From owner-cse575-fa07-list@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU Tue Sep 4 10:28:27 2007 Received: from ares.cse.buffalo.edu (ares.cse.Buffalo.EDU [128.205.32.79]) by castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU (8.13.6/8.12.10) with ESMTP id l84ESQUZ018246 for ; Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:26 -0400 (EDT) Received: from front3.acsu.buffalo.edu (warmfront.acsu.buffalo.edu [128.205.6.88]) by ares.cse.buffalo.edu (8.13.8/8.13.6) with SMTP id l84ESHNw056018 for ; Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 16078 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2007 14:28:17 -0000 Received: from mailscan7.acsu.buffalo.edu (128.205.6.158) by front3.acsu.buffalo.edu with SMTP; 4 Sep 2007 14:28:17 -0000 Received: (qmail 16010 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2007 14:28:17 -0000 Received: from deliverance.acsu.buffalo.edu (128.205.7.57) by front3.acsu.buffalo.edu with SMTP; 4 Sep 2007 14:28:17 -0000 Received: (qmail 17162 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2007 14:28:15 -0000 Received: from listserv.buffalo.edu (128.205.7.35) by deliverance.acsu.buffalo.edu with SMTP; 4 Sep 2007 14:28:15 -0000 Received: by LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 14.5) with spool id 2007936 for CSE575-FA07-LIST@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU; Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:15 -0400 Delivered-To: cse575-fa07-list@listserv.buffalo.edu Received: (qmail 24176 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2007 14:28:15 -0000 Received: from mailscan1.acsu.buffalo.edu (128.205.6.133) by listserv.buffalo.edu with SMTP; 4 Sep 2007 14:28:15 -0000 Received: (qmail 4467 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2007 14:28:14 -0000 Received: from castor.cse.buffalo.edu (128.205.32.14) by smtp2.acsu.buffalo.edu with SMTP; 4 Sep 2007 14:28:14 -0000 Received: from castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU (rapaport@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU (8.13.6/8.12.10) with ESMTP id l84ESEI7018217 for ; Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:14 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from rapaport@localhost) by castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU (8.13.6/8.12.9/Submit) id l84ESESi018216 for cse575-fa07-list@listserv.buffalo.edu; Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:14 -0400 (EDT) X-UB-Relay: (castor.cse.buffalo.edu) X-PM-EL-Spam-Prob: : 7% Message-ID: <200709041428.l84ESESi018216@castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU> Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:14 -0400 Reply-To: "William J. Rapaport" Sender: Introduction to Cognitive Science From: "William J. Rapaport" Subject: Mind as Computer To: CSE575-FA07-LIST@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU Precedence: list List-Help: , List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Owner: List-Archive: X-UB-Relay: (castor.cse.buffalo.edu) X-PM-EL-Spam-Prob: : 7% X-DCC-Buffalo.EDU-Metrics: castor.cse.Buffalo.EDU 1029; Body=0 Fuz1=0 Fuz2=0 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.5 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.1.8 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.8 (2007-02-13) on ares.cse.buffalo.edu X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV 0.90.2/4151/Tue Sep 4 08:37:19 2007 on ares.cse.buffalo.edu X-Virus-Status: Clean Status: R Content-Length: 1418 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Mind as Computer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've updated the list of readings about "computationalism" to include a fascinating historical article co-authored by a well-respected cognitive scientist (Gigerenzer): Gigerenzer, Gerd; & Goldstein, Daniel G. (1996), "Mind as Computer: Birth of a Metaphor", Creativity Research Journal 9(2-3): 131-144. Abstract: Scientific discovery has long been explained in terms of theory, data, and little else. We propose a new approach to scientific discovery in which tools play a central role by suggesting themselves as scientific theories, by way of what we call the tools-to-theories heuristic of scientific discovery. In this article, we extend our previous analysis of statistical tools that became theories of mind to the computer and its impact on psychological theorizing. We first show how a conceptual separation of intelligence and calculation in the early 19th century made mechanical computation, and later the electronic computer, conceivable. We next show how in this century, when computers finally became standard laboratory tools, the computer was proposed---and eventually adopted---as a model of mind. Thus, we travel the full circle from mind to computer and back. http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/575/F07/cgsmiscrdgs.html