Topics in Cognitive Science最新文献

{"title":"Symmetry as a Cognitive Tool in Mesoamerican Divinatory Books.","authors":"Katarzyna Mikulska","doi":"10.1111/tops.70025","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.70025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic divinatory books, called codices, encode meaning through various semiotic mechanisms, that is, iconic, glottographic, semasiographic, and notational principles. The last one refers to the meaning encoded through the spatial arrangement of signs on the graphic surface; thus, it can also be called internal syntagmatics. As the divinatory codices are organized in the form of lists, tables, and diagrams, the internal syntagmatics is particularly important, and one of the essential semiotic tools within it is symmetry. As I demonstrate, in some diagrams, the information is encoded through different symmetries-or rather, antisymmetries-simultaneously. They are: translation, rotation, mirror symmetry, and-the most productive of them-the chiasmic symmetry. Being not only \"a pattern of thought\" but also \"a pattern for thought\", the X-form arrangement in divinatory codices turns out to be a cognitive tool that structures the Mesoamerican ontological conceptualization of the world.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"220-244"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145126347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparing Australian Message Sticks and Sequentially Marked Objects of the Upper Palaeolithic: Problems and Opportunities.","authors":"Piers Kelly","doi":"10.1111/tops.12762","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12762","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Engraved portable objects from Upper Palaeolithic and earlier sites are argued to be cognitive tools designed to store information for the purposes of calculation, record-keeping, or communication. This paper reviews the surprisingly long intellectual history of comparisons between these ancient objects and message sticks: marked graphic devices traditionally used for long-distance communication in Indigenous Australia. I argue that, while such comparisons have often been misguided, more cautious applications of ethnographic analogy may yield useful insights. A systematic analysis of historical observations together with more recent fieldwork, indicate that Australian message sticks are primarily tools of social cognition, as opposed to cognition tout court, and rely on orality and other context to become meaningful. Further, the practice of message stick communication may help clarify ongoing problems in the interpretation of Upper Palaeolithic objects including their possible role in aggregation activities, the distinction between decoration and notation, and the interplay between graphic sequences and speech.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"126-146"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142606891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cosmovision as Cognitive Technology: The Case of Mesoamerican Medicinal Knowledge.","authors":"Johan De Smedt, Helen De Cruz","doi":"10.1111/tops.70008","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.70008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We examine the use of cognitive technologies in the acquisition and retention of botanical and medicinal knowledge. We focus on the Cruz-Badianus codex, a 16th-century Nahua (Aztec) herbarium which discusses the use of plants for a range of illnesses. We show how the codex reflects the Mesoamerican cosmovision, in particular, the association of the human body and cosmos, and the polarity and balance of hot and cold. We hypothesize that the cosmological and philosophical ideas that underlie the medicinal uses prescribed in the codex are not incidental, but rather help to scaffold knowledge, retain in memory successful remedies, and aid the transmission of information.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"92-110"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12831609/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144042290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metaphors and the Invention of Writing.","authors":"Ludovica Ottaviano, Kathryn Kelley, Mattia Cartolano, Silvia Ferrara","doi":"10.1111/tops.12768","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12768","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The foundation of ancient, invented writing systems lies in the predominant iconicity of their sign shapes. However, these shapes are often used not for their referential meaning but in a metaphorical way, whereby one entity stands for another. Metaphor, including its subcategories pars pro toto and metonymy, plays a crucial role in the formation of the earliest pristine invented scripts, yet this mechanism has been understudied from a cognitive, contextual, and comparative perspective. This article aims to address issues pertaining to the definition, development, and application of these mechanisms in the formation of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Chinese scripts. We analyze the local cases of metaphor-in-action in primary inventions, focusing first on visual metaphors and, second, on the typical or idiosyncratic uses of metonyms.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"245-263"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12831613/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142710827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Medical Recipes in Early Medieval English: A Cultural Linguistic Perspective on the Cognition of Health and Illness.","authors":"Penelope Scott","doi":"10.1111/tops.70015","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Old English medical text, Bald's Leechbook, represents the most comprehensive medical treatise written in the vernacular. Book 1 is arranged broadly in the order of head to foot, presenting herbal recipes alongside occasional comments on their efficacy, details of the symptoms and etiology of illnesses. Though in a minority, several recipes involving magic, religion, and symbolism appear. This text provides evidence of cultural views on health and illness, such as the humoral theory of disease etiology, as well as ideas reflecting common human cognitive tendencies, such as the belief in the power of words. The recipes also reveal herbal knowledge, as well as schemas for recipe preparation. This article brings a novel perspective to the text by examining the construction of medical recipes in terms of cognition and culture. It considers how language reflects and directs attentional focus and what this shows about the structure of medical knowledge, including what is considered to be valuable knowledge as well as assumed information. As the text reflects the medical practice of Early Medieval English physicians, this Cultural Linguistic analysis demonstrates how an understanding of language and cognition in historical texts can shine some light on knowledge structures in distinct historical periods.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"285-306"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring Beyond the Standard: Informal Measurement Systems as Cognitive Technologies.","authors":"Roope O Kaaronen, Mikael A Manninen, Jussi T Eronen","doi":"10.1111/tops.12770","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12770","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper explores the role of measurement as a cognitive technology across human history, emphasizing the coexistence of formal and informal measurement systems. While standardized systems dominate contemporary culture and are well documented across large-scale societies of the past, this manuscript highlights the less explored domain of informal measurement practices that have been integral to daily life from the past to the present. Through the examination of body-based measurement systems and proportional heuristics, we demonstrate how these informal strategies were not merely precursors to formal standards but essential adaptive tools for solving everyday problems. Often, these informal solutions come with practical advantages. This manuscript calls for a broader recognition of their significance in cultural and technological evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"204-219"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12831608/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142630489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seeing Through an Ant's Eyes: Do Entomopathogenic Fungi Extend Their Cognition to Their Hosts?","authors":"André Geremia Parise, Mark Tibbett, Brian J Pickles","doi":"10.1111/tops.