This article shows the relationships among computerization, cognition, and language style. Specifically important is that computerization is demonstrated to shape language and cognition in a way that diminishes the role interpretation plays in knowledge acquisition. This portrayal of knowledge has significant consequences for computer mediated therapy. That is, behavior is divorced from its social or interpretive context and thus little insight is gained into a client's problems. Diagnoses, simply put, are made to conform to technical criteria. Behavior is thus classified neatly but, most often, in an irrelevant manner. This article is based on Murphy's and Pardeck's research into the impact of technology on education and the delivery of social services.
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