Reaction: Distributed Cognition as a Theoretical Framework for Information Visualization

The main aim of this paper was to propose Distributed cognition(DCog) as a theoretical framework for information visualization. According to me the authors couldn't do justice to what they were trying to propose. Few points in paper which defy the framework:

• "Thus, this paper neither tries to invalidate or falsify traditional cognitivism notion, nor does it advocate the validity of DCog as a theory" statement doesn't really approve of what they are putting forward in this paper.
• In the paper they state that DCog has not yet been considered a significant theoretical framework that deals with the central issue of cognition.
• The framework as in the paper also does not address all issues of importance to InfoVis, for e.g. the nature of visual perception.
• Authors say that the framework is not yet developed fully and hence can not provide full explanations of the general principles of cognitive coupling, coordination, externalization or interaction, and therefore cannot be directly applied to issues in InfoVis.
• In the conclusion, they mention that it is not effective in providing prescription and prediction.

The paper is not clear enough and the authors have not provided enough support for the framework. I believe there are sufficient number of points which make reader dubious about the DCog framework.