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Beginning with biology: “Aspects of cognition” exist in the service of the brain's overall function as a resource-regulator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Jordan E. Theriault Open the ORCID record for Jordan E. Theriault [Opens in a new window] ,
Matt Coleman ,
Mallory J. Feldman ,
Joseph D. Fridman ,
Eli Sennesh ,
Lisa Feldman Barrett  and
Karen S. Quigley
Jordan E. Theriault
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115jordan_theriault@northeastern.edum.coleman@northeastern.eduj.fridman@northeastern.edul.barrett@northeastern.eduK.Quigley@northeastern.eduhttp://www.jordan-theriault.com/http://josephfridman.com/https://www.affective-science.org/
Matt Coleman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115jordan_theriault@northeastern.edum.coleman@northeastern.eduj.fridman@northeastern.edul.barrett@northeastern.eduK.Quigley@northeastern.eduhttp://www.jordan-theriault.com/http://josephfridman.com/https://www.affective-science.org/
Mallory J. Feldman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599mjfeld@live.unc.eduhttps://malloryjfeldman.com
Joseph D. Fridman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115jordan_theriault@northeastern.edum.coleman@northeastern.eduj.fridman@northeastern.edul.barrett@northeastern.eduK.Quigley@northeastern.eduhttp://www.jordan-theriault.com/http://josephfridman.com/https://www.affective-science.org/
Eli Sennesh
Affiliation:
Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115sennesh.e@husky.neu.eduhttps://esennesh.github.io/
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115jordan_theriault@northeastern.edum.coleman@northeastern.eduj.fridman@northeastern.edul.barrett@northeastern.eduK.Quigley@northeastern.eduhttp://www.jordan-theriault.com/http://josephfridman.com/https://www.affective-science.org/ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, 02129 Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129
Karen S. Quigley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115jordan_theriault@northeastern.edum.coleman@northeastern.eduj.fridman@northeastern.edul.barrett@northeastern.eduK.Quigley@northeastern.eduhttp://www.jordan-theriault.com/http://josephfridman.com/https://www.affective-science.org/ Department of Veterans Affairs, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial (VA) Medical Center, Bedford, MA, 01730
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Abstract

Lieder and Griffiths rightly urge that computational cognitive models be constrained by resource usage, but they should go further. The brain's primary function is to regulate resource usage. As a consequence, resource usage should not simply select among algorithmic models of “aspects of cognition.” Rather, “aspects of cognition” should be understood as existing in the service of resource management.

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Open Peer Commentary
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e26
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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Footnotes

1.

These authors jointly supervised this work.

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