Quiz 1 Fields Of Cognitive Science Flashcards
Cognitive science interdisciplines
CLAPN
Historical Core Fields
Cognitive Psychology
Linguistics
Artificial Inteligence
Philosophy
Contemporary Core Fields
Neuroscience
Secondary Fields
Education
Anthropology
Psychology
Characterized by natural minds broad interest in cognitive functioning
Method - lab experimentation, statistical analysis, computer cognitive modeling
Cognitive psychology = basic research in human internal mental processes
(HCI) Human Computer Interaction - how people psychologically interact with artifacts(human designed things)
Evolutionary Psychology - how evolutionary development history made our mind what it is
Psycholinguistics - studying language with experiments
Comparative Psychology-animal cognition comparisons
Psychology critiques-not enough model building-not enough theory-methodologically limited, underestimates the complexity of language
Philosophy
Big questions - what our concepts mean
Methods - thinking and writing, conceptual analysis, argumentation, (empirical)theorizing from evidence from other fields and common sense observations
Philosophy of mind-are machines conscious - functionalism (doing vs being) vs identity theory
Quality - experience of what something is like - which animals feel pain
Philosophy of science-how should/is practiced-what mental categories are scientifically legit
Philosophy of language-how do words connect to meanings-how does word refer to something that does not exist ie unicorn
Philosophy critiques-doesn’t pay attention to empirical studies - concerned with too many things unimportant - existence of word implies existence of thing
Artificial Intelligence
Computer science - how mental process can work on machines-how computers can interact with mind Method - build/test computer programs
Build mental process with computer programs
Human computer interaction-to design computer interfaces that human can use
AI critiques - not concerned with natural intelligence - don’t care if programs work same as people - psychological AI - don’t know enough about empirical findings ie need to include human error - overly optimistic about future of AI
Linguistics
Human spoken or signed natural language
Does not include writing or computers or animal languages
Linguistics is strongly characterized by both its subject matter and methods ie Big Black Bear but not Black Big Bear
Method - only language - sound analysis, grammar creation
Phonology-how do we make sound
Morphology-how sound and meaning give word meaning
Syntax-how sentences are put together in a language/word order
Semantics-meaning in language - each boy is different from every boy
Pragmatic-how sentences interact with context to change meaning ie can you pass salt - yes - motion is implied
Linguistics critiques - they build models of language then don’t know what to do with it - not familiar - doesn’t interact with other findings of the mind - only concerns with one part of cognition
Neuroscience - cognitive neuroscience
How the brain processes info and creates cognitive process
Methods-neuron aging, single cell recording - anatomical observation, computer modeling, pharmaceutical effects, genetic analysis, etc
Overlaps with biological and physiological psychology, neurophysiology and the rest of neuroscience
Critiques - underestimate the complexity of language and other thought processes
Too much nature (genetic components) vs nurture (how much lived/learned)
Unable to shed light on many other processes everyone is interested in - dismissive of other approaches/neuro snob
Education
How people learn - how to design education to learn the most
Naturalistic observation of case studies, empirical studies
Critiques - case studies are worthless-it’s too applied-not telling us enough about basic cognitive science-controlled studies poorly done-only deals with one part of cognition
Cognitive Anthropology
Human culture - culture change - shared knowledge, social organization
Method - field work, observation, ethnographic interviewing - emphasis on qualitative study
Includes archeology
Cultural anthropology includes cognition (differences in thinking) - no hypothesis
Critiques - lean to nurture vs nature - too qualitative - research too expensive - research doesn’t generalize enough to be useful - splitter (differences) rather than lumpers (generalizations)
What is cognitive science?
Interdisciplinary study of minds and thinking, especially at the information processing level
Methodological definition-applies methodologies from multiple disciplines to multiple problems from those disciplines
Ontology
Science of what is - of the kinds and structures of objects - seeks classification and explanation of entities
Distributed cognition
Cognition that emerges from a group of interacting entities ie coordinated acts of a crew building a house
