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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 2, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

Cognitive science as an interface between rational and mechanistic explanation.

¹Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

Topics in Cognitive Science

|March 21, 2014

Summary

Cognitive science explains thought as computation, analyzing it through rational problem-solving and mechanistic physical processes. This interdisciplinary approach bridges information processing and biological/engineered systems.

Keywords:

Cognitive science Computation Mechanistic explanation Rationality

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Computational Theory
Philosophy of Mind

Background:

Cognitive science conceptualizes thought as computation.
Computation offers dual perspectives: rational (problem-solving) and mechanistic (physical processes).

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the interplay between rational and mechanistic explanations of computation in cognitive science.
To highlight the interdisciplinary nature of understanding thought as computation.

Main Methods:

Analysis of computational models from rational and mechanistic viewpoints.
Integration of engineering (silicon chips) and biological (nervous system) perspectives on computation.

Main Results:

Computation serves as a bridge between information processing problems and their physical implementations.
Cognitive science benefits from examining both the 'what' (rational) and 'how' (mechanistic) of thought.

Conclusions:

Understanding thought requires integrating rational and mechanistic explanations of computation.
The discipline thrives at the intersection of diverse explanatory frameworks for cognitive processes.