Home PsycCRITIQUES A New Dawn of Social Sciences? Daybreak Still Looks Very Far Away.
A New Dawn of Social Sciences? Daybreak Still Looks Very Far Away.
Review Title A New Dawn of Social Sciences? Daybreak Still Looks Very Far Away.
Abstract Reviews the book, Cognition and Multi-Agent Interaction: From Cognitive Modeling to Social Simulation edited by Ron Sun (see record 2006-02904-000). The prospect of integrating disconnected theories in various disciplines within social sciences through methodological advancement in research is exhilarating. Out of theoretical integration, together with methodological refinement, far more realistic theories may emerge. Computer simulation as a research method sounds very attractive in terms of precision and economy. Its ultimate success, however, depends on plausible theories that account for minds arising from human biological conditions interacting with their environments. This also requires technologies that enable machines to select information just as humans do, using sensory organs, and to let cognition, emotion, and action emerge in a particular environment (e.g., cultural, economical, political, and physiological). If one expects to find evidence for such a grand solution in the book, however, one will be very disappointed. What this edited book provides is a glimpse of the state of the art of current computer simulation and robotics techniques that mostly work well in situations in which the exclusion of so-called "hot cognition" is somewhat acceptable. Most chapters deal with social relations in domain-specific tasks, although there are variations in domain specificity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)