Arthur B. Markman (1998) Domain-independent Mediating States are Rare . Psycoloquy: 9(56) Representation Mediation (3)
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Psycoloquy 9(56): Domain-independent Mediating States are Rare

DOMAIN-INDEPENDENT MEDIATING STATES ARE RARE
Reply to Bringsjord on Representation-Mediation

Arthur B. Markman
Department of Psychology
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
http://www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/FACULTY/Markman/index.html

Eric Dietrich
PACCS Program in Philosophy
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY
http://www.binghamton.edu/philosophy/home/faculty/index.htm

markman@psy.utexas.edu dietrich@binghamton.edu

Abstract

Bringsjord (1998) suggests that Markman & Dietrich (1998) argued that there are no domain-independent abstract mediating states in cognitive systems. Bringsjord presents a small study using only logic experts, which he argues is a demonstration that there are abstract mediating states. His interpretation of Markman & Dietrich's claim is inaccurate. More important, his experiment does not provide evidence for the existence of domain-independent mediating states. Finally, Bringsjord suggests that an agent-based AI might be a good domain for studying the interactions among types of mediating states. This is an interesting proposal, worthy of further investigation, and is quite consistent with the arguments in our target article.

Keywords

compositionality, computation, connectionism, discrete states, dynamic Systems, explanation, information, meaning, mediating states, representation, rules, semantic Content symbols

References