the article is a cognitive apparatus metaphor (Kant, Cassirer, Gadamer). Other key elements are memetics (Dawkins, Blackmore, Distin), heuristics and cognitive errors theories (Tversky, Kahneman, Gigerenzer) as well as selected theories by media experts (McLuhan, Bolter and Grusin) and technique theoreticians. The terminology system built on such a base allows us to successfully determine the influence of media on our cognitive activities. This will be shown based on three cognitive errors often made by Internet users.

KEYWORDS

media, cognitive errors, cognitive apparatus, heuristics, memetics, the Internet