The Computational Model of Mind: Metaphor, Misconception and Misdirection.
The computational model of mind is intended to serve as a metaphor for the way that the brain processes information which in turn guides behaviour. The computer metaphor is central to modern psychology and is widely perceived to facilitate a truly scientific means of examining and interpreting mental phenomena (Mackay & Petocz, 2010). The dominance of the computational model can be summed up by Fodor’s (1975) claim that it is “the only game in town”, which he repeated in 2008 in support of the enduring legitimacy of the statement and of its ubiquity across domains of science. The persistence of the computer model’s attractiveness to psychology can be attributed to a
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This allows cognitive scientists to conceive of the processes involved in human mental states and events as computational states of the brain that can be studied like those of a computer (Mackay & Petocz, 2010, Ben-Menahem, 2005). According to the computational model, the mind operates as the software, facilitating the processing of information via symbols and the brain is the hardware of the computer (Mackay & Petocz, 2010, Notterman, 2000). Within the computational model, information in the form of mental representations, is processed in the brain as symbols tokens with both syntactic and semantic properties (Worst, 1996). These form the input that enter the brain as information, where they are processed by the neurophysiology of the brain via cognitive functions (software) resulting in output (behaviour) (Notterman, 2000). Proponents of the computational model see psychology as the study of these computational processes, whereby mental phenomena are construed as objects that exist inside the mind of the cognisor (Boden, 1988). The computational model, and in particular Fodor’s (1975, 2008) “Computational Theory of Mind” (CTM) has emerged as the mainstream view advocated within the study of cognition (Worst, 1996). However, the
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ABSTRACT: In 1983, Fodor’s Modularity of Mind popularized faculty psychology. His theory employs a trichotomous functional architecture to explain cognitive processes, which is very similar to Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception. Each theory postulates that perception is a mid-level procedure that operates on transduced information and that perception is independent of our cognitive experience. The two theories differ on whether perception is informationally impenetrable. This difference is essentially an empirical matter. However, I suggest that Merleau-Ponty’s allowance of cross-modal communication within perception explains our ability to identify features in noisy backgrounds better because his theory offers a more definitive ontology that matches human substantive behavior. Likewise, evidence within cognitive science suggests that Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology is a more accurate depiction of human cognitive processes.
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Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).
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Cognitive processes are the unseen systems used by our minds to complete tasks such as solving problems, recognising an object, or learning a language. These unseen mental processes take place in the brain, which is a complex piece of equipment often compared to a computer. When the internal workings of a computer are exposed, all that we see are microchips, circuit boards, hard drives and other assorted pieces, which, all work and ...
To attempt to relinquish some of these concerns regarding the differentiation of mind and behaviour definition, Whiten (1996) established four distinct variations of mind- reading. These are implicit mind- reading, counter- deception, recognition of intervening variables, and experience projection. Impli...
Whilst evaluating the cognitive approach to psychology there are many strengths such as that the cognitive approach takes an understanding of the influence from mental processes on one’s behaviour, focusing on an individual’s thinking patterns and their perception. This approach also relates to many known functions and operations that the human body performs such as memory and problem solving.
For years philosophers have enquired into the nature of the mind, and specifically the mysteries of intelligence and consciousness. (O’Brien 2017) One of these mysteries is how a material object, the brain, can produce thoughts and rational reasoning. The Computational Theory of Mind (CTM) was devised in response to this problem, and suggests that the brain is quite literally a computer, and that thinking is essentially computation. (BOOK) This idea was first theorised by philosopher Hilary Putnam, but was later developed by Jerry Fodor, and continues to be further investigated today as cognitive science, modern computers, and artificial intelligence continue to advance. [REF] Computer processing machines ‘think’ by recognising information
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Numerous speculations have been advanced to clarify the relationship between what we call your mind and your brain. They incorporate Jackson and Nagel 's journey to oppose recognizing what we call 'mental