Huang, Linus Ta-Lun and Bechtel, William (2020) A Phylogenetic Perspective on Distributed Decision-Making Mechanisms. [Preprint]

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Abstract

This paper challenges a common assumption about decision- making mechanisms in humans: decision-making is a distinctively high-level cognitive activity implemented by mechanisms concentrated in the higher-level areas of the cortex. We argue instead that human behavior is controlled by a multiplicity of highly distributed, heterarchically organized decision-making mechanisms. We frame it in terms of control mechanisms that procure and evaluate information to select activities of controlled mechanisms and adopt a phylogenetic perspective, showing how decision-making is realized in control mechanisms in a variety of species. We end by discussing this picture's implication for high-level cognitive decision-making.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Huang, Linus Ta-Lun linushuang@ucsd.edu Bechtel, William bill@mechanism.ucsd.edu
Keywords:	philosophy of neuroscience, control mechanisms, decision-making; phylogenetic refinement; heterarchical networks; hypothalamus; basal ganglia
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Depositing User:	Professor William Bechtel
Date Deposited:	28 May 2020 03:01
Last Modified:	28 May 2020 03:01
Item ID:	17250
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Date:	27 May 2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/17250

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