In Defense of Representation

The computational paradigm, which has dominated psychology and artificial intelligence since the cognitive revolution, has been a source of intense debate. Recently, several cognitive scientists have argued against this paradigm, not by objecting to computation, but rather by objecting to the notion of representation. Our analysis of these objections reveals that it is not the notion of representation per se that is causing the problem, but rather specific properties of representations as they are used in various psychological theories. Our analysis suggests that all theorists accept the idea that cognitive processing involves internal information-carrying states that mediate cognitive processing. These mediating states are a superordinate category of representations. We discuss five properties that can be added to mediating states and examine their importance in various cognitive models. Finally, three methodological lessons are drawn from our analysis and discussion.

[1]  N. Lewis.  A dynamic theory of personality , 1935 .

[2]  C. E. SHANNON,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[3]  E. Feigenbaum,et al.  Computers and Thought , 1963 .

[4]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  The Sound Pattern of English , 1968 .

[5]  P. Johnson-Laird,et al.  Psychology of Reasoning: Structure and Content , 1972 .

[6]  Allan Collins,et al.  A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing , 1975 .

[7]  Donald A. Norman,et al.  Explorations in Cognition , 1975 .

[8]  S. Palmer.  Hierarchical structure in perceptual representation , 1977, Cognitive Psychology.

[9]  A. Tversky.  Features of Similarity , 1977 .

[10]  Douglas L. Medin,et al.  Context theory of classification learning. , 1978 .

[11]  John R. Anderson.  Arguments concerning representations for mental imagery. , 1978 .

[12]  E. Rosch,et al.  Cognition and Categorization , 1980 .

[13]  E. Kandel,et al.  Synaptic plasticity and the modulation of the Ca2+ current. , 1980, The Journal of experimental biology.

[14]  William P. Alston,et al.  Knowledge and the Flow of Information , 1985 .

[15]  A. Tversky,et al.  Similarity, separability, and the triangle inequality. , 1982, Psychological review.

[16]  James H. Moor,et al.  Knowledge and the Flow of Information. , 1982 .

[17]  John R. Anderson.  A spreading activation theory of memory. , 1983 .

[18]  Dedre Gentner,et al.  Structure-Mapping: A Theoretical Framework for Analogy , 1983, Cogn. Sci..

[19]  B. Ross.  Remindings and their effects in learning a cognitive skill , 1984, Cognitive Psychology.

[20]  R. Nosofsky.  Attention, similarity, and the identification-categorization relationship. , 1986, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[21]  Ronald W. Langacker,et al.  An Introduction to Cognitive Grammar , 1986, Cogn. Sci..

[22]  Dedre Gentner,et al.  Mechanisms of Analogical Learning. , 1987 .

[23]  I. Biederman.  Recognition-by-components: a theory of human image understanding. , 1987, Psychological review.

[24]  R. Baillargeon.  Object permanence in 3½- and 4½-month-old infants. , 1987 .

[25]  Allen Newell,et al.  GPS, a program that simulates human thought , 1995 .

[26]  P. Smolensky.  Connectionism, Constituency, and the Language of Thought ; CU-CS-416-88 , 1988 .

[27]  J. Fodor,et al.  Connectionism and cognitive architecture: A critical analysis , 1988, Cognition.

[28]  Roger C. Schank,et al.  SCRIPTS, PLANS, GOALS, AND UNDERSTANDING , 1988 .

[29]  P. Smolensky.  On the proper treatment of connectionism , 1988, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[30]  L. Cosmides.  The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason selection task , 1989, Cognition.

[31]  Philip N. Johnson-Laird,et al.  Reasoning by model: The case of multiple quantification. , 1989 .

[32]  Brian Falkenhainer,et al.  The Structure-Mapping Engine: Algorithm and Examples , 1989, Artif. Intell..

[33]  I. Simonson,et al.  Choice Based on Reasons: The Case of Attraction and Compromise Effects , 1989 .

[34]  W. Freeman.  Second Commentary: On the proper treatment of connectionism by Paul Smolensky (1988) - Neuromachismo Rekindled , 1989 .

[35]  A. Ortony,et al.  Similarity and Analogical Reasoning , 1991 .

[36]  Paul Thagard,et al.  Analogical Mapping by Constraint Satisfaction , 1989, Cogn. Sci..

[37]  K. Holyoak,et al.  On the natural selection of reasoning theories , 1989, Cognition.

[38]  Linda B. Smith.  From global similarities to kinds of similarities: the construction of dimensions in development , 1989 .

[39]  L. R. Novick.  Representational Transfer in Problem Solving , 1990 .

[40]  J. Fodor,et al.  Connectionism and the problem of systematicity: Why Smolensky's solution doesn't work , 1990, Cognition.

[41]  Jeffrey L. Elman,et al.  Finding Structure in Time , 1990, Cogn. Sci..

[42]  Jordan B. Pollack,et al.  Recursive Distributed Representations , 1990, Artif. Intell..

[43]  D. Chalmers.  Why Fodor and Pylyshyn Were Wrong: The Simplest Refutation , 1990 .

