Distributed Cognition in Fractured Ecologies: Collaborative Problem-Solving in Video-Mediated Interaction

In this article we present a conversation analytic case study of a video-mediated teleconsultation in which the participants face a problem with the audio connection. During the problem-solving process the interactants need to direct one another’s attention and action in relation to technological artefacts to solve the problem. Video mediation limits physical access to distant participants’ physical ecology, which is overcome by fitting interactional practices to the communicative medium available at a given moment. Drawing on insights from the distributed cognition perspective and the CA perspective on participation, multimodality, and epistemics, we propose specifications to existing theories of problems solving, seeking to develop integrative approaches to real-world problem solving.