Information Systems and Activity Modalities – A Coordination Perspective on the Interaction between the Neural and the Social Lars Taxén, Linköping University

Who am I? Methods, processes, IT, Information systems project management 34 yrs 13 yrs Researching the coordination of complex development tasks, PhD (2003), Associate professor (2007) 8 yrsConsulting No thorough background in neurosciences!

My perspective on NeuroIS

NEURAL REALMSOCIAL REALM Human brain and body artefacts social reality other humans vision hearing taste smell touch

human brain artefacts social reality other humans vision hearing taste smell touch NEURALSOCIAL Neural research

Ilin & Perlovsky, 2011

human artefacts social reality other humans vision hearing taste smell touch NEURALSOCIAL Social research

NEURAL Human brain and body artefacts social reality other humans SOCIAL vision hearing taste smell touch A balanced perspective

Point of departure - Coordination Coordination is at the core of human action - spans both the neural and social realms

? Coordination human vision hearing taste smell touch Social realm Conceptual realm Neural realm Information Systems (IS) social reality other humans Research focus

The architecture of the brain constrains and enables the construction of purposeful artifacts (e.g. ISs) 1 st premise

Physical artefacts

“Mental” artifacts - writing systems (Dehaene, 2009)

In spite of their apparent diversity, all [writing systems] share a great many common features that reflect how visual information is encoded in our cortex. Over time, scribes developed increasingly efficient notations that fitted the organization of our brains. In brief, our cortex did not specifically evolve for writing. Rather, writing evolved to fit the cortex.

Humans are endowed with innate predispositions for coordinating actions – the Activity Modalities 2 nd premise

The telecom industry - where it all started

The telecom network

Coordinating the development of the 3G mobile systems ~ subprojects 18 development sites ~1000 persons involved

Coordinative “dimensions”

A “contextual dimension” – the object in focus

Information models “Spatial” dimension - relevant things

Process models “Temporal” dimension – order of actions

Rules “Stabilizing” dimension - Norms indicating proper actions

Interaction with other contexts “Focal shift” dimension - transition between contexts

Information Systems Mediational means, tools

Consorted action Common understanding

IS development Information System Information model “Enactment” dimension - acquiring capabilities

transition stabilizing temporal spatial object in focus enactment common understanding means These various dimensions are imperative for managing coordination. Why?

Towards a theory for coordination Ericsson practice Activity Theory (Vygotsky, Luria, Leontiev, …)

Mediational means (tools, gestures, language) Object, Motive Actors taking roles Common understanding The constitution of human activity – the Activity Domain Enactment – acquiring capabilities Action imperatives:Activity Modalities Framing a context around the object- Contextualization Sorting out relevant things - Spatialization Establishing an order of actions - Temporalization Working out norms for proper actions - Stabilization Focal shift- Transition

“Universal” features of human activity Object, Motive Actors Mediational means Common understanding Enactment Activity modalities –Contextualization –Spatialization –Temporalization –Stabilization –Transition Reflect innate “coordinative” faculties of the brain

Grounding the theory - the social realm

Notation is 800 years old! It is plausible that it has evolved to fit the organization of the brain Temporal dimension Spatial dimension Stabilizing dimension Interrelation

Grounding the theory - the conceptual realm

Jackendoff’s theory of meaning

[CONCEPTUAL] structure *Real* realm *duck* [DUCK] [RABBIT] *rabbit* sensory impression, physical stimuli

Jackendoff’s theory of meaning [DUCK] [CONCEPTUAL] structure *Real* realm #Projected# realm #duck# “That is a duck!” [RABBIT]

Jackendoff’s theory of meaning [CONCEPTUAL] structure #Projected# realm *Real* realm *duckrabbit* [RABBIT] #rabbit# [DUCK] #duck#

