Lauren Fowler-Carter

Reflective Paper: Issues and Criticism

Cognitivist Perspective

There are a number of critics that have challenged the idea of cognition theory. Some of

the critics include social, emotion, and world challenges (Thagard, 2010). Thagard (2010) states

that cognitive science ignores human thought in ways that is inherently social. He also states that

the “important role of emotions in human thinking” is ignored. Thagard (2010) presents a world

challenge in his writing that states that “cognitive science disregards the significant role of

physical environments in human thinking. Though feeling that cognitive science ignores some

human factors, the writer does not disagree with the idea of cognition. Thagard (2010) would

like the theory to be expanded and enhancing the idea that humans process information like

computers. He does not feel that the concept should be abandoned.

Norman (1980) also presents issues that he has discovered with cognition. He presents

twelve main issues that he has with the theory, which are: belief systems, consciousness,

development, emotion, interaction, language, learning, memory, perception, performance, skill

and thought. I will go into further details about a few of the issues previously listed.

Norman (1980) states that when he examined the general nature of belief systems and its

implication for cognitive behavior, he discovered exactly how much of his “own hidden belief

structures influence …’pure’ logical inference, memory processes, and social interactions”

(Norman, 1980, p. 16). It is also stated that little effort has been put in, to “examine the

individual cognitive processes as they are used within interactive settings” (Norman, 1980, p.

19). Since much of the study of cognitive processes is done with a person isolated, Norman

(1980) states that “only one part of the mechanisms of human cognition” are being addressed.

Language and perception are issues that Norman (1980) discusses, because “they are of such

Lauren Fowler-Carter

central importance that they have already received sufficient emphasis” (p.20). The emphasis tey

receive are his issue. He believes that these two topics are complex and that the problems of

these topics cannot be solved until progress has been made with the other 10 issues that he

mentions. In conclusion, it can be determined that cognitive science does not cover or go into

detail in many of the concepts that most critics believe they should.

Lauren Fowler-Carter

References

Norman, D. A. (1980). Twelve Issues for Cognitive Science. Retrieved September 28, 2011, from Stanford

University: http://psych.stanford.edu/~jlm/pdfs/Norman80TwelveIssues.PDF

Thagard, P. (2010, June 9). Cognitive Science. Retrieved September 25, 2011, from Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/#CriCogSci