Interactional perspective on the use of the computer and on the technological development of a new tool: the case of word processing. In L. Resnick, R. Säljö, C. Pontecorvo, & Burge, B. (Eds.), Discourse, tools, and reasoning: Situated cognition and technologically supported environment. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.

Michèle Grossen University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Luc-Olivier Pochon Institut Romand de Recherche et de Documentation Pédagogique, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

The widespread use of computers in various social and professional contexts has given rise to a series of controversies which testify to the presence of both negative and positive attitudes: complete enthusiasm, hopes, but also fears or even total refusal of new technologies. Such clear-cut positions may partly be explained by the lack of an integrative theory which considers both human-machine interactions and the social and cultural contexts in which these interactions take place.

This paper will present an interactional approach to computer use which will enable us to overcome these controversies and to integrate various observations of human-machine interactions into a unified theoretical framework. This approach refers to concepts which have been developed within the field of certain theories of cognitive development, namely the socio-cultural theory stemming from Vygotsky's work, as well as the social psychology of cognitive development from Piaget's work.

This approach will be illustrated by a short case study concerning a particular use of the computer: word processing. First of all, we will talk about some historical elements about the development of this new tool. In fact, the history of word processing shows how the development of a technology is simultaneously the story of complex relationships between different groups (in particular the computer scientists, the designers of word processing systems and the lay users) having each their own aims.

Then, the specific effects of the use of word processors on the social and institutional contexts will be examined. We shall give some examples that show that the introduction of word processing contributes to changing the content of a given professional practice, modifying some aspects of the institutional organization as well as the interindividual relationships. With regard to the latter dimension, different effects will be considered: effects on the individual's self-definition and group membership identity; on the type of interindividual relationship; on the author's relationship to his/her written production; on the written production itself and effects on the mode of transmission of expertise.

Finally, direct observations of users of word processors will be reported with the aim of showing the specific properties of the interactional space created by human machine interactions.

As they appear at a particular moment in the history of word processing, all these examples put together show that the use of computer creates an original culture from which new tools emerge.The main argument of this paper is that as a socially shared activity mediated by a technological tool, human machine interactions consist of an indirect dialogue between users and designers and create an interactive space which cannot be reduced either to the technological characteristics of the machine, or to the user's technical competence.

This chapter focuses on the user’s actual behavior when he or she uses a computer. With reference to concepts developed in the field of ethnotechnology and the social psychology of cognitive development, a series of observations on human-machine interaction are reported. The analysis of these observations shows that human-machine interactions result in a specific interactional space that can be reduced neither to the user’s abilities and technological knowledge, nor to the technological qualities of the machine. This result is further illustrated by a short case study concerning word-processing. Some historical elements pertaining to the development of this new tool are first reported; then some examples show the specific effect the use of word processors has in social and institutional contexts. The conclusion is that using a computer consists of an indirect dialogue between the users and designers. As a dialogue, the use of computer includes theoretical and methodological problems that are typical of human machine communication in general.