Cognition and Perception

Cognition and Perception PDF

Author: Athanassios Raftopoulos

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2009-07-17

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 0262258412

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An argument that there are perceptual mechanisms that retrieve information in cognitively and conceptually unmediated ways and that this sheds light on various philosophical issues. In Cognition and Perception, Athanassios Raftopoulos discusses the cognitive penetrability of perception and claims that there is a part of visual processes (which he calls “perception”) that results in representational states with nonconceptual content; that is, a part that retrieves information from visual scenes in conceptually unmediated, “bottom-up,” theory-neutral ways. Raftopoulos applies this insight to problems in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and epistemology, and examines how we access the external world through our perception as well as what we can know of that world. To show that there is a theory-neutral part of existence, Raftopoulos turns to cognitive science and argues that there is substantial scientific evidence. He then claims that perception induces representational states with nonconceptual content and examines the nature of the nonconceptual content. The nonconceptual information retrieved, he argues, does not allow the identification or recognition of an object but only its individuation as a discrete persistent object with certain spatiotemporal properties and other features. Object individuation, however, suffices to determine the referents of perceptual demonstratives. Raftopoulos defends his account in the context of current discussions on the issue of the theory-ladenness of perception (namely the Fodor-Churchland debate), and then discusses the repercussions of his thesis for problems in the philosophy of science. Finally, Raftopoulos claims that there is a minimal form of realism that is defensible. This minimal realism holds that objects, their spatiotemporal properties, and such features as shape, orientation, and motion are real, mind-independent properties in the world.

Cognition in the Wild

Cognition in the Wild PDF

Author: Edwin Hutchins

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1996-08-26

Total Pages: 403

ISBN-13: 0262581469

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Edwin Hutchins combines his background as an anthropologist and an open ocean racing sailor and navigator in this account of how anthropological methods can be combined with cognitive theory to produce a new reading of cognitive science. His theoretical insights are grounded in an extended analysis of ship navigation—its computational basis, its historical roots, its social organization, and the details of its implementation in actual practice aboard large ships. The result is an unusual interdisciplinary approach to cognition in culturally constituted activities outside the laboratory—"in the wild." Hutchins examines a set of phenomena that have fallen in the cracks between the established disciplines of psychology and anthropology, bringing to light a new set of relationships between culture and cognition. The standard view is that culture affects the cognition of individuals. Hutchins argues instead that cultural activity systems have cognitive properties of their own that are different from the cognitive properties of the individuals who participate in them. Each action for bringing a large naval vessel into port, for example, is informed by culture: the navigation team can be seen as a cognitive and computational system. Introducing Navy life and work on the bridge, Hutchins makes a clear distinction between the cognitive properties of an individual and the cognitive properties of a system. In striking contrast to the usual laboratory tasks of research in cognitive science, he applies the principal metaphor of cognitive science—cognition as computation (adopting David Marr's paradigm)—to the navigation task. After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that are larger than an individual. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales. Hutchins's conclusion illustrates the costs of ignoring the cultural nature of cognition, pointing to the ways in which contemporary cognitive science can be transformed by new meanings and interpretations. A Bradford Book

Unified Theories of Cognition

Unified Theories of Cognition PDF

Author: Allen Newell

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13: 9780674921016

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Newell introduces Soar, an architecture for general cognition. A pioneer system in AI, Soar is the first problem-solver to create its own subgoals and learn continuously from its own experience. Its ability to operate within the real-time constraints of intelligent behavior illustrates important characteristics of human cognition.

Cognition and the Visual Arts

Cognition and the Visual Arts PDF

Author: Robert L. Solso

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780262691864

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Applies research on how humans perceive, process and store information to the viewing and interpretation of art. The author argues that the clearest view of the mind comes from creating or experiencing art. The illustrations cover a range of examples but focus primarily on Western art.

