Description

Book Synopsis

Cognitive science arose in the 1950s when it became apparent that anumber of disciplines, including psychology, computer science,linguistics, and philosophy, were fragmenting. Perhaps owing to thefield’s immediate origins in cybernetics, as well as to thefoundational assumption that cognition is information processing,cognitive science initially seemed more unified than psychology.However, as a result of differing interpretations of the foundationalassumption and dramatically divergent views of the meaning of the terminformation processing, three separate schools emerged:classical cognitive science, connectionist cognitive science, andembodied cognitive science.

Examples, cases, and research findings taken from the wide range ofphenomena studied by cognitive scientists effectively explain andexplore the relationship among the three perspectives. Intended tointroduce both graduate and senior undergraduate students to thefoundations of cognitive science, Mind, Body, World addressesa number of questions currently being asked by those practicing in thefield: What are the core assumptions of the three different schools?What are the relationships between these different sets of coreassumptions? Is there only one cognitive science, or are there manydifferent cognitive sciences? Giving the schools equal treatment anddisplaying a broad and deep understanding of the field, Dawsonhighlights the fundamental tensions and lines of fragmentation thatexist among the schools and provides a refreshing and unifyingframework for students of cognitive science.



Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables | ix

Preface | xiii

Who Is This Book Written For? | xiv

Acknowledgements | xv

Chapter 1. The Cognitive Sciences: One or Many? | 1

1.0 Chapter Overview | 1

1.1 A Fragmented Psychology | 2

1.2 A Unified Cognitive Science | 3

1.3 Cognitive Science or the Cognitive Sciences? | 6

1.4 Cognitive Science: Pre-paradigmatic? | 13

1.5 A Plan of Action | 16

Chapter 2. Multiple Levels of Investigation | 19

2.0 Chapter Overview | 19

2.1 Machines and Minds | 20

2.2 From the Laws of Thought to Binary Logic | 23

2.3 From the Formal to the Physical | 29

2.4 Multiple Procedures and Architectures | 32

2.5 Relays and Multiple Realizations | 35

2.6 Multiple Levels of Investigation and Explanation | 38

2.7 Formal Accounts of Input-Output Mappings | 40

2.8 Behaviour by Design and by Artifact | 41

2.9 Algorithms from Artifacts | 43

2.10 Architectures against Homunculi | 46

2.11 Implementing Architectures | 48

2.12 Levelling the Field | 51

Chapter 3. Elements of Classical Cognitive Science | 55

3.0 Chapter Overview | 55

3.1 Mind, Disembodied | 56

3.2 Mechanizing the Infinite | 59

3.3 Phrase Markers and Fractals | 65

3.4 Behaviourism, Language, and Recursion | 68

3.5 Underdetermination and Innateness | 72

3.6 Physical Symbol Systems | 75

3.7 Componentiality, Computability, and Cognition | 78

3.8 The Intentional Stance | 82

3.9 Structure and Process | 85

3.10 A Classical Architecture for Cognition | 89

3.11 Weak Equivalence and the Turing Test | 93

3.12 Towards Strong Equivalence | 97

3.13 The Impenetrable Architecture | 106

3.14 Modularity of Mind | 113

3.15 Reverse Engineering | 119

3.16 What is Classical Cognitive Science? | 122

Chapter 4. Elements of Connectionist Cognitive Science | 125

4.0 Chapter Overview | 125

4.1 Nurture versus Nature | 126

4.2 Associations | 133

4.3 Nonlinear Transformations | 139

4.4 The Connectionist Sandwich | 142

4.5 Connectionist Computations: An Overview | 148

4.6 Beyond the Terminal Meta-postulate | 149

4.7 What Do Output Unit Activities Represent? | 152

4.8 Connectionist Algorithms: An Overview | 158

4.9 Empiricism and Internal Representations | 159

4.10 Chord Classification by a Multilayer Perceptron | 162

4.11 Trigger Features | 172

4.12 A Parallel Distributed Production System | 177

4.13 Of Coarse Codes | 184

4.14 Architectural Connectionism: An Overview | 188

4.15 New Powers of Old Networks | 189

4.16 Connectionist Reorientation | 193

