Lecture 3: the fields that compose cognitive science
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What are the 4 historically core fields?
Psychology, philosophy, computer science and linguistics
What is the contemporary core field?
Neuroscience (cognitive neuro)
What are some secondary fields?
Education and cognitive anthropology
What subject matter is psychology characterized by?
Study of Natural minds, mostly human. Broadly interested in cognitive functioning.
What is cognitive psychology?
Broad field of basic research in human internal mental processes
What is human computer interaction (HCI)?
How people psychologically interact with artifacts (human designed things)
What is evolutionary psychology?
How our evolutionary history has made our minds what they are
What is psycholinguistics?
Studying language with experiments (using psychology methods. How minds process language to understand and generate rather than the mechanics of language)
What is cooperative psychology?
Annual cognition, sometimes comparing it to human
What are the critiques of psychology?
Not enough model building, dustbowl empiricism (no theorists/not enough theory), and methodologically limited, and they underestimate the complexity of language
What subject matter is philosophy characterized by?
usually big questions, what our concepts mean, otherwise quite broad
What are the different methods used in philosophy?
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
What is philosophy of mind?
Can machines be conscious. Functionalism vs. Identity theory Qualia
What is the functionalism vs. Identity theory?
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
What is the philosophy of science?
How should science be practiced? How is science practiced? Philosophy of psychology (The science). What mental categories are scientifically legitimate?
What is the philosophy of language?
How do words connect to meanings? How can a word refer to something that does not exist?
What are the critiques of philosophy?
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
What subject matter is computer science characterized by?
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)
What methods do computer scientists use?
building and testing computer programs
What are the subfields of computer science?
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
What are the critiques of artificial intelligence?
Insufficiently concerned with natural intelligence and they are overly optimistic about the future of AI
What subject matter is linguistics characterized by?
human spoken or signed natural language (ASL) NOT: computer or animal languages NOT (for the most part) written language
What are the methods used in linguistics?
sound analysis, grammar creation, corpus analysis (studying things people say as data)
What is phonology?
how sounds are organized and used in language