Whatcomputationallinguistscan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Modularity As a Concept Modern Ideas About Mental Modularity Typically Use Fodor (1983) As a Key Touchstone
COGNITIVE PROCESSING International Quarterly of Cognitive Science Mental modularity, metaphors, and the marriage of evolutionary and cognitive sciences GARY L. BRASE University of Missouri – Columbia Abstract - As evolutionary approaches in the behavioral sciences become increasingly prominent, issues arising from the proposition that the mind is a collection of modular adaptations (the multi-modular mind thesis) become even more pressing. One purpose of this paper is to help clarify some valid issues raised by this thesis and clarify why other issues are not as critical. An aspect of the cognitive sciences that appears to both promote and impair progress on this issue (in different ways) is the use of metaphors for understand- ing the mind. Utilizing different metaphors can yield different perspectives and advancement in our understanding of the nature of the human mind. A second purpose of this paper is to outline the kindred natures of cognitive science and evolutionary psychology, both of which cut across traditional academic divisions and engage in functional analyses of problems. Key words: Evolutionary Theory, Cognitive Science, Modularity, Metaphors Evolutionary approaches in the behavioral sciences have begun to influence a wide range of fields, from cognitive neuroscience (e.g., Gazzaniga, 1998), to clini- cal psychology (e.g., Baron-Cohen, 1997; McGuire and Troisi, 1998), to literary theory (e.g., Carroll, 1999). At the same time, however, there are ongoing debates about the details of what exactly an evolutionary approach – often called evolu- tionary psychology— entails (Holcomb, 2001). Some of these debates are based on confusions of terminology, implicit arguments, or misunderstandings – things that can in principle be resolved by clarifying current ideas. -
In Defense of Massive Modularity
3 In Defense of Massive Modularity Dan Sperber In October 1990, a psychologist, Susan Gelman, and three anthropolo- gists whose interest in cognition had been guided and encouraged by Jacques Mehler, Scott Atran, Larry Hirschfeld, and myself, organized a conference on “Cultural Knowledge and Domain Specificity” (see Hirsch- feld and Gelman, 1994). Jacques advised us in the preparation of the conference, and while we failed to convince him to write a paper, he did play a major role in the discussions. A main issue at stake was the degree to which cognitive development, everyday cognition, and cultural knowledge are based on dedicated do- main-specific mechanisms, as opposed to a domain-general intelligence and learning capacity. Thanks in particular to the work of developmental psychologists such as Susan Carey, Rochel Gelman, Susan Gelman, Frank Keil, Alan Leslie, Jacques Mehler, Elizabeth Spelke (who were all there), the issue of domain-specificity—which, of course, Noam Chomsky had been the first to raise—was becoming a central one in cognitive psychol- ogy. Evolutionary psychology, represented at the conference by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, was putting forward new arguments for seeing human cognition as involving mostly domain- or task-specific evolved adaptations. We were a few anthropologists, far from the main- stream of our discipline, who also saw domain-specific cognitive pro- cesses as both constraining and contributing to cultural development. Taking for granted that domain-specific dispositions are an important feature of human cognition, three questions arise: 1. To what extent are these domain-specific dispositions based on truly autonomous mental mechanisms or “modules,” as opposed to being 48 D. -
Toward a Mechanistic Psychology of Dialogue
Edinburgh Research Explorer Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue Citation for published version: Pickering, MJ & Garrod, S 2004, 'Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue', Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 27, no. 02, pp. 169-225. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X04000056 Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1017/S0140525X04000056 Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Published In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Publisher Rights Statement: ©Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S. (2004). Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27(02), 169-225doi: 10.1017/S0140525X04000056 General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2004) 27, 169–226 Printed in the United States of America Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue Martin J. Pickering Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom [email protected] http://www.psy.ed.ac.uk/Staff/academics.html#PickeringMartin Simon Garrod Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QT, United Kingdom [email protected] http://staff.psy.gla.ac.uk/~simon/ Abstract: Traditional mechanistic accounts of language processing derive almost entirely from the study of monologue. -
Review of Sperber & Wilson 1986. Relevance: Communication And
