book notice

[Brian MacWhinney]

Dear Info-CHILDES,

I thought people might be interested in this book notice.

--Brian MacWhinney



The Algebraic Mind
Integrating Connectionism and Cognitive Science
Gary F. Marcus

In The Algebraic Mind, Gary F. Marcus integrates two competing theories
about how the mind works, one which says that the mind is a computer-like
manipulator of symbols, and another which says that the mind is a large
network of neurons working together in parallel. Refuting the conventional
wisdom that says that if the mind is a large neural network it cannot
simultaneously be a manipulator of symbols, Marcus shows how neural systems
could be organized so as to manipulate symbols, why such systems explain
language and cognition better than systems that eschew symbols, how such
system could evolve, and how they might unfold developmentally within the
womb. The Algebraic Mind revamps our understanding of models in cognitive
neuroscience and helps to set a new agenda for the field.

Gary F. Marcus is Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University.

6 x 9, 225 pp., 48 illus., cloth ISBN 0-262-13379-2

Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change series
A Bradford Book

For more information please visit http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262133792