Understanding scientific theories like evolution by natural selection, classical mechanics, or plate tectonics requires knowledge restructuring at the level of individual concepts, or conceptual change. Here, we investigate the role of cognitive reflection (Frederick, 2005) in achieving conceptual change. College undergraduates (n = 184) were administered a 45question survey probing their under...

The Cognitive Complexity of Texts and Its Formal Measurement in Cognitive Linguistics Yingxu Wang1 ∗, Robert C. Berwick2, and Xiangfeng Luo3 1International Institute of Cognitive Informatics and Cognitive Computing (ICIC), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada 2Deparment...

The paper investigates the strength of the anti-foundation axiom on the basis of various systems of constructive set theories. 1. Introduction Intrinsically circular phenomena have come to the attention of researchers in diiering elds such as mathematical logic, computer science , artiicial intelligence, linguistics, cognitive science, and philosophy. Logicians rst explored set theories whose u...

Computational modeling of human language processes is a small but growing subfield of computational linguistics. This paper describes a course that makes use of recent research in psychocomputational modeling as a framework to introduce a number of mainstream computational linguistics concepts to an audience of linguistics, cognitive science and computer science doctoral students. The emphasis ...

Kernel methods are among the most successful tools in machine learning and are used in challenging data analysis problems in many disciplines. Here we provide examples where kernel methods have proven to be powerful tools for analyzing behavioral data, especially for identifying features in categorization experiments. We also demonstrate that kernel methods relate to perceptrons and exemplar mo...

This article examines the notions of “intuitive” and “counterintuitive” beliefs and concepts in cognitive science of religion. “Intuitive” states are contrasted with those that are products of explicit, conscious reasoning. In many cases the intuitions are grounded in the implicit rules of mental models, frames, or schemas. I argue that the pathway from intuitive to high theological concepts an...

Symposium Presenters: Ton Dijkstra ([email protected]) Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands Laurie B. Feldman Department of Psychology, the University at Albany, SUNY & Haskins Labs, USA Ping Li ([email protected]) Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, USA Li-Hai Tan ([email protected]) School of Humanities, State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitiv...

This brief commentary has three goals. The first is to argue that "framework debate" in cognitive science is unresolvable. The idea that one theory or framework can singly account for the vast complexity and variety of cognitive processes seems unlikely if not impossible. The second goal is a consequence of this: We should consider how the various theories on offer work together in diverse cont...

We argue that the study of human vision should be aimed at determining how humans perform natural tasks with natural images. Attempts to understand the phenomenology of vision from artificial stimuli, although worthwhile as a starting point, can lead to faulty generalizations about visual systems, because of the enormous complexity of natural images. Dealing with this complexity is daunting, bu...

Recent findings in cognitive science suggest that the epistemic subject is more complex and epistemically porous than is generally pictured. Human knowers are open to the world via multiple channels, each operating for particular purposes and according to its own logic. These findings need to be understood and addressed by the philosophical community. The current essay argues that one consequen...