Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture

Description

What is the nature of human thought? A long dominant view holds that the mind is a general problem-solving device that approaches all questions in much the same way. Chomsky's theory of language, which revolutionised linguistics, challenged this claim, contending that children are primed to acquire some skills, like language, in a manner largely independent of their ability to solve other sorts of apparently similar mental problems. In recent years researchers in anthropology, psychology, linguistic and neuroscience have examined whether other mental skills are similarly independent. Many have concluded that much of human thought is 'domain-specific'. Thus, the mind is better viewed as a collection of cognitive abilities specialised to handle specific tasks than a general problem solver. This volume introduces a general audience to a domain-specificity perspective, by compiling a collection of essays exploring how several of these cognitive abilities are organised.

."..thought provoking and often compelling...The introduction and many of the chapters provide grounding in the basic issues for readers who are new to the topic. At the same time, because many of the chapters push the domain specificity hypothesis to its limits, readers who are well acquainted with the issues will find this volume worthwhile reading." Contemporary Psychology