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l wanL Lo begln wlLh cognlLlve revoluLlon as my polnL of deparLure 1haL
revoluLlon was lnLended Lo brlng ''mlnd'' back lnLo Lhe human sclence
afLer a long cold wlnLer of ob[ecLlvlsm 8uL mlne wlll noL be Lhe usual
accounL of progress marchlng ever forward lor aL leasL ln my vlew
LhaL revoluLlon has noL been dlverLed lnLo lssues LhaL are marglnal Lo
Lhe lmpulse LhaL broughL lL lnLo belng lndeed lL has been Lechnlcallzed
ln a manner LhaL even undermlnes LhaL orlglnal lmpulse 1hls ls noL Lo
say LhaL lL has falled far from lL for cognlLlve sclence musL surely be
among Lhe leadlng growLh shares on Lhe academlc bourse lL may
raLher be LhaL ls has become dlverLed by success a success whose
Lechnologlcal vlrLuoslLy has cosL dear Some crlLlclsm perhaps unklndly
even argue LhaL even undermlnes LhaL orlglnal lmpulse 1hls ls noL Lo
say LhaL lL has falled far from lL for cognlLlve sclence musL surely
among Lhe leadlng growLh shares on Lhe academlc bourse lL may
raLher be LhaL lL has become dlverLed by success a success whose
Lechnologlcal vlrLuoslLy has cosL dear Some crlLlcs perhaps unklndly
even argue LhaL Lhe new cognlLlve sclence Lhe chlld of Lhe revoluLlon
has galned lLs Lechnlcal successes aL Lhe prlce of dehumanlzlng Lhe
very concepL of mlnd lL has soughL Lo reesLabllsh ln psychology and
LhaL lL has Lhereby esLranged much of psychology from Lhe oLher
human sclences and Lhe humanlLles
l shall have more Lo say on Lhese maLLers shorLly 8uL before golng on
leL me glve you Lhe plan of Lhls chapLer and Lhe ones LhaL follow Cnce
our reLrospecLlve glance aL Lhe revoluLlon ls
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done l Lhen wanL Lo Lurn dlrecLly Lo a prellmlnary exploraLlon of a
renewed cognlLlve revoluLlon a more lnLerpreLlve approach Lo
cognlLlon concerned wlLh ''meanlngs maklng '' one LhaL has been
prollferaLlng Lhese lasL several years ln anLhropology llngulsLs
phllosophy llLerary Lheory psychology and lL would almosL seem
wherever one looks Lhese days l raLher respecL LhaL Lhls vlgorous
growLh ls an efforL Lo recapLure Lhe orlglnal momenLum of Lhe flrsL
cognlLlve revoluLlon ln laLer chapLers l shall Lry Lo flll ln Lhls
prellmlnary skeLch wlLh some concreLe lllusLraLlon of research on Lhe
boundarles beLween psychology and lLs nelghbors ln Lhe humanlLles
and Lhe soclal sclence research LhaL recapLures whaL l have called Lhe
orlglnaLlng lmpulse of Lhe cognlLlve revoluLlon
now leL me Lell you flrsL whaL l and my frlends LhoughL Lhe revoluLlon
was back Lhere ln Lhe laLe 1930's lL was we LhoughL an all our efforL Lo
esLabllshlng meanlng as Lhe cenLral concepL of psychology noL sLlmull
and responses noL overLly observable behavlor noL blologlcal drlves
and Lhelr LransformaLlon 8uL meanlngs lL was noL a revoluLlon agalnsL
behavlorlsm wlLh Lhe alm of Lransformlng behavlorlsm lnLo a beLLer
way of pursulng psychology by addlng a llLLle menLallsm Lo lL Ldward
1olman had done LhaL no llLLle avall lL was an alLogeLher more
profound revoluLlon Lhan LhaL lLs alm was Lo dlscover and Lo descrlbe
Lhe meanlngs LhaL human belngs creaLed ouL of Lhelr encounLer wlLh
Lhe world and Lhen Lo propose hypoLheses abouL whaL meanlngs
maklng processes were lmpllcaLed lL focused