Abstract

Hypermedia permits the possibility of combining video, graphic, acoustic and written data within the same computer controlled platform. Several new attributes are thus added to these media, namely, random access, interconnectivity and mass storage. Some authors have defended that hypermedia constitutes a new major shift in human cognition, similar to the shift that occurred in moving from orality to literacy. In this thesis this possibility is discussed. A model for the analysis of the oral and literary paradigms is suggested which focus on the double role of language as both an instrument to express and to achieve knowledge. Analysis through this model helps unveil the mechanisms that led orality and literacy into becoming major stages in human cognitive development. The same model is applied to the study of hypermedia. Analysis reveals that hypermedia can potentially embody a new shift in human cognition but many obstacles have to be overcome.

Please, send us mail and a copy of the thesis THOUGHT, EXPRESSION AND HYPERMEDIACY in PDF format will be sent to you.

Thanks.