Jackendoff’s theory of meaning Conceptual structure –A common layer for linguistic, visual and motor information –Evident from “pragmatic anaphora” utterances Ontological categories –Basic dimensions along which humans organize experiences Examples –[THING], [PLACE], [PATH], [EVENT], [STATE], [PROPERTY], –[DIRECTION], [ACTION],[ACTOR], [GOAL], [TYPE], [TOKEN],... Total set of ontological categories is universal –Innate

Activity Modalities - Ontological Categories Spatialization [THING]s are related to other [THING]s [THING]s have [PROPERTIES] [THING]s have [STATE]s [DIRECTION]s provide orientation Temporalization [EVENT]s changes [STATE]s or [PROPERTIES] of [THING]s Stabilization Ability to categorize is central to achieve stabilization Stabilization affects [TYPE]s and [TOKEN]s of [THINGS]

Grounding the theory - the neural realm

vision hearing taste smell touch Action Manifested social elements Manifested neural elements contextual spatial temporal stabilizing transitional contextual spatial temporal stabilizing transitional

Evaluative Systems (VALUE) Neuronal Workspace (COORDINATING) prefrontal cortex Attentional Systems (FOCUSING) Motor Systems (FUTURE) Perceptual Systems (PRESENT) Long-term Memory (PAST) Hippocampal area Para-hippocampal area Ventral and lateral areas of temporal lobes Temporal and inferior parietal areas Wernicke’s area Premotor cortex Posterior parietal cortex Supplementary motor area Basal ganglia Cerebellum Left inferior frontal lobe Broca’s area. Parietal lobe.Hippocampal area Orbitofrontal cortex Anterior cingulate Hypothalamus Amygdala Ventral striatum as well as the prefrontal cortex The neuronal workspace hypothesis (adapted after Dehaene, Kerszberg, & Changeux, 1998)

Neuronal Workspace (COORDINATING) The neuronal workspace hypothesis Perceptual Systems (PRESENT) Sensations arrive in sensory modalities Evaluative Systems (VALUE) The current situation is evaluated for alternative actions Attentional Systems (FOCUSING) An object is focused Relevant things are attended - contextualization - spatialization Long-term Memory (PAST) Similar situations are retrieved from memory - entire activity domains Motor Systems (FUTURE) Actions are executed - temporalization - stabilization - mediational means

Neuronal Workspace (COORDINATING) The neuronal workspace hypothesis Perceptual Systems (PRESENT) New sensations Attentional Systems (FOCUSING) An new object is focused - transition

Information System Development

contextualization spatialization temporalization stabilization transition IS should mediate all activity modalities and their interactions

Some additional implications IS Development is reconceptualized as context development –IS-artifact –IS in context –the context of the IS The activity domain is the point of departure for ISD –Organizations conceptualized as constellations of activity domains Enactment implies an evolutionary development method ISD need to balance internal and external aspects of activity domains

Summing up - (paraphrasing Dehaene, 2009) In spite of their apparent diversity, all Information Systems share a great many common features that reflect how information is encoded in our cortex Over time, ISs will increasingly efficient be developed to fit the organization of our brains In brief, our cortex did not specifically evolve for ISs. Rather, ISs will evolve to fit the cortex The activity modalities will be at the core of such endeavors

contextualization spatialization temporalization stabilization transition NEURAL REALMSOCIAL REALM vision hearing taste smell touch transition stabilization temporalization spatialization contextualization Research program Coordination

Some connections picked up from this Gmunden retreat (so far) Genetics –heritability, construction plan -> universal features of the brain -> coordinative predispositions –London taxi drivers -> cognitive map -> spatialization modality Stopping behavior –Gathering useful and relevant information for acting -> coordination -> all activity modalities involved –Stopping rules -> stabilization modality Memory networks –Combining verbal and gestures ->Jackendoff conceptual structure -> common layer for linguistic, visual and motor information Eye tracking –Fixating object in focus, blurred out of focus, areas of interest -> contextualization –Saccade, moving between contexts ->, transition modality

The activity modalities - merely a certain perspective on something we all do everyday, including right now!