Abstract
Recent research expresses serious doubts on the
concept of unlearning. It is argued that knowledge
cannot be discarded or eliminated in order to make
space for the creation of new knowledge. Taking into
account the recent scepticism, we focus on the
cognitive dimension of unlearning and propose an
alternative conceptualization. Considering how far
unlearning can go from a psychological/cognitive
scientific perspective, we propose that unlearning is
about reducing the influence of old knowledge on our
cognitive capacity. This study: (a) investigates the
unlearning process within the cognitive domain and
on an individual level and (b) proposes unlearning
process triggers that detract or facilitate the
knowledge change process, which could subsequently
contribute to unlearning on an organizational level.
concept of unlearning. It is argued that knowledge
cannot be discarded or eliminated in order to make
space for the creation of new knowledge. Taking into
account the recent scepticism, we focus on the
cognitive dimension of unlearning and propose an
alternative conceptualization. Considering how far
unlearning can go from a psychological/cognitive
scientific perspective, we propose that unlearning is
about reducing the influence of old knowledge on our
cognitive capacity. This study: (a) investigates the
unlearning process within the cognitive domain and
on an individual level and (b) proposes unlearning
process triggers that detract or facilitate the
knowledge change process, which could subsequently
contribute to unlearning on an organizational level.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences |
| Editors | University of Hawai'i at Manoa |
| Place of Publication | Hawaii |
| Publisher | University of Hawai'i at Manoa |
| Pages | 4614-4623 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0-9981331-0-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |