10/4/10 Miller, G. (2003). The cognitive revolution: A historical perspective. Trends in Cognitive Science, 7, 3, 141-144. Experimental psychologists like Pavlov argued the only objective evidence was behavioral Became an objective science based on scientific laws and behavior ◦ Perception – behavior ◦ Memory – learning ◦ Language – verbal behavior ◦ Intelligence – intelligence tests Information measurement based upon probabilities, with those being more interesting than the logarithmic values, however neither of them shed light on the psychological processes involved Participating in the standard philosophy of the day was necessary to maintain a reputation “Critical year for the development of information processing psychology” – Newell & Simon ◦ Conference on artificial intelligence at Dartmouth ◦ Shannon and McCarthy edited “Automata Studies” ◦ Minsky circulated a initial draft of “Steps toward Artificial Intelligence” ◦ Bruner, Goodenough & Austin published “A Study of Thinking” ◦ Other articles on human capacity to process information, componential analysis that became models for cognitive anthropology and papers about the effects of language on thought Servo theory, information theory, signal-detection theory, computer theory and computers themselves also driving philosophical change in psychological theory 1 10/4/10 A new alternative emerges, syntactic theory Cognitive processes responsible for the structural aspects of language Mental hypotheses about cognitive processes responsible for the verbal behaviors observed Mentalistic concepts began to explain behavioral data Harvard Center for Cognitive Studies grew out of a smaller project Articles being published which incorporate a cognitive perspective Norman Wiener – cybernetics Marvin Minsky & John McCarthy – artificial intelligence Alan Newell & Herb Simon – computer simulated cognitive processes Noam Chomsky – redefining linguistics Symposium at MIT Simon & Newell paper "Logic Machine“ IBM presentation - largest computer to test Hebb's neuropsychological theory of cell assembly Victor Yngve presentation -Statistical analysis of gaps relation to syntax Chomsky- "outted" transformational generative grammar (Elias's claims of language were backed by Chomsky) GC Szikali discussed experiments in speed of perceptual recognition Miller discussed short-term memory Swets & Birdsall spoke of significance of signal detection theory for perceptual recognition Harvard- cognitive studies Carnegie-Mellon- information-processing psychology La Jolla - cognitive science Sloan Foundation program of 'neuroscience‘ ◦ Explored bridging the gap between brain & mind 2 10/4/10 Each expert in their field presented, but felt inadequate to assess another field Miller advocated money for computers ( others wanted to focus on AI) Miller identified and argued for 6 disciplines were needed to define ◦ cognitive science: ◦ Psychology ◦ Linguistics ◦ Neuroscience ◦ Computer Science ◦ Anthropology ◦ Philosophy Each area was now developed enough to recognize it needed information & research from other disciplines (very open-minded for scientists?) One figure was produced from the conference: (see handout-1978) Use a thick line to connect the fields you KNOW are inter-related Use a dashed line to connect the fields you THINK are inter- related Draw X's between fields that you think are NOT related Miller- " some veterans of those days question whether then program was successful, and whether there really is something now that we can call 'cognitive science'. For myself, I prefer to speak of the cognitive sciences, in the plural,". And as of 2003, Miller still dreams of a unified science between the brain and the mind - structurally, functionally, representationally, and computationally. Questions: What international impact did the study Mentalism (Cognition) philosophy have? Why was Psychology redefined as the science of behavior? How and why did behaviorism lose some of its luster? Can you explain and defend the 6 areas Miller’s purports to be important to the field of cognitive sciences? Written as an historical perspective, how much, if any of the article do you think is bias by Miller’s own relationship to the events? How might Psychology be different today if the philosophy of behaviorism had lasted longer or prevailed? How did the development of computers play a role in the evolution of Cognitive Psychology? 3 .