Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: contrasting models of the mind

Although the relationship between psychoanalysis and cognitive science has begun to be addressed, theorists have not constructed a unifying conceptual framework from which to compare and contrast these disciplines. This paper begins by considering the models of mind of cognitive science, and of classical and contemporary psychoanalysis. It is argued that it is useful to reformulate psychoanalytic constructs in terms of cognitive science models. Psychoanalysts have therefore become, and will continue to be, more cognitivist in their work. Nevertheless, psychoanalytic theory and practice is so fundamental that it constitutes the only starting point for clinical cognitivists. The reformulation of psychoanalysis in cognitivist terms is beneficial for both psychoanalysis and cognitive science. The explanatory power of the cognitivist remodelling of psychoanalysis can, of course, be fully assessed only once it has taken place. This paper encourages that theoretical work to proceed.