Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
them (as a matter of fact, they are not even sure
that they have an Inside). That is the reason why
they set me up. They know what I have inside me,
and, when I speak in a way they understand, they
presume that they have the same software inside
them. (Eco, 1990, p. 281)
order to develop artificial intelligence. Cogni-
tive science studies intelligence as the ability to
perform intellectual tasks by humans, intelligent
organisms, or intelligent programs. It examines
how people perceive, represent, and communicate
information, both visually and verbally. Cognitive
science evolved from the study of intelligence that
was first based of a study of animal and human
behavior developed mostly by the physiologist
Ivan Petrovich Pavlow (1849-1936; awarded the
Nobel prize in 1904) and the psychologist Burrhus
F. Skinner (1904-1990). The launching of the cog-
nitive movement is credited to the linguist Noam
Chomsky (1967). In contrast with the Skinnerian
behaviorist principles of associations, Chomsky
built his theories on the concept of language and
its complex internal representations encoded in
the genome, which cannot be broken down into a
set of associations. According to Chomsky, lan-
guage faculty is a part of the organism's genetic
endowment in the same way as other physiological
systems. Then, the computational neuroscience
analyzed complex biological systems such as
brain or visual system. David Marr (1982/2010)
considered them as an information processing
systems. He described the modular organization
of the visual processing system at three levels:
the computational level that defines what the
system is doing considering sensory informa-
tion as an input, the algorithmic level describing
processes that convert that input into the output,
and the implementation level explaining how the
information processing is physically realized by
the system.
Figure 1 shows a work resulting from readings
on human cognition that push us to make telling
observations about our own mental and emotional
processes and make predictions about future. The
city scene repeats the pattern of encounters with
individuals and groups, and the recurring divi-
sion of time between the duty and leisure, social
and private.
This chapter links cognitive processes with
actions involved in visual thought and visual prob-
lem solving. They will be applied in interactive
projects offered in this topic. The content of this
chapter provides basic information about human
cognition and cognitive science, which relates
to visual reasoning, aesthetic emotions, and art.
Translation of scientific concepts to the realm of
visual interpretations necessitates activation of
processes involving cognitive structures, and per-
ceptual thought. Themes discussed here will return
in the following chapters tying reasoning about
science and computing with mental stimulation
to perceptual thinking. Scientists are developing
cognitive computing theories and working on
constructing cognitive computers that perceive,
conclude, and learn. For this reason they need to
study the cognitive potential of the brain. Gain-
ing knowledge about the cognitive ability of the
human brain and intelligence fosters investiga-
tions on information-processing mechanisms in
computing and supports cognitive informatics.
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT
HUMAN COGNITION AND
COGNITIVE SCIENCE
It is a common knowledge that investigations into
visual intelligence, visual thinking, and actions like
visual reasoning, problem solving, and decision-
making all belong to a domain of cognitive science.
Scientists explore how intelligence is implemented
in animals and humans, along with applying es-
sential features of intelligence to computing in
