Definition and Approach of Cognitive Science

There is (or was, depending on who you ask) a dispute in cognitive science over the definition, status, and correct approach to the subject of mental images. Both camps, however, are alike in that they prefer to concentrate no not as conscious experiences, as in traditional psychology, but on

UNCONSCIOUS STRUCTURES THAT CAUSE CERTAIN BEHAVIOR.

The central question in the debate revolves around the question

WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THESE STRUCTURES AND HOW DO WE EMPIRICALLY TEST FOR THEM?

Answering this question has proven to be extremely complicated, and it involves fundamental issues in the foundations of psychology. The approach demanded by contemporary cognitive science derives from some extremely important and fundamental objections to traditional psychology: (1) if subjective reports are all we have to go on, we will never be able to scientifically quantify or formulate anything about the inner workings of the mind. Subjective reports, or personal descriptions of "what is going on in one's mind," vary too widely to be trusted. (2) Moreover, subjective reports do not tell us what is going on at the deepest level of the mind (i.e., at the unconscious or "computational" level).

The two camps are:

  • PICTORIALISM, exemplified in Kosslyn's definition.
  • DESCRIPTIVISM, exemplified in Pylyshyn's definition.

    • The pictorialist/descriptivist controversy had its origins in the late 1960's, when psychology began to break out of the behaviorist mold and mental images were once more studied. At the same time, computational theories of the mind became popular, and what is today known as cognitive science was born. One of the first logical questions for this new science was whether or not to include mental IMAGES within its scope. This question was given particular importance by Shepard and Metzler's 1971 experiment on mental rotation. The IMAGERY DEBATE, as it came to be known, started soon after that, and continued for at least 10 years.

    In my work, I argue that cognitive science never really graduated from the strictures of behaviorism and it failed to address the qualities of mental images as we directly experience them. The result is poor and inconsistent science, and neither side "wins" the debate.

    Return to Introduction to Mental Images Page