Krasnow Institute > Monday Seminars > Abstracts

Constructive Memory-
From Dewey through Bartlett to Situated Computation

John Gero

Research Professor, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study and
Volgenau School of Information Technology, George Mason University

“Subsequent experiences structure and hence give meaning to what was experienced before” (John Dewey 1896).

John Dewey and Frederic Bartlett laid the foundations for a different cognitive notion of memory than is used in current computation. The seminar introduces the twin concepts of situatedness and constructivism as the basis of the development of a new form of computation called “situated computation”. Situatedness deals with world views and contexts and constructivism with how “memories” are produced when needed rather than simply recalled. Examples of systems built on these concepts will be presented.

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