4.17 Perceptrons and Jazz Progressions | 195

4.18 What Is Connectionist Cognitive Science? | 198

Chapter 5. Elements of Embodied Cognitive Science | 205

5.0 Chapter Overview | 205

5.1 Abandoning Methodological Solipsism | 206

5.2 Societal Computing | 210

5.3 Stigmergy and Superorganisms | 212

5.4 Embodiment, Situatedness, and Feedback | 216

5.5 Umwelten, Affordances, and Enactive Perception | 219

5.6 Horizontal Layers of Control | 222

5.7 Mind in Action | 224

5.8 The Extended Mind | 230

5.9 The Roots of Forward Engineering | 235

5.10 Reorientation without Representation | 239

5.11 Robotic Moments in Social Environments | 245

5.12 The Architecture of Mind Reading | 250

5.13 Levels of Embodied Cognitive Science | 255

5.14 What Is Embodied Cognitive Science? | 260

Chapter 6. Classical Music and Cognitive Science | 265

6.0 Chapter Overview | 265

6.1 The Classical Nature of Classical Music | 266

6.2 The Classical Approach to Musical Cognition | 273

6.3 Musical Romanticism and Connectionism | 280

6.4 The Connectionist Approach to Musical Cognition | 286

6.5 The Embodied Nature of Modern Music | 291

6.6 The Embodied Approach to Musical Cognition | 301

6.7 Cognitive Science and Classical Music | 307

Chapter 7. Marks of the Classical? | 315

7.0 Chapter Overview | 315

7.1 Symbols and Situations | 316

7.2 Marks of the Classical | 324

7.3 Centralized versus Decentralized Control | 326

7.4 Serial versus Parallel Processing | 334

7.5 Local versus Distributed Representations | 339

7.6 Internal Representations | 343

7.7 Explicit Rules versus Implicit Knowledge | 345

7.8 The Cognitive Vocabulary | 348

7.9 From Classical Marks to Hybrid Theories | 355

Chapter 8. Seeing and Visualizing | 359

8.0 Chapter Overview | 359

8.1 The Transparency of Visual Processing | 360

8.2 The Poverty of the Stimulus | 362

8.3 Enrichment via Unconscious Inference | 368

8.4 Natural Constraints | 371

8.5 Vision, Cognition, and Visual Cognition | 379

8.6 Indexing Objects in the World | 383

Mind, Body, World: Foundations of Cognitive

Product form

£33.15

Includes FREE delivery

RRP £39.00 – you save £5.85 (15%)

Order before 4pm today for delivery by Thu 22 Jan 2026.

A Paperback / softback by Michael R.W. Dawson

15 in stock


    View other formats and editions of Mind, Body, World: Foundations of Cognitive by Michael R.W. Dawson

    Publisher: AU Press
    Publication Date: 15/07/2013
    ISBN13: 9781927356173, 978-1927356173
    ISBN10: 1927356172

    Description

    Book Synopsis

    Cognitive science arose in the 1950s when it became apparent that anumber of disciplines, including psychology, computer science,linguistics, and philosophy, were fragmenting. Perhaps owing to thefield’s immediate origins in cybernetics, as well as to thefoundational assumption that cognition is information processing,cognitive science initially seemed more unified than psychology.However, as a result of differing interpretations of the foundationalassumption and dramatically divergent views of the meaning of the terminformation processing, three separate schools emerged:classical cognitive science, connectionist cognitive science, andembodied cognitive science.

    Examples, cases, and research findings taken from the wide range ofphenomena studied by cognitive scientists effectively explain andexplore the relationship among the three perspectives. Intended tointroduce both graduate and senior undergraduate students to thefoundations of cognitive science, Mind, Body, World addressesa number of questions currently being asked by those practicing in thefield: What are the core assumptions of the three different schools?What are the relationships between these different sets of coreassumptions? Is there only one cognitive science, or are there manydifferent cognitive sciences? Giving the schools equal treatment anddisplaying a broad and deep understanding of the field, Dawsonhighlights the fundamental tensions and lines of fragmentation thatexist among the schools and provides a refreshing and unifyingframework for students of cognitive science.



