Mind as Motion: Explorations in the Dynamics of Cognition

Mind as Motion is the first comprehensive presentation of the dynamical approach to cognition. It contains a representative sampling of original, current research on topics such as perception, motor control, speech and language, decision making, and development. Included are chapters by pioneers of the approach, as well as others applying the tools of dynamics to a wide range of new problems. Throughout, particular attention is paid to the philosophical foundations of this radical new research program.

Cognitive science has traditionally been dominated by an AI-based computational paradigm in which cognition is taken to be the manipulation of internal symbols. Even as the potential of this paradigm continues to be explored, limitations are becoming increasingly apparent. Researchers throughout cognitive science have been casting around for alternative theoretical frameworks. Out of this flux has emerged the dynamical concept, according to which cognitive processes are the behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems and are best studied using the mathematics of dynamical modeling and dynamical systems theory.

Mind as Motion provides a conceptual and historical overview of the dynamical approach, a tutorial introduction to dynamics for cognitive scientists, and a glossary covering the most frequently used terms. Each chapter includes an introduction by the editors, outlining its main ideas and placing it in context, and a guide to further reading.

Contributors:
Randall Beer, Geoffrey Bingham, Catherine Browman, Jerome Busemeyer, Claudia Carello, Fred Cummins, Jeffrey Elman, Marco Giunti, Louis Goldstein, Stephen Grossberg, Devin McAuley, Mary Ann Metzger, Alec Norton, Jean Petitot, Robert Port, Dana Redington, Steven Reidbord, Elliot Saltzman, Esther Thelen, James Townsend, Michael Turvey, Paul van Geert, Timothy van Gelder.

A Bradford Book

Robert F. Port is Professor in the Departments of Linguistics and Computer Science at Indiana University, and Timothy van Gelder is Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia.