Cooper, Richard P. (2006) Cognitive architectures as Lakatosian research programmes: two case studies. Philosophical Psychology 19 (2), pp. 199-220. ISSN 0951-5089.
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Abstract
Cognitive architectures - task-general theories of the structure and function of the complete cognitive system - are sometimes argued to be more akin to frameworks or belief systems than scientific theories. The argument stems from the apparent non-falsifiability of existing cognitive architectures. Newell was aware of this criticism and argued that architectures should be viewed not as theories subject to Popperian falsification, but rather as Lakatosian research programs based on cumulative growth. Newell's argument is undermined because he failed to demonstrate that the development of Soar, his own candidate architecture, adhered to Lakatosian principles. This paper presents detailed case studies of the development of two cognitive architectures, Soar and ACT-R, from a Lakatosian perspective. It is demonstrated that both are broadly Lakatosian, but that in both cases there have been theoretical progressions that, according to Lakatosian criteria, are pseudo-scientific. Thus, Newell's defense of Soar as a scientific rather than pseudo-scientific theory is not supported in practice. The ACT series of architectures has fewer pseudo-scientific progressions than Soar, but it too is vulnerable to accusations of pseudo-science. From this analysis, it is argued that successive versions of theories of the human cognitive architecture must explicitly address five questions to maintain scientific credibility.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Copyright © 2006 Taylor & Francis. This is an electronic version of an article published in Philosophical Psychology. Philosophical Psychology is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/ The final version of this paper can be viewed online at: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0951-5089&volume=19&issue=2&spage=199 |
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | ACT-R, cognitive architecture, falsification, Soar, theory development |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Sandra Plummer |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Aug 2007 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 16:47 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/525 |
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