School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Electronic mail:
Behav Brain Sci. 1992 Sep;15(3):425-37. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X00069478.
The book presents the case that cognitive science should turn its attention to developing theories of human cognition that cover the full range of human perceptual, cognitive, and action phenomena. Cognitive science has now produced a massive number of high-quality regularities with many microtheories that reveal important mechanisms. The need for integration is pressing and will continue to increase. Equally important, cognitive science now has the theoretical concepts and tools to support serious attempts at unified theories. The argument is made entirely by presenting an exemplar unified theory of cognition both to show what a real unified theory would be like and to provide convincing evidence that such theories are feasible. The exemplar is SOAR, a cognitive architecture, which is realized as a software system. After a detailed discussion of the architecture and its properties, with its relation to the constraints on cognition in the real world and to existing ideas in cognitive science, SOAR is used as theory for a wide range of cognitive phenomena: immediate responses (stimulus-response compatibility and the Sternberg phenomena); discrete motor skills (transcription typing); memory and learning (episodic memory and the acquisition of skill through practice); problem solving (cryptarithmetic puzzles and syllogistic reasoning); language (sentence verification and taking instructions); and development (transitions in the balance beam task). The treatments vary in depth and adequacy, but they clearly reveal a single, highly specific, operational theory that works over the entire range of human cognition, SOAR is presented as an exemplar unified theory, not as the sole candidate. Cognitive science is not ready yet for a single theory - there must be multiple attempts. But cognitive science must begin to work toward such unified theories.
本书提出了这样一种观点，即认知科学应该将注意力转向开发涵盖人类感知、认知和行为现象的全范围的人类认知理论。认知科学现在已经产生了大量的高质量规律，其中许多微观理论揭示了重要的机制。整合的需求迫在眉睫，而且还会不断增加。同样重要的是，认知科学现在已经有了理论概念和工具，可以支持对统一理论的认真尝试。这一论点完全是通过提出一个统一认知的典范理论来提出的，既展示了真正的统一理论应该是什么样子，又提供了令人信服的证据，证明这样的理论是可行的。这个典范就是 SOAR，一种认知架构，它被实现为一个软件系统。在对架构及其特性进行了详细讨论之后，包括它与现实世界中认知的约束条件的关系，以及与认知科学中现有思想的关系，SOAR 被用作广泛的认知现象的理论：即时反应（刺激-反应兼容性和斯特恩伯格现象）；离散运动技能（转录打字）；记忆和学习（情节记忆和通过实践获得技能）；问题解决（密码算术谜题和三段论推理）；语言（句子验证和接受指令）；以及发展（平衡木任务中的过渡）。这些处理在深度和充分性上各不相同，但它们清楚地揭示了一个单一的、高度具体的、操作性的理论，它适用于人类认知的整个范围。SOAR 被作为一个统一理论的典范提出，而不是唯一的候选者。认知科学还没有准备好接受单一理论——必须有多种尝试。但认知科学必须开始朝着这样的统一理论努力。