    Table of Contents

    List of Figures and Tables | ix

    Preface | xiii

    Who Is This Book Written For? | xiv

    Acknowledgements | xv

    Chapter 1. The Cognitive Sciences: One or Many? | 1

    1.0 Chapter Overview | 1

    1.1 A Fragmented Psychology | 2

    1.2 A Unified Cognitive Science | 3

    1.3 Cognitive Science or the Cognitive Sciences? | 6

    1.4 Cognitive Science: Pre-paradigmatic? | 13

    1.5 A Plan of Action | 16

    Chapter 2. Multiple Levels of Investigation | 19

    2.0 Chapter Overview | 19

    2.1 Machines and Minds | 20

    2.2 From the Laws of Thought to Binary Logic | 23

    2.3 From the Formal to the Physical | 29

    2.4 Multiple Procedures and Architectures | 32

    2.5 Relays and Multiple Realizations | 35

    2.6 Multiple Levels of Investigation and Explanation | 38

    2.7 Formal Accounts of Input-Output Mappings | 40

    2.8 Behaviour by Design and by Artifact | 41

    2.9 Algorithms from Artifacts | 43

    2.10 Architectures against Homunculi | 46

    2.11 Implementing Architectures | 48

    2.12 Levelling the Field | 51

    Chapter 3. Elements of Classical Cognitive Science | 55

    3.0 Chapter Overview | 55

    3.1 Mind, Disembodied | 56

    3.2 Mechanizing the Infinite | 59

    3.3 Phrase Markers and Fractals | 65

    3.4 Behaviourism, Language, and Recursion | 68

    3.5 Underdetermination and Innateness | 72

    3.6 Physical Symbol Systems | 75

    3.7 Componentiality, Computability, and Cognition | 78

    3.8 The Intentional Stance | 82

    3.9 Structure and Process | 85

    3.10 A Classical Architecture for Cognition | 89

    3.11 Weak Equivalence and the Turing Test | 93

    3.12 Towards Strong Equivalence | 97

    3.13 The Impenetrable Architecture | 106

    3.14 Modularity of Mind | 113

    3.15 Reverse Engineering | 119

    3.16 What is Classical Cognitive Science? | 122

    Chapter 4. Elements of Connectionist Cognitive Science | 125

    4.0 Chapter Overview | 125

    4.1 Nurture versus Nature | 126

    4.2 Associations | 133

    4.3 Nonlinear Transformations | 139

    4.4 The Connectionist Sandwich | 142

    4.5 Connectionist Computations: An Overview | 148

    4.6 Beyond the Terminal Meta-postulate | 149

    4.7 What Do Output Unit Activities Represent? | 152

    4.8 Connectionist Algorithms: An Overview | 158

    4.9 Empiricism and Internal Representations | 159

    4.10 Chord Classification by a Multilayer Perceptron | 162

    4.11 Trigger Features | 172

    4.12 A Parallel Distributed Production System | 177

    4.13 Of Coarse Codes | 184

    4.14 Architectural Connectionism: An Overview | 188

    4.15 New Powers of Old Networks | 189

    4.16 Connectionist Reorientation | 193

    4.17 Perceptrons and Jazz Progressions | 195

    4.18 What Is Connectionist Cognitive Science? | 198

    Chapter 5. Elements of Embodied Cognitive Science | 205

    5.0 Chapter Overview | 205

    5.1 Abandoning Methodological Solipsism | 206

    5.2 Societal Computing | 210

    5.3 Stigmergy and Superorganisms | 212

    5.4 Embodiment, Situatedness, and Feedback | 216

    5.5 Umwelten, Affordances, and Enactive Perception | 219

    5.6 Horizontal Layers of Control | 222

    5.7 Mind in Action | 224

    5.8 The Extended Mind | 230

    5.9 The Roots of Forward Engineering | 235

    5.10 Reorientation without Representation | 239

    5.11 Robotic Moments in Social Environments | 245

    5.12 The Architecture of Mind Reading | 250

    5.13 Levels of Embodied Cognitive Science | 255

    5.14 What Is Embodied Cognitive Science? | 260

    Chapter 6. Classical Music and Cognitive Science | 265

    6.0 Chapter Overview | 265

    6.1 The Classical Nature of Classical Music | 266

    6.2 The Classical Approach to Musical Cognition | 273

    6.3 Musical Romanticism and Connectionism | 280

    6.4 The Connectionist Approach to Musical Cognition | 286

    6.5 The Embodied Nature of Modern Music | 291

    6.6 The Embodied Approach to Musical Cognition | 301

    6.7 Cognitive Science and Classical Music | 307

    Chapter 7. Marks of the Classical? | 315

    7.0 Chapter Overview | 315

    7.1 Symbols and Situations | 316

    7.2 Marks of the Classical | 324

    7.3 Centralized versus Decentralized Control | 326

    7.4 Serial versus Parallel Processing | 334

    7.5 Local versus Distributed Representations | 339

    7.6 Internal Representations | 343

    7.7 Explicit Rules versus Implicit Knowledge | 345

    7.8 The Cognitive Vocabulary | 348

    7.9 From Classical Marks to Hybrid Theories | 355

    Chapter 8. Seeing and Visualizing | 359

    8.0 Chapter Overview | 359

    8.1 The Transparency of Visual Processing | 360

    8.2 The Poverty of the Stimulus | 362

    8.3 Enrichment via Unconscious Inference | 368

    8.4 Natural Constraints | 371

    8.5 Vision, Cognition, and Visual Cognition | 379

    8.6 Indexing Objects in the World | 383

    Recently viewed products

    © 2026 Book Curl

      • American Express
      • Apple Pay
      • Diners Club
      • Discover
      • Google Pay
      • Maestro
      • Mastercard
      • PayPal
      • Shop Pay
      • Union Pay
      • Visa

      Login

      Forgot your password?

      Don't have an account yet?
      Create account