Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Work: A Case Study of the Intellectual Implications of a New Technology

In this article, we review a number of themes that emerged as we undertook a study of how new technology affects the working procedures and mental activity of industrial machinists. This investigation, which focuses on computer numerical control (CNC) systems, is one of a number of case studies of work activities now being conducted in the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Work. For five years we have been analyzing the intellectual demands of a variety of salaried (e.g., production planner, expediter) and hourly jobs at various skill levels (stock room inventory man, machinist). We have selected these particular occupations for study because the introduction of new technologies is rapidly changing their content and requiring workers to master new forms of knowledge and new operational skills. Although each case study focuses on a particular occupation and technology, together they comprise an integrated program of research. The central objective of this program is to develop new conceptual models of workplace learning that will provide a more adequate basis for educational and training programs than current models offer. In the light of this objective, each occupation we investigate serves as a domain for model building as well as the object of descriptive research. The case study of concern here-investigating how machinists learn to use computer numerical control technology-is of special interest from an educational point of view. The machinists we studied take metal “stock” (usually rods) and, using a variety of machine-mounted tools, carve the raw metal into intricate parts that have holes, threads, slots, tapers, studs, grooves, and so forth. The job is highly technical because the machinists must not only