Explanation and Cognition

Explanation and Cognition
Author: Frank C. Keil
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2000
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780262112499

These essays address basic questions about explanation: how do explanatory capacities develop, are there kinds of explanation do explanations correspond to domains of knowledge, why do we seek explanations, and how central are causes to explanation?

The Nature of Cognition

The Nature of Cognition
Author: Robert J. Sternberg
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 760
Release: 1999
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780262692120

This book is the first to introduce the study of cognition in terms of the major conceptual themes that underlie virtually all the substantive topics.

Neurocognitive Mechanisms

Neurocognitive Mechanisms
Author: Gualtiero Piccinini
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2020-10-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0198866283

Gualtiero Piccinini presents a systematic and rigorous philosophical defence of the computational theory of cognition. His view posits that cognition involves neural computation within multilevel neurocognitive mechanisms, and includes novel ideas about ontology, functions, neural representation, neural computation, and consciousness.

Efficient Cognition

Efficient Cognition
Author: Armin W. Schulz
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2018-02-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0262037602

An argument that representational decision making is more cognitively efficient, allowing an organism to adjust more easily to changes in the environment. Many organisms (including humans) make decisions by relying on mental representations. Not simply a reaction triggered by perception, representational decision making employs high-level, non-perceptual mental states with content to manage interactions with the environment. A person making a decision based on mental representations, for example, takes a step back from her perceptions at the time to assess the nature of the world she lives in. But why would organisms rely on representational decision making, and what evolutionary benefits does this reliance provide to the decision maker? In Efficient Cognition, Armin Schulz argues that representational decision making can be more cognitively efficient than non-representational decision making. Specifically, he shows that a key driver in the evolution of representational decision making is that mental representations can enable an organism to save cognitive resources and adjust more efficiently to changed environments. After laying out the foundations of his argument—clarifying the central questions, the characterization of representational decision making, and the relevance of an evidential form of evolutionary psychology—Schulz presents his account of the evolution of representational decision making and critically considers some of the existing accounts of the subject. He then applies his account to three open questions concerning the nature of representational decision making: the extendedness of decision making, and when we should expect cognition to extend into the environment; the specialization of decision making and the use of simple heuristics; and the psychological sources of altruistic behaviors.

Cognition and Intractability

Cognition and Intractability
Author: Iris van Rooij
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2019-04-25
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1107043999

Provides an accessible introduction to computational complexity analysis and its application to questions of intractability in cognitive science.

Hot Thought

Hot Thought
Author: Paul Thagard
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2006
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

A description of mental mechanisms that explain how emotions influence thought, from everyday decision making to scientific discovery and religious belief, and an analysis of when emotion can contribute to good reasoning.

Developmental Psychology: The Growth of Mind and Behavior

Developmental Psychology: The Growth of Mind and Behavior
Author: Keil, Frank
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 10
Release: 2013-10-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 039393716X

Frank Keil 's Developmental Psychology represents his vision of how psychology should be taught and is based on nearly four decades of teaching a lecture course in developmental psychology and conducting developmental research. With a cohesive narrative, clear art program, and carefully crafted pedagogy, the book guides students through material that is as rich as it is intriguing. Keil 's narrative reflects his passion for engaging students ' intellectual curiosity with an analytical approach that explores the big questions, links theory with evidence, and treats developmental psychology as a science. Developmental Psychology invites readers to celebrate the beauty and to understand the depth of psychological development.

Kant's Empirical Psychology

Kant's Empirical Psychology
Author: Patrick R. Frierson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2014-07-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107032652

This is the first English-language book to examine Kant's empirical psychology, applying it throughout Kant's philosophy and to contemporary philosophical issues.

Handbook of Cognitive Science

Handbook of Cognitive Science
Author: Paco Calvo
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2008-08-15
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0080466168

The Handbook of Cognitive Science provides an overview of recent developments in cognition research, relying upon non-classical approaches. Cognition is explained as the continuous interplay between brain, body, and environment, without relying on classical notions of computations and representation to explain cognition. The handbook serves as a valuable companion for readers interested in foundational aspects of cognitive science, and neuroscience and the philosophy of mind. The handbook begins with an introduction to embodied cognitive science, and then breaks up the chapters into separate sections on conceptual issues, formal approaches, embodiment in perception and action, embodiment from an artificial perspective, embodied meaning, and emotion and consciousness. Contributors to the book represent research overviews from around the globe including the US, UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Unified Theories of Cognition

Unified Theories of Cognition
Author: Allen Newell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 580
Release: 1994
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780674921016

Newell introduces Soar, an architecture for general cognition. A pioneer system in AI, Soar is the first problem-solver to create its own subgoals and learn continuously from its own experience. Its ability to operate within the real-time constraints of intelligent behavior illustrates important characteristics of human cognition.