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Post-cognitivist approaches recognize cognition as a phenomenon that involves not just brains but all the sensorimotor apparatus of organisms. This means that brains are not always required for the emergence of cognition and that every organism can, in principle, be cognitive, unlocking a theoretical framework to explain the complex adaptive behavior of even non-neural organisms. This construct blurs the boundaries of cognitive processes, leading to what is known as the Extended Cognition thesis, where objects in the environment could become integral parts of an individual's cognitive system. Here, we explore the possibility that some species of entomopathogenic fungi in the families Cordycipitaceae, Ophiocordycipitaceae, and Clavicipitaceae could extend their cognition to the insects and other arthropods they infect. In this parasitism, the fungus takes possession of the sensorimotor apparatus of its host and coerces it to find the best places for fungal dispersal. We examine case studies where Ophiocordyceps spp. fungi induce ants to seek bright places in the forest. In this case, the fungus may be using the ant's sensorial and motoric apparatus to locate the places appropriate for its reproduction. This could be a remarkable example of extended cognition of a non-neural organism through a neural organism. However, empirical testing using a solid demarcating criterion is required to confirm this hypothesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145551455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond the Adult Mind: A Developmental Framework for Predictive Processing in Infancy.","authors":"Emma K Ward, Danaja Rutar, Lorijn Zaadnoordijk, Francesco Poli, Sabine Hunnius","doi":"10.1111/tops.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Predictive Processing has been proposed as the single unifying computation underlying all of cognition, and proponents argue that all psychological phenomena can be explained as consequences of this principle. This theoretical framework has inspired many cognitive scientists and neuroscientists, but it currently has no developmental mechanism that would explain how infants begin to perceive and learn about the world. Rather, it treats human cognition as if it exists in a fully developed adult with a history of observations and world knowledge. In its current formulation, Predictive Processing only allows for perception of incoming stimuli given the existence of expectations based on previous experiences and as such does not allow for an infant to ever make a first observation. In this paper, we propose a possible starting point from which the infant can begin to develop predictive models, as well as a toolkit necessary to allow the infant to perform the range of cognitive operations on predictive models necessary for learning. The starting point we propose is a set of low-precision, low level-of-detail predictions with little or no hierarchical structure, which is very rapidly updated to reflect the infant's early environment. The toolkit contains a range of operations referred to collectively as structure learning, which are applied to models in order to allow for building adult-like hierarchical models. These modifications are necessary for developmental scientists to be able to adopt the Predictive Processing framework and benefit from its advantages, but also for Predictive Processing to be able to explain all human cognition, which inherently must include development.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145379208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comprehension of English for-adverbials: The Nature of Lexical Meanings and the Neurocognitive Architecture of Language.","authors":"Maria M Piñango, Yao-Ying Lai, Ashwini Deo, Emily Foster-Hanson, Cheryl Lacadie, Todd Constable","doi":"10.1111/tops.12746","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12746","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>What is the nature of lexical meanings such that they can both compose with others and also appear boundless? We investigate this question by examining the compositional properties of for-time adverbial as in \"Ana jumped for an hour.\" At issue is the source of the associated iterative reading which lacks overt morphophonological support, yet, the iteration is not disconnected from the lexical meanings in the sentence. This suggests an analysis whereby the iterative reading is the result of the interaction between lexical meanings under a specific compositional configuration. We test the predictions of two competing accounts: Mismatch-and-Repair and Partition-Measure. They differ in their assumptions about lexical meanings: assumptions that have implications for the possible compositional mechanisms that each can invoke. Mismatch-and-Repair assumes that lexical meaning representations are discrete, separate from the conceptual system from which they originally emerged and brought into sentence meaning through syntactic composition. Partition-Measure assumes that lexical meanings are contextually salient conceptual structures substantially indistinguishable from the conceptual system that they inhabit. During comprehension, lexical meanings construe a conceptual representation, in parallel, morphosyntactic and morphophonological composition as determined by the lexical items involved in the sentence. Whereas both hypotheses capture the observed cost in the punctual predicate plus for-time adverbial composition (e.g., jump (vs. swim) for an hour), their predictions differ regarding iteration with durative predicates; for example, swim for a year (vs. for an hour). Mismatch-and-Repair predicts contrasting processing profiles and nonoverlapping activation patterns along punctuality differences. Partition-Measure predicts overlapping processing and cortical distribution profiles, along the presence of iterativity. Results from a self-paced reading and an functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies bear out the predictions of the Partition-Measure account, supporting a view of linguistic meaning composition in line with an architecture of language whereby combinatoriality and generativity are distributed, carried out in parallel across linguistic and nonlinguistic subsystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"919-935"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141621224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Memetics and the Parallel Architecture.","authors":"Ronald J Planer","doi":"10.1111/tops.12735","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12735","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolution of human communication and culture is among the most significant-and challenging-questions we face in attempting to understand the evolution of our species. This article takes up two frameworks for theorizing about human communication and culture, namely, Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture of the human language faculty, and the cultural evolutionary framework of Memetics. The aim is to show that the two frameworks uniquely complement one another in some theoretically important ways. In particular, the Parallel Architecture's account of the lexicon significantly expands the range of linguistic phenomena that are plausibly covered by Memetics (e.g., from words to constructions and pure rules of syntax). At the same time, taking a \"meme's-eye-view\" of the lexicon retools the Parallel Architecture's treatment of the origins and subsequent cultural evolution of language.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"898-908"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12560847/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140904941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}