Ebook: Understanding Representation in the Cognitive Sciences: Does Representation Need Reality?

urrently a paradigm shift is occurring in for the conventional understanding of represen- which the traditional view of the brain as tions. The paper also summarizes the rationale for C representing the "things of the world" is the selection of contributions to this volume, which challenged in several respects. The present volume will roughly proceed from relatively "realist" c- is placed at the edge of this transition. Based on the ceptions of representation to more "constructivist" 1997 conference "New Trends in Cognitive Sci- interpretations. The final chapter of discussions, ence" in Vienna, Austria, it tries to collect and in- taped during and at the end of the conference, p- grate evidence from various disciplines such as p- vides the reader with the possibility to reflect upon losophy of science, neuroscience, computational the different approaches and thus contributes to b- approaches, psychology, semiotics, evolutionary ter and more integrative understanding of their biology, social psychology etc. , to foster a new thoughts and ideas. understanding of representation. The subjective experience of an outside world This book has a truly interdisciplinary character. It seems to suggest a mapping process where environ- is presented in a form that is readily accessible to mental entities are projected into our mind via some professionals and students alike across the cognitive kind of transmission. While a profound critique of sciences such as neuroscience, computer science, this idea is nearly as old as philosophy, it has gained philosophy, psychology, and sociology.

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This volume argues in favor of rethinking basic issues in cognitive science in the context of recent developments. Some issues that are investigated include: the importance of simulation as a methodological tool for theory development in cognitive science, the necessity of linguistic transparency in models of cognition, and the embodiment of knowledge in its substratum, for example, in neural structure. The volume sketches the epistemological and methodological implications for cognitive science and its related disciplines. These issues include the evolution of semantics and symbol grounding as well as the design of autonomous systems acting in the `real' world, either as robots or as software.

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This volume argues in favor of rethinking basic issues in cognitive science in the context of recent developments. Some issues that are investigated include: the importance of simulation as a methodological tool for theory development in cognitive science, the necessity of linguistic transparency in models of cognition, and the embodiment of knowledge in its substratum, for example, in neural structure. The volume sketches the epistemological and methodological implications for cognitive science and its related disciplines. These issues include the evolution of semantics and symbol grounding as well as the design of autonomous systems acting in the `real' world, either as robots or as software.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages 1-8
Does Representation Need Reality?....Pages 9-17
Overview of Contributions....Pages 19-22
The Connectionist Route to Embodiment and Dynamicism....Pages 23-32
The Ontological Status of Representations....Pages 33-38
Empirical and Metaphysical Anti-Representationalism....Pages 39-47
Representation in Cognitive Neuroscience....Pages 49-56
Cognition without Representation?....Pages 57-74
On Computing Systems and Their Environment....Pages 75-81
Representation and Cognitive Explanation....Pages 83-91
When Coffee Cups Are Like Old Elephants, or Why Representation Modules Don’t Make Sense....Pages 93-100
The Recommendation Architecture: Relating Cognition to Physiology....Pages 101-113
Neurodynamics and the Revival of Associationism in Cognitive Science....Pages 115-119
The Dynamic Manifestation of Cognitive Structures in the Cerebral Cortex....Pages 121-126
Response Selectivity, Neuron Doctrine, and Mach’s Principle in Perception....Pages 127-134
Mental Representations: A Computational-Neuroscience Scheme....Pages 135-142
Sketchpads In and Beyond the Brain....Pages 143-146
Inductive Learning with External Representations....Pages 147-159
Does the Brain Represent the World? Evidence Against the Mapping Assumption....Pages 161-167
Perception Through Anticipation. A Behaviour-Based Approach to Visual Perception....Pages 169-176
Rethinking Grounding....Pages 177-190
Reality: A Prerequisite to Meaningful Representation....Pages 191-197
Explorations in Synthetic Pragmatics....Pages 199-208
Does Semantics Need Reality?....Pages 209-217
Empiricism and Social Reality: Can Cognitive Science Be Socialized?....Pages 219-227
Habitus and Animats....Pages 229-235
Processing Concepts and Scenarios: Electrophysiological Findings on Language Representation....Pages 237-245
Constructivist Consequences: Translation and Reality....Pages 247-252
The Observer in the Brain....Pages 253-256
Reality and Representation Qualia, Computers, and the “Explanatory Gap”....Pages 257-268
Can a Constructivist Distinguish between Experience and Representation?....Pages 269-276
How Animals Handle Reality- The Adaptive Aspect of Representation....Pages 277-281
Piaget’s Legacy: Cognition as Adaptive Activity....Pages 283-287
Back Matter....Pages 289-307

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This volume argues in favor of rethinking basic issues in cognitive science in the context of recent developments. Some issues that are investigated include: the importance of simulation as a methodological tool for theory development in cognitive science, the necessity of linguistic transparency in models of cognition, and the embodiment of knowledge in its substratum, for example, in neural structure. The volume sketches the epistemological and methodological implications for cognitive science and its related disciplines. These issues include the evolution of semantics and symbol grounding as well as the design of autonomous systems acting in the `real' world, either as robots or as software.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages 1-8
Does Representation Need Reality?....Pages 9-17
Overview of Contributions....Pages 19-22
The Connectionist Route to Embodiment and Dynamicism....Pages 23-32
The Ontological Status of Representations....Pages 33-38
Empirical and Metaphysical Anti-Representationalism....Pages 39-47
Representation in Cognitive Neuroscience....Pages 49-56
Cognition without Representation?....Pages 57-74
On Computing Systems and Their Environment....Pages 75-81
Representation and Cognitive Explanation....Pages 83-91
When Coffee Cups Are Like Old Elephants, or Why Representation Modules Don’t Make Sense....Pages 93-100
The Recommendation Architecture: Relating Cognition to Physiology....Pages 101-113
Neurodynamics and the Revival of Associationism in Cognitive Science....Pages 115-119
The Dynamic Manifestation of Cognitive Structures in the Cerebral Cortex....Pages 121-126
Response Selectivity, Neuron Doctrine, and Mach’s Principle in Perception....Pages 127-134
Mental Representations: A Computational-Neuroscience Scheme....Pages 135-142
Sketchpads In and Beyond the Brain....Pages 143-146
Inductive Learning with External Representations....Pages 147-159
Does the Brain Represent the World? Evidence Against the Mapping Assumption....Pages 161-167
Perception Through Anticipation. A Behaviour-Based Approach to Visual Perception....Pages 169-176
Rethinking Grounding....Pages 177-190
Reality: A Prerequisite to Meaningful Representation....Pages 191-197
Explorations in Synthetic Pragmatics....Pages 199-208
Does Semantics Need Reality?....Pages 209-217
Empiricism and Social Reality: Can Cognitive Science Be Socialized?....Pages 219-227
Habitus and Animats....Pages 229-235
Processing Concepts and Scenarios: Electrophysiological Findings on Language Representation....Pages 237-245
Constructivist Consequences: Translation and Reality....Pages 247-252
The Observer in the Brain....Pages 253-256
Reality and Representation Qualia, Computers, and the “Explanatory Gap”....Pages 257-268
Can a Constructivist Distinguish between Experience and Representation?....Pages 269-276
How Animals Handle Reality- The Adaptive Aspect of Representation....Pages 277-281
Piaget’s Legacy: Cognition as Adaptive Activity....Pages 283-287
Back Matter....Pages 289-307
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