Chater, Nick (2014) Cognitive science as an interface between rational and mechanistic explanation. Topics in Cognitive Science, 6 (2). pp. 331-337. doi:10.1111/tops.12087 ISSN 1756-8757.

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Abstract

Cognitive science views thought as computation; and computation, by its very nature, can be understood in both rational and mechanistic terms. In rational terms, a computation solves some information processing problem (e.g., mapping sensory information into a description of the external world; parsing a sentence; selecting among a set of possible actions). In mechanistic terms, a computation corresponds to causal chain of events in a physical device (in engineering context, a silicon chip; in biological context, the nervous system). The discipline is thus at the interface between two very different styles of explanation--as the papers in the current special issue well illustrate, it explores the interplay of rational and mechanistic forces.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Behavioural Science Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Journal or Publication Title:	Topics in Cognitive Science
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
ISSN:	1756-8757
Official Date:	April 2014
Dates:	Date Event April 2014 Published 20 March 2014 Available August 2014 Accepted
Volume:	6
Number:	2
Page Range:	pp. 331-337
DOI:	10.1111/tops.12087
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)

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