ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

A Science-Historical Analysis of the Development and Transformation of “Cybernetic Creatures”, 1951–1980

• In Event: Rewiring Humans 1: Biology, Psychotherapy, and Philosophy in the Age of Digital Computers

English Abstract

In my dissertation project, I examine the design of technological learning environments from the 1960s onward. Central to my research are the epistemological approaches that informed the design of such environments. Epistemological frameworks—well before the 1960s—had a significant influence on the development of learning technologies. As early as 1900, learning technologies were used as instruments for the practical implementation of theories of knowledge about human learning. Epistemology shapes the design of human–machine interactions, while the resulting experimental arrangements, in turn, shape epistemology. Beginning in the 1960s, new and progressive learning theories increasingly entered the technological domain. Concepts such as interactive learning, situated learning, and embodied learning became foundational to the design of technological learning environments. These approaches were intended to offer alternatives to earlier, instructional models of learning and to help children observe and analyze their own thinking. With the help of the computer, the previously bored and passive learner was expected to become an active and creative learner. Starting in the 1960s, under the direction of Seymour Papert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), technological learning environments emerged that were influenced by Jean Piaget’s constructivist theory of learning. A central component of these environments were the so-called “turtles”. These creatures were inspired by the cybernetic “tortoises” developed by William Grey Walter. In my presentation, I aim to trace the science-historical development of these objects beginning in 1951. I will examine which concepts and theories of human learning influenced the developers of these artefacts. Furthermore, I will analyze how these objects evolved between 1951 and 1980 and how they contributed to the transformation of learning environments.

Author

• Jeannine Honig, Technical University of Darmstadt