"In Conversation" Series
Lecturers:
Dr. Lotem Elber-Dorozko (Hebrew University)
Prof. Arnon Levy (Hebrew University)
Title:
What’s So Good About the Best? Examining Rationales for the Optimality Approach in the Study of Cognition
Abstract:
It is quite common in the cognitive sciences to model behavior as optimal. In this talk we ask what pros and cons optimality has in models of cognition. We suggest that answers differ according to the rationales for appeals to optimality, and highlight a three-way distinction between methodological, etiological and 'making sense' rationales. A methodological appeal to optimality takes it to be a useful first guess when trying to identify explanations for a behavior. On the etiological rationale, grounded in the power of natural selection, many cognitive capacities are likely to be performed optimally in as much as they maximize fitness. Finally, optimality can also buttress an attempt to "make sense of the organism" by interpreting behavior as generally purposeful, rather than incidental or mistaken, as is often done in many daily and scientific settings. We analyze each of these rationales, consider when they are appropriate, and point to drawbacks of relying on them when they are not appropriate. We note that optimality modeling under each rationale leads to different implications, and caution against the tendency to conflate the different rationales, which may lead to ill-justified conclusions and confused scientific discourse.
Short Bio:
Lotem Elber-Dorozko is an assistant professor at the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the Department of Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her PhD from The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences where she analyzed computational models of decision making with the supervision of Yonatan Loewenstein. For her postdoctoral research she worked at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Her work in philosophy of the cognitive sciences focuses on scientific methods, assumptions, and concepts and the effects they have on scientific progress.
Arnon Levy is associate professor in the philosophy department, at Hebrew U. His research focuses on philosophy of science and biology. Topics of interest include explanation in science, philosophical aspects of evolutionary and cognitive science and, more recently, the role of science in society and the manner in which scientific work guides social policy.
Location:
Eilat Hall, Feldman Building, Second Floor, Edmond Safra Campus.