Maturationally Natural Cognition
and
Radically Counter-Intuitive Science
Robert N. McCauley
Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture
Emory University
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~philrnm/
Maturationally Natural Cognition
and
Radically Counter-Intuitive Science
1. philosophical and psychological
preliminaries
2. maturationally natural cognition
3. radically counter-intuitive science
4. maturationally natural influences and
the implications of their persistence
part 1: philosophical preliminaries:
two comments on theory ladenness
1. whatever they are, scientific
theories are selective
2. two varieties of theory
ladenness (at least)
part 1: psychological preliminaries:
dual processing theories
reflective
vs.
intuitive
off-line
on-line
conscious
deliberate
slow
verbal
unconscious
automatic
fast
non-verbal (mostly)
part 1: psychological preliminaries
intuitive cognition
specific beliefs or actions that arise automatically and
instantaneously and are held or done without reflection
1.
2.
3.
4.
general, commonsense notion
presumed sound, though underdetermined
declarative and procedural
two sources
cognition
intuitive
(cognitively
natural)
practiced
(“second nature”)
reflective
maturational
part 2: maturationally natural cognition
1. address basic problems
2. appear early
3. define normal development
4. do not depend on any culturally
distinctive support
5. constitute domain specific systems at
the end, if not at the beginning
6. engage when triggered by distinctive
cues
part 2: maturationally natural cognition
some candidate domains
language
face recognition
part 2: maturationally natural cognition
some candidate domains
language
face recognition
basic physics of solid objects
theory of mind
contamination avoidance
part 3: radically counter-intuitive
science
the sciences reliably advance (usually
sooner rather than later) representations
that are radically counter-intuitive
i.e., these representations depart
drastically from the deliverances of our
maturationally natural perceptual and
cognitive systems
1582 illustration of impetus
theory by Walther Hermann
Ryff which divides the
trajectory into 3 phases
part 4: maturationally natural influences
and the implications of their persistence
re: Churchland’s project
(1) for reflective theories superseding implicit, maturationally
natural theories (especially with regard to perception)
(2) for achieving widespread scientific expertise
-- persisting (intrusive!) maturationally natural
(theoretical) assumptions
-- difficulties assessing probabilistic evidence
-- inferential foibles
-- confirmation bias
part 4: maturationally natural influences
and the implications of their persistence
re: Fodor’s project for a theory-neutral, observational foundation
of scientific knowledge
“. . . insensitivity to local alterations in beliefs and utilities is . . .
a necessary condition for the theory neutrality of observation. . .
. what seems to be required is just enough diachronic
encapsulation to allow perceptual consensus to survive the
effects of the kinds of differences of learning histories that
observers actually exhibit.”
Fodor, J. (1988). “A Reply to Churchland’s “Perceptual Plasticity and
Theoretical Neutrality,”” Philosophy of Science 55, 192.
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16
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22
20
18
-10
Adults
Children
Difference
-20
-30
10
8
-40
6
4
-50
2
0
-60
Societies
Difference (kids minus adults)
26
10
24
0
part 4: maturationally natural influences
and the implications of their persistence
perceptual input systems :: linguistic input system
Both their development and ultimate forms may
be substantially shaped by cultural inputs. Thus:
1. they are theory laden
2. they are not uniform