Anonymous
Posted January 16, 2006
This classic in cognitive science has a great deal to say, but an awkward way of saying it. Author Jerry A. Fodor¿s style is academic and dense, a potential barrier to all but the most determined, well-prepared reader. Arcane and brilliant, Fodor intersperses colloquial jests with jargon-burdened exposition, leading one to believe that he could have written a book more accessible to the lay reader had he wished to do so. We find, however, that the book repays the persistent, dedicated reader. The reward is a fascinating exploration of the mind, drawing on the literature of epistemology and psychology, with occasional detours down the rarely explored byways of phrenology.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 24, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
More About This Textbook
Overview
This study synthesizes current information from the various fields of cognitive science in support of a new and exciting theory of mind. Most psychologists study horizontal processes like memory and information flow; Fodor postulates a vertical and modular psychological organization underlying biologically coherent behaviors. This view of mental architecture is consistent with the historical tradition of faculty psychology while integrating a computational approach to mental processes. One of the most notable aspects of Fodor's work is that it articulates features not only of speculative cognitive architectures but also of current research in artificial intelligence.Jerry A. Fodor is Professor of Psychology and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at MIT.
What People Are Saying
From the Publisher
"The issue Fodor writes about is central to the psychology of perception, cognition,and action. It is the central issue for anyone who would seriously study the neurobiology of behavior: Is the mind organized horizontally or vertically or both, and what are the consequences to psychology of proceeding on one assumption or the other? This has been little analyzed and written about. Jerry Fodor has repaired that omission and had done it brilliantly." Alvin Liberman, YaleUniversity, President, Haskins Laboratories"Jerry Fodor's Modularity of Mind is a beginning... [It] is the first major monograph in this century to explore some variations on faculty psychology [and] is the best thingFodor has done since The Language of Thought, mainly because it takes such a wide sweep and yet manages to concentrate all the arguments upon the central issue in both neuropsychology and information-processing psychology." John C. Marshall , The Radcliffe Infirmary,Oxford,
"Jerry Fodor"s Modularity of Mind is a beginning... [It] is the first major monograph in this century to explore some variations on faculty psychology [and] is the best thing Fodor has done since The Language of Thought, mainly because it takes such a wide sweep and yet manages to concentrate all the arguments upon the central issue in both neuropsychology and information-processing psychology." John C. Marshall , TheRadcliffe Infirmary, Oxford,
Alvin Liberman
The issue that Fodor writes about is central to the psychology of perception, cognition, and action. It is the central issue for anyone who would seriously consider the neurobiology of behavior.— Professor Alvin Liberman, Yale University and President, Haskins Laboratory
Product Details
Related Subjects
Table of Contents
1 Four Accounts of Mental Structure
2 A Functional Taxonomy of Cognitive Mechanisms
3 Input Systems as Modules
4 Central Systems
5 Caveats and Conclusions
Notes
References