Collective Cognition and Collaborative Work: The Effects of Cognitive and Communicative Processes on the Organization of Television Production

Abstract

Analysis of working discourse in the television production industries of the US and UK shows that, collaborative work processes affect both the organization and practices of television production. The complexities of such work are not merely the result of hierarchical and commercial constraints, but also result from the cognitive and communicative processes related to ongoing design, modification and fabrication of materials. Such interactive processes actually mitigate the effects of hierarchical authority. Participants' occupational expertise, including differing practical knowledge of constraints and administrative practices at various phases of production, affects their respective models of objectives, models of work procedures and interpretations of materials and working discourse. In order to understand materials and each other's comments, participants engage in collective cognition through which they develop, communicate and modify their respective occupationally framed mental models of materials, objectives and work procedures. The organization of production institutionalizes opportunities for such collaborative interaction.