The Relationship of Cognitive and Cell Biological Analyses of Associative Learning

联想学习的认知与细胞生物学分析的关系

• 批准号: 8706817
• 负责人: Edward Manier
• 金额: $ 0.9万
• 依托单位: University of Notre Dame
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-07-15 至 1990-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8706817&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Relationship; Cognitive; Cell; Biological; Analyses

The neurosciences are experiencing explosive growth and, although many important questions concerning their social and cultural impact remain unanswered, the base of relevant historical case studies is glaringly inadequate. As a reslt, much philosophical discussion of the significance of neuroscience floats free of needed historical constraint. For example, while the debate between "eliminative" and "retentive" materialists has clarified issues raised by the confrontation of neurology and "folk psychology," it has not addressed the detail involved in efforts to unify cognitive neuroscience. The debate has been oversimplified by its reliance on a concept of inter-theoretic reduction based on misleading analogies between diachronic developments within a single field (eg. chemical analysis of combustion and its products) and synchronic relations between theories dealing with phenomena at different levels of organization or complexity. The case study which Dr. Manier is examining under this grant will contribute to the effort to remedy such deficits by examining the relationship between neuroscientific and psychological studies of the associative learning mechanism. Scientists in these fields are able to avail themselves of rigorous modes of experimental manipulation and their work is attracting widespread theoretical interest. Preliminary research has identified an apparent split between two cognitive approaches to the associative learning mechanism which could complicate efforts to integrate that research area with major developments in cellular and molecular neurobiology. With this grant, Dr. Manier will carry out on-site archival and ethnographic research and a series of structured interviews with principal scientists in order to clarify the details of this divergence and assess its implications for relations linking neuroscience and cognitive psychology. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide an appropriate historical basis for assessing philosophical views concerning the construction of unified scientific domains from previously disparate areas of research. This research is of great importance for both the history and the philosophy of science. Further, it provides a much needed philosophical survey of these fast-moving areas of the biological and cognitive sciences.

神经科学正在经历爆炸性的发展，尽管关于其社会和文化影响的许多重要问题仍未得到回答，但相关历史案例研究的基础明显不足。其结果是，许多关于神经科学重要性的哲学讨论没有必要的历史约束。例如，尽管“消除的”和“保留的”唯物主义者之间的辩论澄清了神经学和“民间心理学”的对抗所提出的问题，但它并没有涉及统一认知神经科学的努力所涉及的细节。这场辩论过于简单化了，因为它依赖于一种理论间还原的概念，这种概念基于一个领域内历时发展之间的误导性类比(例如。燃烧及其产物的化学分析)以及处理不同组织或复杂程度的现象的理论之间的同步关系。马尼尔博士正在研究的案例研究将有助于通过检查联想学习机制的神经科学和心理学研究之间的关系来弥补这种缺陷。这些领域的科学家能够利用严格的实验操作模式，他们的工作引起了广泛的理论兴趣。初步研究发现，联想学习机制的两种认知方法之间存在明显的分歧，这可能会使将该研究领域与细胞和分子神经生物学的主要发展相结合的努力复杂化。有了这笔赠款，马尼尔博士将进行现场档案和人种学研究，并对主要科学家进行一系列有组织的采访，以澄清这种差异的细节，并评估其对神经科学和认知心理学之间关系的影响。该项目的最终目标是为评估关于从以前不同的研究领域构建统一科学领域的哲学观点提供适当的历史依据。这一研究无论在科学史上还是在科学哲学上都具有重要意义。此外，它还为这些快速发展的生物和认知科学领域提供了一个亟需的哲学调查。