Review of Sperber & Wilson 1986. Relevance : Communication and Cognition Daniel Hirst To cite this version: Daniel Hirst. Review of Sperber & Wilson 1986. Relevance : Communication and Cognition. Mind and Language, Wiley, 1989, 4 (1/2), pp.138-146. hal-02552695 HAL Id: hal-02552695 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02552695 Submitted on 23 Apr 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Review of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson (1986) Relevance : Communication and Cognition. (Blackwell's, Oxford) Daniel Hirst - CNRS Parole et Langage, Université de Provence. One of the examples Sperber & Wilson ask us to consider is the sentence : "It took us a long time to write this book" (p 122) In case the reader misses the point, they explain in the preface that the book developped out of a project begun over ten years ago to write "in a few months" a joint essay on semantics, pragmatics and rhetoric. The resulting book has been long awaited, having been announced as "forthcoming" since at least 1979 under various provisional titles ranging from The Interpretation of Utterances : Semantics, Pragmatics & Rhetoric (Wilson & Sperber 1979) through Foundations of Pragmatic Theory (Wilson & Sperber 1981) to Language and Relevance (Wilson & Sperber 1985). -
The Cognitive Revolution: a Historical Perspective
Review TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences Vol.7 No.3 March 2003 141 The cognitive revolution: a historical perspective George A. Miller Department of Psychology, Princeton University, 1-S-5 Green Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA Cognitive science is a child of the 1950s, the product of the time I went to graduate school at Harvard in the early a time when psychology, anthropology and linguistics 1940s the transformation was complete. I was educated to were redefining themselves and computer science and study behavior and I learned to translate my ideas into the neuroscience as disciplines were coming into existence. new jargon of behaviorism. As I was most interested in Psychology could not participate in the cognitive speech and hearing, the translation sometimes became revolution until it had freed itself from behaviorism, tricky. But one’s reputation as a scientist could depend on thus restoring cognition to scientific respectability. By how well the trick was played. then, it was becoming clear in several disciplines that In 1951, I published Language and Communication [1], the solution to some of their problems depended cru- a book that grew out of four years of teaching a course at cially on solving problems traditionally allocated to Harvard entitled ‘The Psychology of Language’. In the other disciplines. Collaboration was called for: this is a preface, I wrote: ‘The bias is behavioristic – not fanatically personal account of how it came about. behavioristic, but certainly tainted by a preference. There does not seem to be a more scientific kind of bias, or, if there is, it turns out to be behaviorism after all.’ As I read that Anybody can make history. -
103-08Bookreview34-P
57 BOOK REVIEW 2010 - #1 Shennan, Stephen (Editor). Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution. 2009. viii + 341 pages; figures; tables; chapter references; index. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. ISBN 978-0-520-25599-9. Hard Cover. Price: $60.00. Available from: Uni- versity of California Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 The contributors to Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution endeavor to make the case that cultural change and biological evolution are sufficiently similar that theoretical and analytical concepts from evolutionary biology can productively be applied to cultural “evolution.” Their position justifies an evolutionary anthropology that can embrace a variety of approaches to the archaeological and ethnographic records. Some of the more theoretical pronouncements are problematic (see below), and some of the applications are a bit strange (e.g., the phylogenetic branching of European knives and forks). Collec- tively, however, the volume’s chapters clearly demonstrate the middle-range potential of evolutionary approaches for generating and testing hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying cultural change. Shennan’s introductory chapter makes clear that practitioners of evolutionary anthropol- ogy and archaeology are a diverse group and may sometimes disagree with each other about theory and method. For example, human behavioral ecology (HBE) is advanced by its advocates as the quintessential evolutionary approach to archaeology and ethnology (e.g. Kennett and Winterhalder, 2006) but is regarded by others (e.g. Fitzhugh and Trusler, chapter 14) as insensitive to creativity and social and technological innovation. These authors favor cultural transmission theory (CT) which focuses on how skills, atti- tudes and artifacts are passed between generations (vertical transmission) and across social boundaries (horizontal transmission). -
Mental Evolution: a Review of Daniel Dennett's from Bacteria to Bach
