Cognitive science attempts to explain how the human brain works. With an assumption that cognition is information processing, scientists have developed two different ways of modeling cognitive skills and abilities. While one school of thought proposes that the human mind processes problems like a computer, other cognitive scientists argue that cognitive processes imitate a Watt’s Governor (Van Gelder & Port, 1995). The computational approach to cognition considers thinking in terms of representation structures in mind and computer-like program that run on those structures. On the other hand, the dynamical approach assumes that the cognitive process occurs in real-time; it considers the cognitive system as a structure of conjointly and concurrently influencing change. This paper compares the two worldviews looking into their strength and weaknesses and the unique problems they best describe. In addition, the paper examines the analogy that best describes various specific problems.
The analogy that the human mind works as a computer has dominated the field of cognitive science for many decades. The mind as a computer concept considers thinking to be the work of a unique mental computer embedded in the brain (Gazzaniga, 1998). The human sensory organs send inputs from the environment to the mental computer. The mental computer will then compute the information received and relays appropriate actions in response to the input. The body will then carry out the instructions sent from the brains. Based on this approach, cognitive operation is sequential. It works in a discrete step-by-step manner. The representations are received and processed by various sub-systems. The mental computer is subdivided into multiple modules responsible for different symbol-processing tasks (Van Gelder et al., 1995). Information is fed into a planning system with a representation of one’s perceived objectives as well as the knowledge of the environment. The system will then make an inference of what should be the reaction to the received input and sends the output to the motor system, which will carry out the command. In sum, the idea that the mind works as a computer assumes a sequential process within specific systems of input, internal symbols, manipulations, and output.
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Unlike the computational approach, the dynamic approach to cognitive operations assumes that cognitive processes happen in real-time. The approach adopts mathematical concepts of dynamics to the explanation of how the human mind works (Van Gelder et al., 1995). The analogy that the mind works as a Watt’s Governor assumes cognition to be a dynamic system. The thinking process involves not just the brain but the whole system that is made of the nerve system, body, and the external surrounding. The cognitive system involves various activities running at the same time. The process does not happen in isolation or in discrete time of computer steps. Instead, the process happens in real-time with on-going changes from the environment, flesh and bones, and the peripheral nerve system ( Schöner , 2008 ). According to this approach, the thinking process does not interrelate with external elements of the world through messages or commands; it consistently evolves in response to every change. In sum, the dynamical approach to cognitive processes considers thinking as a process happening in real-time and constantly evolving as changes occur in the environment.
The computational and dynamic approaches to cognition differ in many ways. While the computational approach assumes the cognitive process to be sequential, the dynamic approach assumes the process to consistently evolve based on the changes happening in the environment and the nervous system (Shapiro, 2014). The process of thinking happens in real-time. For example, when making a choice from multiple options, the computational approach assumes that the brain is fed with all available options as representatives. The brain will then compute and infer a specific choice. Once the choice has been made, the remaining options will be forgotten. However, in the case of the dynamic process, even after the brain has selected a specific choice, it can still make another choice if the new input received will draw new response. Also, according to the computational approach, a given problem will be split into sub-tasks, which will then be solved by the brain. However, in the dynamic system, the cognitive process is not decomposable. Moreover, the cognitive system, as a computer system, interacts with the external environment through various messages and commands (Van Gelder et al., 1995). The alternative approach does not interrelate with the aspects of the environment. It instead evolves in real-time depending on the changes occurring in the whole system.
The evolution through time in a dynamical system occurs along a specific trajectory within a given space (Walmsley, 2011). The dynamical approach to cognition is the same. A new process of thinking is a function of the previous conditions. Therefore, although the cognitive process evolves as a result of a change in the environment, the thinking process retains some elements from the initial thinking. Nonetheless, not all regions of state space are created equal. In other words, although the mind can process multiple inputs as a result of changes, a bigger part of the brain will be dedicated to one cognitive process while the remaining part of the brain will process other problems and receptions.
One primary problem with the concept that the mind works as a computer is time. Typically, the thinking process and its context happen consistently and concurrently in real-time (Van Gelder et al., 1995). However, the computational approach argues that thinking happens in discrete steps. Therefore, based on the computational model, the brain cannot process more than one process simultaneously, which is not true. In the case of a dynamic model, running cognitive processes in real-time is its strength. The dynamical approach, therefore, represents most thinking processes, which requires the brain to infer on more than one option at a go. For example, when trying to select an option out of multiple choices, the computational approach requires the mind to compute and infer on one choice at a go. However, in the case of the dynamic model, the brain can simultaneously handle more than one choice. Therefore, the mind as a Watt’s Governor is a better analogy to explain the simultaneous actions during the cognitive process.
In conclusion, there are two distinct approaches to viewing cognitive processes: the computational and dynamical approaches. The computational approach compares the minds to a computer which works on specific structure and procedures. The cognitive process based on the computational approaches happens in a step-by-step manner, with the main problem being split into sub-tasks that are handled autonomously. The dynamical approach, on the other hand, proposes that the cognitive process happens in real-time and evolves as changes occur in the environment. While the computational approach argues that the thinking process is coordinated solely by the mental computer, the dynamic model argues that thinking incorporates the nerve system, the external surrounding, and the human body. Although both models have been used dominantly in the field of cognitive science, the computational approach possesses multiple weaknesses. First, the natural cognition of the brain is not a computer. The cognitive process can occur mutually and simultaneously as changes happen in real-time. Therefore, the computational approach does not capture the real-time processing nature of the brain. Therefore, while there are multiple analogies explaining both models, the dynamic model, which compares the human brain to a Watt’s Governor, is more successful.
References
Gazzaniga, M. S. (1998). How the Mind Works. Trends in cognitive sciences , 2 (1), 38.
Shapiro, L. A. (Ed.). (2014). The Routledge handbook of embodied cognition . London: Routledge.
Schöner, G. (2008). Dynamical systems approaches to cognition. Cambridge handbook of computational cognitive modeling , 101-126.
Van Gelder, T., & Port, R. F. (1995). It’s about time: An overview of the dynamical approach to cognition. Mind as motion: Explorations in the dynamics of cognition , 1 , 43.
