Problems and Mysteries of the Many Languages of Thought

Eric Mandelbaum; Yarrow Dunham; Roman Feiman; Chaz Firestone; E. J. Green; Daniel Harris; Melissa M. Kibbe; Benedek Kurdi; Myrto Mylopoulos; Joshua Shepherd; Alexis Wellwood; Nicolas Porot; Jake Quilty-Dunn

doi:10.1111/cogs.13225

Problems and Mysteries of the Many Languages of Thought

Eric Mandelbaum, Yarrow Dunham, Roman Feiman, Chaz Firestone, E. J. Green, Daniel Harris, Melissa M. Kibbe, Benedek Kurdi, Myrto Mylopoulos, Joshua Shepherd, Alexis Wellwood, Nicolas Porot, Jake Quilty-Dunn

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

Abstract

“What is the structure of thought?” is as central a question as any in cognitive science. A classic answer to this question has appealed to a Language of Thought (LoT). We point to emerging research from disparate branches of the field that supports the LoT hypothesis, but also uncovers diversity in LoTs across cognitive systems, stages of development, and species. Our letter formulates open research questions for cognitive science concerning the varieties of rules and representations that underwrite various LoT-based systems and how these variations can help researchers taxonomize cognitive systems.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e13225
Journal	Cognitive Science
Volume	46
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.13225
State	Published - Dec 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Comparative psychology
Concepts
Developmental psychology
Evolution
Inference
Language of Thought
Mental representation
Reasoning
Vision science

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience
Artificial Intelligence

Online availability

10.1111/cogs.13225

Library availability

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Cite this

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AU - Dunham, Yarrow

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AU - Firestone, Chaz

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AU - Harris, Daniel

AU - Kibbe, Melissa M.

AU - Kurdi, Benedek

AU - Mylopoulos, Myrto

AU - Shepherd, Joshua

AU - Wellwood, Alexis

AU - Porot, Nicolas

AU - Quilty-Dunn, Jake

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KW - Concepts

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KW - Evolution

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KW - Mental representation

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Problems and Mysteries of the Many Languages of Thought

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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