Cognitive Science Glossary: D–F

This section contains key cognitive science concepts starting with letters D–F.

D

Deduction

Reasoning where conclusions follow necessarily from premises through logically binding steps. Truth is preserved from premises to conclusion.

Example:

1. All humans are mortal (premise)
2. Socrates is human (premise)
3. Therefore, Socrates is mortal (conclusion)

Dualism

A theory—especially Cartesian—that reality comprises mental and material substances ("Descartes' two substances"). These can interact yet exist independently of each other.

Problem: How can an immaterial mind affect a material body?

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E

Ecology

A branch of biology describing organism distribution and interactions with abiotic environment and other species.

Eliminativism

A radical form of materialism claiming that folk psychological concepts (beliefs, desires) don't correspond to anything real.

See also: Materialism (M–O section)

Emotions

Affective psychological phenomena (subjective experiences, memory effects, decision impacts) plus associated physiological and behavioral functions.

Basic emotions:

• Joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise

Empirical Method

1. A scientific method testing precisely formulated theories through observation, with objective and reliable measurement methods.
2. Knowledge gaining through observation without detailed background theory.
3. Any knowledge acquisition through experience and observation.

Empiricism

Philosophy that all knowledge ultimately derives from observations and sensations, contrasting with nativism and rationalism.

Key figures:

• John Locke
• David Hume
• George Berkeley

Epiphenomenalism

Mental states are brain byproducts lacking causal power over the material world or behavior, existing on a separate reality level.

Epistemology

Philosophy addressing:

• "What is knowledge?"
• "Where does knowledge originate?"
• "What justifies knowledge?"

Ethology

A branch of biology describing and explaining adaptive animal behavior, especially instinctive behavior in natural ecological environments.

Key researchers:

• Konrad Lorenz
• Niko Tinbergen

Evolution

Species change, extinction, and emergence processes. Darwin's natural selection theory explains adaptation through accumulated beneficial random mutations.

Key mechanisms:

• Natural selection
• Mutation
• Genetic drift
• Gene flow

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F

Folk Psychology

Common-sense descriptions and explanations of behavior based on concepts like sensations, images, beliefs, desires, and emotions—not formally scientific.

Functionalism

1. A mental state M is defined by its functional relations to other mental states and input-output relations.
2. Cognitive explanation through computational symbolic systems with representational operations.
3. System analysis through component functions and integration.

Key figures:

• Hilary Putnam
• Jerry Fodor

Phenomenal Properties

Subjective experiential qualities of conscious states ("what it's like" to experience), such as pain's sharpness or orange's brightness.

See also: Qualia (P–R section)

Phenotype

An individual's appearance—anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits where genes play significant causal roles in development.

Cf. Genotype: an individual's genetic composition

Physical Symbol System Hypothesis

A "Strong AI" theory that physical symbol-manipulating systems are necessary and sufficient for intelligence.

Proposed by: Allen Newell and Herbert Simon (1976)

Physics

Natural science studying matter's most general behavioral laws.

Physiology

A branch of biology studying physical/chemical mechanisms implementing adaptive biological functions.