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The limitations of the reverse-engineering approach to cognitive modeling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

Jay G. Rueckl
Jay G. Rueckl*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268; and Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT 06511. Jay.Rueckl@Uconn.edu http://web.uconn.edu/psychology/people/Faculty/Rueckl/Rueckl.html
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Abstract

Frost's critique reveals the limitations of the reverse-engineering approach to cognitive modeling – the style of psychological explanation in which a stipulated internal organization (in the form of a computational mechanism) explains a relatively narrow set of phenomena. An alternative is to view organization as both the explanation for some phenomena and a phenomenon to be explained. This move poses new and interesting theoretical challenges for theories of word reading.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 305
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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References

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