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How Does the Mind Work? Insights from Biology
Version of Record online: 30 JAN 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2008.01007.x
Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Marcus, G. (2009), How Does the Mind Work? Insights from Biology. Topics in Cognitive Science, 1: 145–172. doi: 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2008.01007.x
Publication History
- Issue online: 30 JAN 2009
- Version of Record online: 30 JAN 2009
- Received 16 October 2008; received in revised form 16 November 2008; accepted 17 November 2008
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Language;
- Connectionism;
- Domain-specificity;
- Cognitive development;
- Innate;
- Learning;
- Symbol manipulation;
- Syntactic representation;
- Syntactic trees;
- Linguistics;
- Cognitive architecture;
- Cognition;
- Optimality;
- Evolutionary psychology
Abstract
Cognitive scientists must understand not just what the mind does, but how it does what it does. In this paper, I consider four aspects of cognitive architecture: how the mind develops, the extent to which it is or is not modular, the extent to which it is or is not optimal, and the extent to which it should or should not be considered a symbol-manipulating device (as opposed to, say, an eliminative connectionist network). In each case, I argue that insights from developmental and evolutionary biology can lead to substantive and important compromises in historically vexed debates.
