Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Greenlee, Christopher Alan
Author's Email Address	cgreenle@vt.edu
URN	etd-63098-193132
Title	Situated Cognition, Dynamicism, and Explanation in Cognitive Science
Degree	Master of Arts
Department	Philosophy
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Hardcastle, Valerie Gray Committee Chair Miller, Harlan B. Committee Member Roach, John W. Committee Member
Keywords	Cognitive Science Dynamical Systems Situated Cognition
Date of Defense	1998-06-19
Availability	restricted
Abstract Situated Cognition, Dynamicism, and Explanation in Cognitive Science Christopher A. Greenlee (ABSTRACT) The majority of cognitive scientists today view the mind as a computer, instantiating some function mapping the inputs it gets from the environment to the gross behaviors of the organism. As a result, the emphasis in most ongoing research programmes is on finding that function, or some part of that function. Moreover, the types of functions considered are limited somewhat by the preconception that the mind must be instantiating a function that can be expressed as a computer program. I argue that research done in the last two decades suggests that we should approach cognition with as much consideration to the environment as to the inner workings of the mind. Our cognition is often shaped by the constraints the environment places on us, not just by the "inputs" we receive from it. I argue also that there is a new approach to cognitive science, viewing the mind not as a computer but as a dynamical system, which captures the shift in perspective while eliminating the requirement that cognitive functions be expressable as computer programs. Unfortunately, some advocates of this dynamical perspective have argued that we should replace all of traditional psychology and neuroscience with their new approach. In response to these advocates, I argue that we cannot develop an adequate dynamical picture of the mind without engaging in precisely those sorts of research and hypothesizing that traditional neuroscience and psychology engage in. In short, I argue that we require certain types of explanations in order to get our dynamical (or computational) theories off the ground, and we cannot get those from other dynamical (or computational) theories.
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