Cognitive Science, Fall 2002

Problem Set 6

Problem 6.1 (1.5 pages)

In class, we discussed the notion of "emergent behavior" as one of the central themes of the "embodied cognition" school of cognitive science described by Clark. Give at least three examples of complex systems that exhibit emergent behavior; at least *one* of these should be different from any of those discussed explicitly in lecture. (Your examples of complex systems need not be "cognitive" or intelligent systems -- just systems that give rise to emergent behavior.)

Problem 6.2 (1.5 pages)

Using examples from the Gopnik reading, from lecture, or from other research literature, briefly discuss several ways in which research in infant cognition has informed the classical "rationalist-vs.-empiricist" debate that we first introduced in the context of Plato's "Meno".