1st Edition

Agency Its Role In Mental Development

By James Russell Copyright 1996
336 Pages
by Psychology Press

336 Pages
by Psychology Press

384 Pages
by Psychology Press

The idea behind this book is that developing a conception of the physical world and a conception of mind is impossible without the exercise of agency, meaning "the power to alter at will one's perceptual inputs". The thesis is derived from a philosphical account of the role of agency in knowledge.; The book is divided into three parts. In Part One, the author argues that "purely representational"... Read more
Part 1 Symbols, Models and Connections. Symbol-Processing and "the language of thought". Mental Models. Connectionism. Why Connectionism is the Representational Theory Best Places to Model Action. "Working from the Outside in". Part 2 Knowledge of Objects Self-world Dualism and the Waterdown Piaget. The Four Features and the Experience of Agency. What the Four Features Give Us. Self-locating Thought and "Externatlity". Search, Dishabituation and "Representation Permanance" in Infancy. Answering Some Objections. Some Empirical Issues. Computational Modelling of Object Permanence. Part 3 Action and Our Knowledge of Minds. Mental Unity. Bodily- awareness, Selfhood and Ownership. Agency and the Acquisition of a "Theory of Mind". "Executive" Versus "Theory-theory" Accounts of Developmental Transitions - the 6-7 transition and the 3-4 Tranistion. Autism, Executive Dysfunctions and "Mind Blindness".

Biography

James Russell