About the Validity of Computer Models in Cognitive Science - eScholarship
Ricardo Sanz, Carlos Hernández, Jaime Fernández Gómez, Guadalupe Sanchez, Adolfo Hernando · Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society · 2010
About the Validity of Computer Models in Cognitive Science Ricardo Sanz Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Carlos Hern´ andez Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Jaime G´ omez Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Guadalupe S´ anchez Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Adolfo Hernando Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Abstract: Many cognitive models are evaluated by implementing an artificial system –a program, a robot– that performs the concrete task that the model is addressing. Success in task performance by the program is considered a proof of the adequacy of the cognitive model proposed. However, this is not a valid inference in general. The reason is that the transformation of the model from a textual or graphical form into a computer implementation is not transparent. This implies that phenomena and properties observed in the program cannot be predicated of the model. The reason for the lack of transparency is that models are not expressed using a rigorous language and that transformations into implementations aren’t rigorous either. Hacks are introduced during the construction of the program –to make it work– and they are not taken back into the model, hence invalidating the model-implementation relation.