Cognitive science - which draws on ideas from psychology, philosophy, linguistics and artificial intelligence (AI) - attempts to explain our mental life within a scientific framework. Its goal is, thus, to remove the last major obstacle to a unified scientific account of the natural world. In this title, originally published in 1991, Alan Garnham provides an invaluable introduction to this exciting new development in the study of mind. The Mind in Action focuses on the development of a systematic explanation of cognition, rather than on facts about the way we perceive things, remember them, talk about them, think about them, and interact with them. The author looks in detail at the nature of scientific explanations, the reasons for developing them, and the way they are assessed. He describes the work carried out by cognitive scientists and considers the questions that motivate it. He introduces the computational metaphor for the mind, and explains how flushing out the metaphor might lead to an integrated scientific account of mental phenomena. Designed primarily for people about to embark on courses in cognitive science and related disciplines, The Mind in Action captures the liveliness and excitement of debates about the mind. It is readily accessible to anyone with an interest in how the mind works, avoiding technical terms where possible and explaining them fully where they are necessary.

First published in 1987, this book provides a stimulating introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) - the science of thinking machines. After a general introduction to AI, including its history, tools, research methods, and its relation to psychology, Garnham gives an account of AI research in five major areas: knowledge representation, vision, thinking and reasoning, language, and learning. He then describes the more important applications of AI and discusses the broader philosophical issues raised by the possibility of thinking machines. In the final chapter, he speculates about future research in AI, and more generally in cognitive science. Suitable for psychology students, the book also provides useful background reading for courses on vision, thinking and reasoning, language and learning.

Originally published in 1985, this title was an important new teaching text at the time. Alan Garnham focuses on current theories about the central cognitive aspects of language understanding, and attempts to reflect the emergence of cognitive science, an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of language and other cognitive processes. As well as describing psychological studies, the text includes ideas from linguistics, artificial intelligence, the philosophy of language and formal logic. Some introductory remarks on the study of language understanding precede a discussion of word recognition and the computation of the syntactic structure of sentences. The central part of the book is concerned with questions about meaning, the mental representation of word meanings, and text comprehension. The final two chapters address questions of how the parts of the language processing system operate together, and how language production is related to comprehension. Rather than attempting an exhaustive discussion of empirical research on his chosen topics, the author gives the reader the flavour of linguistic arguments. In particular, Psycholinguistics attempts to indicate the problems and also the possibilities of relating experimental data to theories of language processing. Psycholinguistics will still be useful reading on courses in psycholinguistics, language and thought, and cognitive psychology.

Phil Johnson-Laird's theory of mental models has proved to be an influential development in the cognitive sciences. This theory aims to provide a detailed account of both reasoning and inference on the one hand, and language on the other. It can therefore be regarded as a step toward the much-sought-after unified theory of cognition.; This book provides an overview of mental models research. Some of the contributors were collaborators or former graduate students of Johnson-Laird, and between them they cover the main strands of mental models theory. After an appreciation of Johnson-Laird, the book covers topics including language Processing, Reasoning, Inference, The Role Of Emotions, And The Impact Of mental illnesses on thought processes.

The interpretation of anaphora - how we interpret expressions such as definite pronouns (he, she, it) and verbal elliptical phrases (such as "did so, too") in the course of ordinary conversation or reading - is an important aspect of language comprehension.
In this book the author examines the research and evidence on anaphor interpretation within the context of the mental models theory of comprehension, arguing that the notion of a mental model is essential to the detailed description of the processes of anaphor resolution. The general philosophy of the mental models approach and the nature of mental models themselves and their role in language processing is discussed, followed by a review of methodological issues that bear on the interpretation of psychological research findings. Against this background, the author's own research on areas such as deep and surface anaphora, reference into anaphoric islands, the role of implicit causality in anaphor resolution and the use of pronouns to refer to characters introduced by stereotyped role names is presented.
At all times the author's research is set within the context of the general literature on anaphor resolution derived from the disciplines of linguistics, psycholinguistics, philosophy and computational linguistics, ensuring that the book will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in these fields.

Related link: Free Email Alerting
Related link: Essays Series

One of the most influential developments in the cognitive sciences in the last 20 years is Phil Johnson-Laird's theory of mental models. This theory aims to provide a detailed account of both reasoning and inference, on the one hand, and language processing on the other. Mental models theory can therefore be regarded as a step toward the much-sought-after unified theory of cognition. This book, to be published on the occasion of Phil Johnson-Laird's sixtieth birthday, provides an overview of the current state of mental models research. It also reflects Phil's influence on the development of cognitive science at a more personal level. The authors include some of Phil's most distinguished collaborators and the majority of his former graduate students, many of whom are now eminent psychologists in their own right. The book contains contributions from North America, Britain, and the rest of Europe, and covers all the main strands of mental models theory.

The interpretation of anaphora - how we interpret expressions such as definite pronouns (he, she, it) and verbal elliptical phrases (such as "did so, too") in the course of ordinary conversation or reading - is an important aspect of language comprehension. In this book the author examines the research and evidence on anaphor interpretation within the context of the mental models theory of comprehension, arguing that the notion of a mental model is essential to the detailed description of the processes of anaphor resolution. The general philosophy of the mental models approach and the nature of mental models themselves and their role in language processing is discussed, followed by a review of methodological issues that bear on the interpretation of psychological research findings. Against this background, the author's own research on areas such as deep and surface anaphora, reference into anaphoric islands, the role of implicit causality in anaphor resolution and the use of pronouns to refer to characters introduced by stereotyped role names is presented. At all times the author's research is set within the context of the general literature on anaphor resolution derived from the disciplines of linguistics, psycholinguistics, philosophy and computational linguistics, ensuring that the book will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in these fields.

Originally published in 1985, this title was an important new teaching text at the time. Alan Garnham focuses on current theories about the central cognitive aspects of language understanding, and attempts to reflect the emergence of cognitive science, an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of language and other cognitive processes. As well as describing psychological studies, the text includes ideas from linguistics, artificial intelligence, the philosophy of language and formal logic. Some introductory remarks on the study of language understanding precede a discussion of word recognition and the computation of the syntactic structure of sentences. The central part of the book is concerned with questions about meaning, the mental representation of word meanings, and text comprehension. The final two chapters address questions of how the parts of the language processing system operate together, and how language production is related to comprehension. Rather than attempting an exhaustive discussion of empirical research on his chosen topics, the author gives the reader the flavour of linguistic arguments. In particular, Psycholinguistics attempts to indicate the problems and also the possibilities of relating experimental data to theories of language processing. Psycholinguistics will still be useful reading on courses in psycholinguistics, language and thought, and cognitive psychology.

First published in 1987, this book provides a stimulating introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) - the science of thinking machines. After a general introduction to AI, including its history, tools, research methods, and its relation to psychology, Garnham gives an account of AI research in five major areas: knowledge representation, vision, thinking and reasoning, language, and learning. He then describes the more important applications of AI and discusses the broader philosophical issues raised by the possibility of thinking machines. In the final chapter, he speculates about future research in AI, and more generally in cognitive science. Suitable for psychology students, the book also provides useful background reading for courses on vision, thinking and reasoning, language and learning.