Lecture 3: the fields that compose cognitive science

Question 1

What are the 4 historically core fields?

Answer 1

Psychology, philosophy, computer science and linguistics

Question 2

What is the contemporary core field?

Answer 2

Neuroscience (cognitive neuro)

Question 3

What are some secondary fields?

Answer 3

Education and cognitive anthropology

Question 4

What subject matter is psychology characterized by?

Answer 4

Study of Natural minds, mostly human. Broadly interested in cognitive functioning.

Question 5

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 5

Broad field of basic research in human internal mental processes

Question 6

What is human computer interaction (HCI)?

Answer 6

How people psychologically interact with artifacts (human designed things)

Question 7

What is evolutionary psychology?

Answer 7

How our evolutionary history has made our minds what they are

Question 8

What is psycholinguistics?

Answer 8

Studying language with experiments (using psychology methods. How minds process language to understand and generate rather than the mechanics of language)

Question 9

What is cooperative psychology?

Answer 9

Annual cognition, sometimes comparing it to human

Question 10

What are the critiques of psychology?

Answer 10

Not enough model building, dustbowl empiricism (no theorists/not enough theory), and methodologically limited, and they underestimate the complexity of language

Question 11

What subject matter is philosophy characterized by?

Answer 11

usually big questions, what our concepts mean, otherwise quite broad

Question 12

What are the different methods used in philosophy?

Answer 12

Thought experiments
Conceptual analysis
Argumentation (series of statements to try to persuade you- one person’s thought process)
Theorizing from evidence from other fields and common sense observations

Question 13

What is philosophy of mind?

Answer 13

Can machines be conscious.
Functionalism vs. Identity theory
Qualia

Question 14

What is the functionalism vs. Identity theory?

Answer 14

Functionalism: mental entities are what they are because of the function they play in the larger cognitive system.
Identity theory: Mental constructs, to the extent that they exist at all, are just brain structures or processes

Question 15

What is the philosophy of science?

Answer 15

How should science be practiced? How is science practiced? Philosophy of psychology (The science). What mental categories are scientifically legitimate?

Question 16

What is the philosophy of language?

Answer 16

How do words connect to meanings? How can a word refer to something that does not exist?

Question 17

What are the critiques of philosophy?

Answer 17

They don’t pay enough attention to empirical study
They sometimes think that the existence of a word implies the existence of its intended referent
They are concerned with too many unimportant problems

Question 18

What subject matter is computer science characterized by?

Answer 18

how mental processes can work on machines, and how computers can effectively interact with humans (if you can get something to work on a computer similar to the way a human works that is called existence proof, in contrast if you claim humans process things in a certain way and no one can get it to work on a computer people start to question it)

Question 19

What methods do computer scientists use?

Answer 19

building and testing computer programs

Question 20

What are the subfields of computer science?

Answer 20

Artificial intelligence: Building mental processes with computer programs to understand and create mental systems
Human computer interaction: To design computer interfaces that humans can effectively use

Question 21

What are the critiques of artificial intelligence?

Answer 21

Insufficiently concerned with natural intelligence and they are overly optimistic about the future of AI

Question 22

What subject matter is linguistics characterized by?

Answer 22

human spoken or signed natural language (ASL)
NOT: computer or animal languages
NOT (for the most part) written language

Question 23

What are the methods used in linguistics?

Answer 23

sound analysis, grammar creation, corpus analysis (studying things people say as data)

Question 24

What is phonology?

Answer 24

how sounds are organized and used in language

Question 25

What is morphology?

Answer 25

how sound and meaning interact in words

Question 26

what is syntax?

Answer 26

how sentences may be put together in a language

Question 27

What are pragmatics?

Answer 27

how sentences interact with context to change meaning (e.g., how are you? Or do you have the time?)

Question 28

What are the critiques of linguistics?

Answer 28

They build models of language and then don’t know what to do with them
They are not familiar with, nor do they try to interact with, other findings about the mind
They only concern themselves with one part of cognition

Question 29

What is cognitive neuroscience characterized by?

Answer 29

how the brain processes information and creates cognitive processes. The biological functions of mental phenomena.
Methods: neuro imaging, single cell recording, anatomical observation, computer modelling, pharmaceutical effects, genetic analysis etc.

Question 30

What are the critiques of neuroscience?

Answer 30

• Underestimate the complexity of language and other thought processes
• unable to shed light on many of the processes everyone else is interested in
• They tend to be dismissive of other approaches or reductionist
• Lean too far toward nature on the nature/nurture debate

Question 31

What is education characterized by (subject matter and methods)?

Answer 31

Subject matter: how people (usually children) learn, and how we can design education to help them effectively do it.
Methods: naturalistic observation of case studies, empirical studies.

Question 32

What are the critiques of education?

Answer 32

Case studies are worthless or close to it. Its too applied and not telling us enough about basic cognitive processes. The controlled studies are poorly done
They only deal with one part of cognition

Question 33

What is cognitive anthropology characterized by?

Answer 33

Subject matter: social organization, human culture, enculturation, cultural change and transmission, shared knowledge, distributed cognition, situated cognition
Methods: field work, ethnographic observation and interviewing, emphasis on qualitative study

Question 34

What are the critiques of anthropology?

Answer 34

Tend to lean too far on the nurture side of nature/nurture debate
Research is too qualitative
Research is too expensive
Research does not generalize enough to be useful
They are “splitters” not lumpers

Question 35

So what is cognitive science?

Answer 35

study of minds and thinking, especially at the information processing level

Question 36

What is the methodological definition of cognitive science?

Answer 36

applies methodologies from multiple disciplines to multiple problems from those disciplines.