Complex versus Complicated Models of Cognition

Ruud den Hartigh; Ralf Cox; Paul van Geert

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30526-4_30

Complex versus Complicated Models of Cognition

Ruud den Hartigh, Ralf Cox, Paul van Geert

Developmental Psychology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As humans, we continuously adapt our behavior to changes in our environment, and our cognitive abilities continuously develop over time. A major question for scientists has been to discover the (cognitive) mechanism that underlies the control of human behavior in real time, as well as cognitive development in the long term. This chapter will discuss two kinds of general approaches, which we shall refer to as the reductionist approach and the complex dynamic systems (CDS ) approach. Roughly speaking, the reductionist approach assumes that separate cognitive components, such as brain areas or processing mechanisms, are primarily responsible for behavior and development, by processing (and responding to) specific environmental cues. The CDS approach assumes that cognition and thereby the control of behavior and development are distributed over the brain, body, and environment, which continuously interact over time. The aim of this chapter is to compare the two approaches in terms of their assumptions, research strategies, and analyses. Furthermore, we will discuss the extent to which current research data in the cognitive domain can be explained by the two different approaches. Based on this review, we conclude that the CDS approach, which assumes a complex rather than a complicated model of cognition, provides the most plausible approach to cognition.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science
Editors	Lorenzo Magnani, Tommaso Bertolotti
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	657-669
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-319-30526-4
ISBN (Print)	978-3-319-30525-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30526-4_30
Publication status	Published - 2017

Publication series

Name	Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science

Keywords

reductionist approach
complex dynamic systems approach
self-organization
static models
dynamic models
Complicated model
complex model
complex cognitive system
COGNITION
PERFORMANCE

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10.1007/978-3-319-30526-4_30

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title = "Complex versus Complicated Models of Cognition",

abstract = "As humans, we continuously adapt our behavior to changes in our environment, and our cognitive abilities continuously develop over time. A major question for scientists has been to discover the (cognitive) mechanism that underlies the control of human behavior in real time, as well as cognitive development in the long term. This chapter will discuss two kinds of general approaches, which we shall refer to as the reductionist approach and the complex dynamic systems (CDS ) approach. Roughly speaking, the reductionist approach assumes that separate cognitive components, such as brain areas or processing mechanisms, are primarily responsible for behavior and development, by processing (and responding to) specific environmental cues. The CDS approach assumes that cognition and thereby the control of behavior and development are distributed over the brain, body, and environment, which continuously interact over time. The aim of this chapter is to compare the two approaches in terms of their assumptions, research strategies, and analyses. Furthermore, we will discuss the extent to which current research data in the cognitive domain can be explained by the two different approaches. Based on this review, we conclude that the CDS approach, which assumes a complex rather than a complicated model of cognition, provides the most plausible approach to cognition.",

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author = "{den Hartigh}, Ruud and Ralf Cox and {van Geert}, Paul",

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AU - Cox, Ralf

AU - van Geert, Paul

PY - 2017

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AB - As humans, we continuously adapt our behavior to changes in our environment, and our cognitive abilities continuously develop over time. A major question for scientists has been to discover the (cognitive) mechanism that underlies the control of human behavior in real time, as well as cognitive development in the long term. This chapter will discuss two kinds of general approaches, which we shall refer to as the reductionist approach and the complex dynamic systems (CDS ) approach. Roughly speaking, the reductionist approach assumes that separate cognitive components, such as brain areas or processing mechanisms, are primarily responsible for behavior and development, by processing (and responding to) specific environmental cues. The CDS approach assumes that cognition and thereby the control of behavior and development are distributed over the brain, body, and environment, which continuously interact over time. The aim of this chapter is to compare the two approaches in terms of their assumptions, research strategies, and analyses. Furthermore, we will discuss the extent to which current research data in the cognitive domain can be explained by the two different approaches. Based on this review, we conclude that the CDS approach, which assumes a complex rather than a complicated model of cognition, provides the most plausible approach to cognition.

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KW - PERFORMANCE

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PB - Springer

CY - Cham

ER -

Complex versus Complicated Models of Cognition

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