25 - AnEvaluation of Computational Modeling in Cognitive Science

Summary

Computer modeling of specific psychological processes began over fifty years ago, with work on draughts playing, logical problem solving, and learning/conditioning. Experimental psychology, largely inspired by information theory, was making important advances in the study of cognition: specifically, perception, attention, and concept formation. Some cognitive scientists had long used principled computational arguments to arrive at a conclusion, namely, that rationality depends on emotion, which is not to deny that emotional response can sometimes make us to act irrationally. One important aspect of human beings that is acknowledged - and explained - by theories of computational architecture is freedom. The participants in most computer models, and many psychological theories of social interaction are conceptualized as solitary individuals who can affect and communicate with other individuals happened to be around but whose nature is potentially solipsistic.