Mind, Body, World- Foundations of Cognitive Science, 2013a

7
Marks of the Classical?
7.0 Chapter Overview
In the previous chapter, the characteristics of the three approaches to cognitive
science were reviewed, highlighting important distinctions between the classical,
connectionist, and embodied approaches. This was done by exploring the analogy
between cognitive science and classical music. It was argued that each of the three
approaches within cognitive science was analogous to one of three quite different
traditions within classical music, and that these differences were apparent in how
each approach studied music cognition. However, at the end of the chapter the possibility
of hybrid theories of music cognition was raised.
The possibility of hybrid theories of music cognition raises the further possibility
that the differences between the three approaches within cognitive science might
not be as dramatic as could be imagined. The purpose of the current chapter is to
explore this further possibility. It asks the question: are there marks of the classical?
That is, is there a set of necessary and sufficient properties that distinguish classical
theories from connectionist and embodied theories?
The literature suggests that there should be a large number of marks of the
classical. It would be expected that classical theories appeal to centralized control,
serial processing, local and internal representations, explicit rules, and a cognitive
vocabulary that appeals to the contents of mental representations. It would also be
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