Mental Evolution: A Review of Daniel Dennett's From Bacteria to Bach and Back July 28, 2017 Abstract From Bacteria To Bach and Back is an ambitious book that attempts to integrate a theory about the evolution of the human mind with another theory about the evolution of human culture. It is advertised as a defense of memes, but conceptualizes memes more liberally than has been done before. It is also advertised as a defense of the proposal that natural selec- tion operates on culture, but conceptualizes natural selection as a process in which nearly all interesting parameters are free to vary. This liberal conception of key concepts creates space for philosophical innovation, but occasionally makes the empirical content of the theory difficult to pin down. Nevertheless, the book is full of scientific insight, wit, and humor. It will undoubtedly become a cause of both controversy and inspiration for those interested in naturalistic theories of human culture. 1 Introduction Dennett's new book is a captivating, lively, and expansive account of the evo- lution of the human mind. It is a grand tour that begins with the origins of organisms, ascends to the heights of human culture, and ends with vistas of a future in which algorithms have begun to replace people as generators of cultural novelty. Although the book is about the evolution of the human mind, it is not a work of evolutionary psychology. Dennett wastes little ink speculating about the Pleistocene conditions that may have prompted domain-specific cognitive adaptations. The opening lines of the book pose a pair of questions that provide a more accurate indication of its focus: \How come there are minds?" and \How 1 is it possible for minds to ask and answer this question?" The scope of these questions is unwieldy, and, as usual, Dennett ignores disciplinary boundaries in his attempt to supply an answer. -
Moral Reputation: an Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Goldstone Research Unit Philosophy, Politics and Economics 10-29-2012 Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective Dan Sperber Nicolas Baumard Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Theory and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Sperber, D., & Baumard, N. (2012). Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective. Mind & Language, 27 (5), 495-518. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mila.12000 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone/8 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective Abstract From an evolutionary point of view, the function of moral behaviour may be to secure a good reputation as a co-operator. The best way to do so may be to obey genuine moral motivations. Still, one's moral reputation maybe something too important to be entrusted just to one's moral sense. A robust concern for one's reputation is likely to have evolved too. Here we explore some of the complex relationships between morality and reputation both from an evolutionary and a cognitive point of view. Disciplines Cognitive Psychology | Ethics and Political Philosophy | Theory and Philosophy This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone/8 Moral reputation: An evolutionary and cognitive perspective* Dan SPERBER and Nicolas BAUMARD Abstract: From an evolutionary point of view, the function of moral behaviour may be to secure a good reputation as a co-operator. The best way to do so may be to obey genuine moral motivations. -
UC Merced Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
UC Merced Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society Title When eye see you: Gaze and joint attention in human interaction Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/02h9m3wx Journal Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 35(35) ISSN 1069-7977 Authors Staudte, Maria Pfeiffer, Ulrich Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California When eye see you: Gaze and joint attention in human interaction Maria Staudte ([email protected]) Ulrich Pfeiffer ([email protected]) Department of Computational Linguistics Department of Psychiatry Saarland University University Hospital Cologne Keywords: joint attention; gaze; social interaction; language cognition and communication are among the core symptoms processing; dialog; grounding. of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Due to the broad impact of joint attention on social and communicative skills, its study Topic and Goals has become a major focus in the empirical research on ASD. Gaze behavior provides fundamental mechanisms for sharing The majority of this research is dedicated to understanding mental states such as goals and desires and helps to ground the implications of mutual and triadic gaze for the develop- communicative content. In order to establish common ground ment of skills related to communication among typically de- in verbal and non-verbal interactions, interlocutors often need veloping individuals and those with ASD (Mundy, Gwaltney, to acquire knowledge about their interaction partners’ focus & Henderson, 2010; Redcay et al., 2012). of visual attention by following their gaze and, in turn, have Overall, this workshop aims to explore how traditionally to direct their partners attention to their own target object or separate research areas such as social cognition/neuroscience, location. -
