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We have a plan when we know, or at least know in outline, which cal-
culations, computations, or constructions we have to perform in order
to obtain the unknown. The way from understanding the problem to
conceiving a plan may be long and tortuous. In fact, the main achieve-
ment in the solution of a problem is to conceive the idea of a plan. This
idea may emerge gradually. Or, after apparently unsuccessful trials and
a period of hesitation, it may occur suddenly, in a flash, as a bright
idea. (Polya, 1945, p. 8)
176 PRAGMATISM
PRAGMATISM
The Nature of the Pragmatic Method
Pragmatism According to William James, pragmatism is a method of
solving various types of problems, such as Does God exist? or Is
man s will free? by looking at the practical consequences of accepting
this or that answer. James says, The pragmatic method tries to interpret
each notion (or theory) by tracing its respective practical consequences. . . .
If no practical differences whatever can be traced. . . they mean practically
the same thing, and ends the argument. As a theory of truth, James says
that an idea is true if it works in daily life. (Stumpf, 1994, p. 938)
PRECONSCIOUS PROCESSING
The Brain Responds to External Stimuli
That Are Not Consciously Perceived
The brain respond[s] to external stimuli which, for one reason or another,
are not consciously perceived. The effect of such stimuli may be almost
as varied as those of sensory inflow which does enter consciousness. They
include the evoking and determination of cortical potentials, changes in
the EEG, the production of electrodermal responses, and changes in sen-
sory threshold. They also include effects on memory, the influencing of
lexical decisions, and such subjective manifestations as changes in con-
scious perceptual experience, dreams, and the evoking of appropriate
effects. (Dixon, 1981, p. 262)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 177
PROCESSING SYSTEMS
Determining the Hierarchical Position of a
Processing System Involved in a
Performance Task
The position of any processing system within the hierarchy is determined
by two major criteria: (1) the generality-specificity of the processing sys-
tem and (2) the degree of automaticity of the processing system. Rela-
tively general and non-automatic processes appear towards the top of
the hierarchy, and specific, automatic processes occur at the bottom. As
a rule of thumb, the location in the hierarchy of the processes involved
in the performance of a task can be assessed by a series of experiments
in which the task is paired with several others: higher-level processes
will more consistently produce interference than will low-level processes.
(Eysenck, 1982, p. 45)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
The Production System Methodology Is
Clearly Powerful
[T]he interest in production systems on the part of those building high
performance knowledge-based systems is more than a coincidence. It is
suggested that this is a result of current research (re)discovering what
has been learned by naturally intelligent systems through evolution
that structuring knowledge in a production system format is an effective
approach to the organisation, retrieval and use of very large amounts of
knowledge.
The success of some production rule-based AI systems does give
weight to this argument, and the production system methodology is
178 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
clearly powerful. But whether this is a result of its equivalence to human
cognitive processes, and whether this implies artificially intelligent sys-
tems ought to be similarly structured, are, we feel, still open questions.
(Davis & King, 1977, p. 307)
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Theories of Human Mental Processes Can
Be Expressed in Programming Languages
It [the information-processing revolution] has introduced computer pro-
gramming languages as formal [ mathematical ] languages for express-
ing theories of human mental processes; and it has introduced the
computers themselves as a device to simulate these processes and
thereby make behavioral predictions for testing of the theories. (Simon,
1979, p. ix)
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
The Advantages of LISP
LISP is now the second oldest programming language in present wide-
spread use (after FORTRAN). . . . Its core occupies some kind of local
optimum in the space of programming languages given that static fric-
tion discourages purely notational changes. Recursive use of conditional
expressions, representation of symbolic information externally by lists
and internally by list structure, and representation of program in the
same way will probably have a very long life. (McCarthy, quoted in Barr
& Feigenbaum, 1982, p. 5)
PSYCHOANALYSIS 179
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
When a Machine Might Begin to Have a
Mind of Its Own
Although it sounds implausible, it might turn out that above a certain
level of complexity, a machine ceased to be predictable, even in principle,
and started doing things on its own account, or, to use a very revealing
phrase, it might begin to have a mind of its own. (Lucas, quoted in Hand,
1985, p. 4)
PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC
Formal Operations Are Combinatorial
The specificity of propositional logic is not that it is a verbal logic, but
rather a logic of all possible thought combinations. (Inhelder & Piaget,
1958, p. 222)
PSYCHOANALYSIS
The Ego Is Not Even Master in Its
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