Cognition

Cognition PDF

Author: Arnold Lewis Glass

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-03-21

Total Pages: 523

ISBN-13: 1107088313

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Drawing on a modern neurocognitive framework, this full-color textbook introduces the entire field of cognition through an engaging narrative. Emphasizing the common neural mechanisms that underlie all aspects of perception, learning, and reasoning, the text encourages students to recognize the interconnectivity between cognitive processes. Elements of social psychology and developmental psychology are integrated into the discussion, leading students to understand and appreciate the connection between cognitive processing and social behavior. Numerous learning features provide extensive student support: chapter summaries encourage students to reflect on the main points of each chapter; end-of-chapter questions allow students to review their understanding of key topics; approximately two hundred figures, photos, and charts clarify complex topics; and suggestions for further reading point students to resources for deeper self-study. The textbook is also accompanied by eight hundred multiple-choice questions, for use before, during, and after class, which have been proven to dramatically improve student understanding and exam performance.

Cognition in Practice

Cognition in Practice PDF

Author: Jean Lave

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1988-07-29

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780521357340

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Most previous research on human cognition has focused on problem-solving, and has confined its investigations to the laboratory. As a result, it has been difficult to account for complex mental processes and their place in culture and history. In this startling - indeed, disco in forting - study, Jean Lave moves the analysis of one particular form of cognitive activity, - arithmetic problem-solving - out of the laboratory into the domain of everyday life. In so doing, she shows how mathematics in the 'real world', like all thinking, is shaped by the dynamic encounter between the culturally endowed mind and its total context, a subtle interaction that shapes 1) Both tile human subject and the world within which it acts. The study is focused on mundane daily, activities, such as grocery shopping for 'best buys' in the supermarket, dieting, and so on. Innovative in its method, fascinating in its findings, the research is above all significant in its theoretical contributions. Have offers a cogent critique of conventional cognitive theory, turning for an alternative to recent social theory, and weaving a compelling synthesis from elements of culture theory, theories of practice, and Marxist discourse. The result is a new way of understanding human thought processes, a vision of cognition as the dialectic between persons-acting, and the settings in which their activity is constituted. The book will appeal to anthropologists, for its novel theory of the relation of cognition to culture and context; to cognitive scientists and educational theorists; and to the 'plain folks' who form its subject, and who will recognize themselves in it, a rare accomplishment in the modern social sciences.

Social Cognition

Social Cognition PDF

Author: Susan T. Fiske

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2020-11-11

Total Pages: 871

ISBN-13: 1529738091

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The social world is complicated and our minds are limited, so we take shortcuts. You have to make quick decisions – this person is dangerous, this one is not. The shortcuts we take mostly work well enough, because, after all, we survive. But some are deeply unjust, including racial or social class categories or other unfair stereotypes. This book will help you understand how these shortcuts work, why they exist, and how they are changing. There are examples in each chapter which * Show applications in the real world to help with your understanding * Highlight significant pieces of research to help you demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of sources * Explain researching in social cognition to improve your skills and give ideas for your own research. Check out the accompanying online resources for more.

Cognition and Reality

Cognition and Reality PDF

Author: Ulric Neisser

Publisher: W H Freeman & Company

Published: 1976-01-01

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9780716704775

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Surveys contemporary theories of perception, criticizing mechanistic information-processing models and stressing differences between perception in the external world and in experimental laboratory situations

Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition

Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition PDF

Author: Aleksandra Gruszka

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-06-16

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 9781441912107

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As cognitive models of behavior continue to evolve, the mechanics of cognitive exceptionality, with its range of individual variations in abilities and performance, remains a challenge to psychology. Reaching beyond the standard view of exceptional cognition equaling superior intelligence, the Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition examines the latest findings from psychobiology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience, for a comprehensive state-of-the-art volume. Breaking down cognition in terms of attentional mechanisms, working memory, and higher-order processing, contributors discuss general models of cognition and personality. Chapter authors build on this foundation as they revisit current theory in such areas as processing effort and general arousal and examine emerging methods in individual differences research, including new data on the role of brain plasticity in cognitive function. The possibility of a unified theory of individual differences in cognitive ability and the extent to which these variables may account for real-world competencies are emphasized, and commentary chapters offer suggestions for further research priorities. Coverage highlights include: The relationship between cognition and temperamental traits. The development of autobiographical memory. Anxiety and attentional control. The neurophysiology of gender differences in cognitive ability. Intelligence and cognitive control. Individual differences in dual task coordination. The effects of subclinical depression on attention, memory, and reasoning. Mood as a shaper of information. Researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in psychology and cognitive sciences, including clinical psychology and neuropsychology, personality and social psychology, neuroscience, and education, will find the Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition an expert guide to the field as it currently stands and to its agenda for the future.