Describes the phenomenon in which sense-making is accomplished through the coordination of multiple parties, not resident in the head of a single person. Naval navigation is a classic case of distribute cognition, in which the party steering a ship into harbor relies on many others — mapmakers, tug pilots, sonar technicians — for success. Academic course selection may be a function of distributed cognition when students rely on input from peers, advisors, and online information systems to weigh and choose options. More on naval navigation here. More on course consideration here.