The Cognitive Revolution

00:01:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeoyzqmyWug

Summary

TLDRSteve Pinker discusses the evolution of psychology from behaviorism to cognitive science. The cognitive revolution at Harvard challenged the idea of excluding 'mental contents' from study, recognizing that internal states, like those in computers, are essential for understanding the mind. This led to a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses psychology, linguistics, computer science, and neuroscience, shaping modern cognitive science.

Takeaways

  • 🧠 Cognitive science emerged from the cognitive revolution at Harvard.
  • 📚 Behaviorism previously dominated psychology, ignoring mental processes.
  • 💻 The study of computers helped redefine mental states in humans.
  • 🔍 Cognitive science combines multiple disciplines for comprehensive understanding.
  • ✍️ Noam Chomsky's work in linguistics influences cognitive theories.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:01:53

    Steve Pinker, a professor at Harvard, discusses the cognitive revolution's significance in establishing the scientific study of the mind. He highlights the challenge of studying mental contents, such as thoughts and emotions, which cannot be directly observed or measured. During the mid-20th century, behaviorism became the dominant approach in American psychology, rejecting the notion of mental contents. However, in the early 1950s, some scholars, connected to Harvard, began to reassess this view. They argued that if we can attribute internal states to computers, such as memory and goals, it should not be unscientific to apply similar reasoning to humans. This shift led to the emergence of cognitive science, which encompasses experimental psychology, linguistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, and later, neuroscience.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is Steve Pinker's role at Harvard?

    He is a professor in the department of psychology and holds the John Stone family professorship.

  • What was the primary challenge in studying the mind scientifically?

    The challenge was dealing with mental contents, such as thoughts and emotions, which are not directly observable.

  • What school of thought dominated American psychology before cognitive science?

    Behaviorism dominated American psychology until the early 1950s.

  • What academic fields are included in cognitive science?

    Cognitive science includes experimental psychology, linguistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience.

  • Who is Noam Chomsky?

    Noam Chomsky is a famous linguist associated with Harvard who contributed to linguistic theories.

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  • 00:00:04
    I'm Steve Pinker and I'm a Harvard
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    college professor and John Stone family
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    Professor here at Harvard in the
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    department of psychology the cognitive
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    Revolution which took place at Harvard
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    was the start of the modern scientific
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    study of the mind because when you study
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    something like the mind and you like to
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    think that you're a scientist you're
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    faced with the immediate problem of what
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    do we do with these things called mental
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    contents thoughts emotions images plans
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    rules you can't see them you can't taste
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    them you can't feel them uh if you're a
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    scientist you're supposed to be studying
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    things that you can see see and measure
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    and manipulate how do you even begin
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    with a science of Mind well the answer
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    that a dominated psychology in the
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    middle part of the 20th century was to
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    just give up all talk of mental contents
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    this is the school of behaviorism and it
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    came to take over American psychology
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    until the early 1950s
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    when a number of Scholars with ties to
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    Harvard started to rethink that whole
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    idea when we talk about how computers
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    work you can't get around imputing
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    internal states to them computers have
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    memories they have goal States they
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    execute plans and if you could do that
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    about a hunk of metal and you're not
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    being unscientific why should it be
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    unscientific to say those things about a
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    human being the result was called
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    cognitive science it included both
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    experimental psychology people who study
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    other humans in the lab Linguistics
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    including the famous theories of
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    linguist gome Chomsky who was here at
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    Harvard as a uh in the Society of
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    fellows uh computer science and
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    artificial intelligence and later
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    neuroscience
Tags
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychology
  • Behaviorism
  • Harvard
  • Noam Chomsky
  • Mental Contents
  • Linguistics
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Revolution