Cyclic interaction: a unitary approach to intention, action and the environment

The history of psychological explanation in human-computer interaction (HCI) is reviewed in order to illustrate the notion of cyclic interaction. The claim made is that much real behaviour is usefully thought of as a continuous process of cyclic interaction with the environment. According to this account action leads to changes to the state of the world, these are evaluated with respect to, and in a manner conditioned by, the user's current goals. This evaluation leads to the reformulation of goals and further action, this action leads to a new state of the environment, and so on. Cyclic interaction is contrasted with the more commonly adopted view of cognition that may be caricatured as a 'one-shot comprehension' where perception and recognition lead to action but the role of goals and the effects of action on the environment are not primary concerns. It is argued that a change of emphasis in cognitive research is required to make good these omissions, with new kinds of experimental paradigm and new ways of modelling behaviour.