[44]  Steven Pinker,et al.  Why No Mere Mortal Has Ever Flown Out to Center Field , 1991, Cogn. Sci..

[45]  Richard Reviewer-Granger.  Unified Theories of Cognition , 1991, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[46]  R. A. Brooks,et al.  Intelligence without Representation , 1991, Artif. Intell..

[47]  Linda B. Smith,et al.  A developmental analysis of the polar structure of dimensions , 1992, Cognitive Psychology.

[48]  I. Biederman,et al.  Dynamic binding in a neural network for shape recognition. , 1992, Psychological review.

[49]  E. Higgins.  Achieving 'Shared Reality' in the Communication Game: A Social Action That Create; Meaning , 1992 .

[50]  L. Reder,et al.  What determines initial feeling of knowing? Familiarity with question terms, not with the answer , 1992 .

[51]  Andy Clark,et al.  Associative Engines: Connectionism, Concepts, and Representational Change , 1993 .

[52]  B. Bower.  A Child's Theory of Mind , 1993 .

[53]  Barry Loewer,et al.  Meaning in mind : Fodor and his critics , 1993 .

[54]  Peter Szolovits,et al.  What Is a Knowledge Representation? , 1993, AI Mag..

[55]  J. Perner.  Understanding the Representational Mind , 1993 .

[56]  D. Gentner,et al.  Structural Alignment during Similarity Comparisons , 1993, Cognitive Psychology.

[57]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Rules of the Mind , 1993 .

[58]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  Situated Action: A Symbolic Interpretation , 1993, Cogn. Sci..

[59]  B. Landau,et al.  “What” and “where” in spatial language and spatial cognition , 1993 .

[60]  John A. Barnden,et al.  On the connectionist implementation of analogy and working memory matching. , 1994 .

[61]  Eric Dietrich.  Thinking Computers and The Problem of Intentionality , 1994 .

[62]  S. Kosslyn.  Image and Brain , 1994 .

[63]  A. Koriat.  Memory''s knowledge of its own knowledge: The accessibility account of the feeling of knowing , 1994 .

[64]  Mark T. Keane.  Constraints on Analogical Mapping: A Comparison of Three Models , 1994, Cogn. Sci..

[65]  J. Metcalfe,et al.  Metacognition : knowing about knowing , 1994 .

[66]  Roger C. Schank,et al.  Inside case-based explanation , 1994, Artificial intelligence series.

[67]  L. Rips.  The Psychology of Proof: Deductive Reasoning in Human Thinking , 1994 .

[68]  John L. Pollock,et al.  Justification and Defeat , 1994, Artif. Intell..

[69]  Philip E. Agre,et al.  Computational Research on Interaction and Agency , 1995, Artif. Intell..

[70]  A. Opstal.  Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior , 1995 .

[71]  D. Lewkowicz,et al.  A dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action. , 2007, Journal of cognitive neuroscience.

[72]  Kenneth D. Forbus,et al.  MAC/FAC: A Model of Similarity-Based Retrieval , 1995, Cogn. Sci..

[73]  B. Keysar,et al.  Intuitions of the transparency of idioms: Can one keep a secret by spilling the beans? , 1995 .

[74]  Gary F. Marcus,et al.  German Inflection: The Exception That Proves the Rule , 1995, Cognitive Psychology.

[75]  Mark H. Bickhard,et al.  Foundational issues in artificial intelligence and cognitive science - impasse and solution , 1995, Advances in psychology.

[76]  E. Thelen.  Time-scale dynamics and the development of an embodied cognition , 1996 .

[77]  A. C. Yu,et al.  Temporal Hierarchical Control of Singing in Birds , 1996, Science.

[78]  T. Gelder,et al.  It's about time: an overview of the dynamical approach to cognition , 1996 .

[79]  L. Reder.  Implicit memory and metacognition , 1996 .

[80]  J. Grimes.  On the failure to detect changes in scenes across saccades. , 1996 .

[81]  D. Gentner,et al.  Structure mapping in analogy and similarity. , 1997 .

[82]  The coincidence effect in similarity and choice , 1997, Memory & cognition.

[83]  Gavan Lintern,et al.  Dynamic patterns: The self-organization of brain and behavior , 1997, Complex.

[84]  T. Landauer,et al.  A Solution to Plato's Problem: The Latent Semantic Analysis Theory of Acquisition, Induction, and Representation of Knowledge. , 1997 .

[85]  Bryan Lawson,et al.  Sketches of thought , 1997 .

[86]  John E. Hummel,et al.  Distributed representations of structure: A theory of analogical access and mapping. , 1997 .

[87]  M. Lamb,et al.  The Two Sides of Perception , 1998, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[88]  D. Simons,et al.  Failure to detect changes to people during a real-world interaction , 1998 .

[89]  R. Shillcock,et al.  Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society , 1998 .

[90]  Miriam Bassok,et al.  Adding Apples and Oranges: Alignment of Semantic and Formal Knowledge , 1998, Cognitive Psychology.

[91]  L. Barsalou,et al.  Whither structured representation? , 1999, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[92]  Stephen K. Reed,et al.  Use of examples and procedures in problem solving , 1991 .