Re-discovering the Affective Foundations of Cognition

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2023

Department

Department of Psychology and Human Factors

Abstract

Computers and computational theory have been the dominant metaphor for how we understand the mind and mental activity. Accordingly, cognition has been defined as computations of symbolic representations. According to Jerome Bruner, who was among the first cognitive scientists, the original goal was to turn away from behaviorism and focus on meaning and meaning-making processes and how human beings make sense of the world and of themselves. When computing emerged as the model of the mind, computability and information processing displaced meaning as the central focus. Concurrently affective and intentional states such as believing, desiring, intending, and grasping meanings came to be regarded as epiphenomena. Alternatively, they have been considered as physiological states, distinct from cognition. There is a growing recognition of the limitations of the dominant computing paradigm for accounting for human behavior. Emerging studies in the brain sciences have focused on affect in relation to behavior. This work has the potential to not only explain affective phenomena but, more critically, to enhance the power to explain cognition and behavior more generally (Dukes et al., 2021). This chapter examines the emerging findings and discusses how they should inform how we think about cognition, learning, and learning environments.

Publication Title

New Science of Learning

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