THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION: A HISTORICAL

PERSPECTIVE

Asheley Landrum and Amy Louise Schwarz

Behaviorism

Behaviorism

Premise Psychology as an objective scienceMental events ≠ observable events

Behaviorism

Premise Psychology as an objective scienceMental events ≠ observable events

OutcomePerception = DiscriminationMemory = LearningLanguage = Verbal BehaviorIntelligence = What intelligence tests

test

Limitations of Behaviorism

It cannot explain a natural language.

Much of human experience is unobservable.MemoryDecision makingPerceptual experienceOther mental events

Revolution Begins

“Defining psychology as the science of behavior is like defining physics as the science of meter reading.”

– Noam Chomsky

Cognitive Revolution

Cognitive Revolution

Mentalism = Cognition

Integrate mentalistic concepts to explain behavioral data.

Re-opened communication with Europe

1956 - Critical Year: Information Processing (Newell & Simon)

Began Development of Artificial Intelligence

Studies about Thinking Notions of Cognitive Strategies Magic # 7, plus or minus 2

Signal Detection Theory applied to Perception

9/11/56: Moment of Conception

Interdisciplinary Approach AI Math Computer Science Language Neuropsychology

9/11/56: Moment of Conception

Key Papers “Logic Machine” (Newell & Simon) Testing Neuropsychological Theory of Cell

Assembly (Rochester at IBM) Statistical analysis of gaps in relation to

syntax (Yngve) Mathematics of Grammar –

transformational grammar (Chomsky) Speed of Perceptual Recognition (Szikakli)

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Created Neuroscience Created a program: cognitive science Miller argued: Interdisciplinary field Report created for the Foundation

Scholars from several fields came together Unwilling to comment on each other’s

disciplines So, just summarized their own fields

Foundation provided grants to promote communication between disciplines.

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions

Psycholinguistics

Computational

Linguistics

Brain

Evolution

Cybernetics

Discussion Questions

Miller only labeled four of the connections between fields. What interdisciplinary fields link the remaining nodes?

What field belongs at the center of the figure?

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions

Miller contends the central three are: Psychology, Linguistics, and Computer Science

What is your opinion?

Cognitive Science vs Cognitive Sciences What are the benefits of thinking of it as

a unified science?

What are the detriments?

Should people from different disciplines comment regularly on each other’s work?

Artificial Intelligence

Do you think it is possible to advance artificial intelligence to the point where it accurately mimics life?

Are there any aspects of human cognition that you believe are unable to be replicated?

Discussion Questions

This article is a personal account of the cognitive revolution.

What is added or taken away by this being a personal account as opposed to a historical perspective as the title suggests?

Discussion Questions

How did the invention of the computer contribute to the perception of cognitive science?