An Objection to the Memetic Approach to Culture (In Robert Aunger Ed
Dan Sperber An objection to the memetic approach to culture (in Robert Aunger ed. Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science. Oxford University Press, 2000, pp 163-173) Memetics is one possible evolutionary approach to the study of culture. Boyd and Richerson’s models (1985, Boyd this volume), or my epidemiology of representations (1985, 1996), are among other possible evolutionary approaches inspired in various ways by Darwin. Memetics however, is, by its very simplicity, particularly attractive. The memetic approach is based on the claim that culture is made of memes. If one takes the notion of a meme in the strong sense intended by Richard Dawkins (1976, 1982), this is indeed an interesting and challenging claim. On the other hand, if one were to define "meme", as does the Oxford English Dictionary, as "an element of culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means," then the claim that culture is made of memes would be a mere rewording of a most common idea: anthropologists have always considered culture as that which is transmitted in a human group by non-genetic means. Richard Dawkins defines "memes" as cultural replicators propagated through imitation, undergoing a process of selection, and standing to be selected not because they benefit their human carriers, but because of they benefit themselves. Are non-biological replicators such as memes theoretically possible? Yes, surely. The very idea of non-biological replicators, and the argument that the Darwinian model of selection is not limited to the strictly biological are already, by themselves, of theoretical interest. -
Culture, Language and Emotion
Volume 4 General Psychological Issues in Cultural Perspective Issue 2 Language, Communication and Culture Article 3 7-2020 Culture, Language and Emotion Alexandra S. Dylman Stockholm University, [email protected] Marie-France Champoux-Larsson Mid Sweden University Ingrid Zakrisson Mid Sweden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alex Dylman, Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, Frescati Hagväg 10, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Email: [email protected] Recommended Citation Dylman, A. S., Champoux-Larsson, M., & Zakrisson, I. (2020). Culture, Language and Emotion. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1167 This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2020 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1 Culture, Language and Emotion Abstract Culture, language and emotion all influence and affect our daily lives in their own manner. Although there is a large body of research suggesting that these factors interact with each other in intricate ways, they have traditionally been studied independently of each other. Furthermore, although biculturalism and bilingualism are not new phenomena, they are now prevalent globally to the extent that research investigating culture or language cannot be complete without taking them into account. Thus, in this paper, we discuss how culture, language and emotion may mutually influence one another in a globalized world where biculturalism and bilingualism are commonplace and suggest how future research could investigate these individual factors jointly. -
Culture, Cognition, and Evolution Dan Sperber and Lawrence Hirschfeld
Culture, Cognition, and Evolution Dan Sperber and Lawrence Hirschfeld Most work in the cognitive sciences focuses on the manner in which an individual device—be it a mind, a brain, or a computer—processes various kinds of information. Cognitive psychology in particular is primarily concerned with individual thought and behavior. Individuals however belong to populations. This is true in two quite differ- ent senses. Individual organisms are members of species and share a genome and most phenotypic traits with the other members of the same species. Organisms essentially have the cognitive capacities characteristic of their species, with relatively superficial individual variations. In social species, individuals are also members of groups. An important part of their cognitive activity is directed toward other members of the group with whom they cooperate and compete. Among humans in particular, social life is richly cultural. Sociality and culture are made possible by cognitive capacities, contribute to the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of these capacities, and provide specific inputs to cognitive processes. Although population-level phenomena influence the development and implementa- tion of cognition at the individual level, relevant research on these phenomena has not been systematically integrated within the cognitive sciences. In good part, this is due to the fact that these issues are approached by scholars from a wide range of disci- plines, working within quite different research traditions. To the extent that research- ers rely on methodological and theoretical practices that are sometimes difficult to harmonize (e.g., controlled laboratory versus naturalistic observations), the influence of these insights across disciplines and traditions of research is often unduly limited, even on scholars working on similar problems.