In defense of representation

The computational paradigm, which has dominated psychology and artificial i ntelligence since the cognitive revolution, has been a source of intense de bate. Recently, several cognitive scientists have argued against this parad igm, not by objecting to computation, but rather by objecting to the notion of representation. Our analysis of these objections reveals that it is not the notion of representation per se that is causing the problem, but rathe r specific properties of representations as they are used in various psycho logical theories. Our analysis suggests that all theorists accept the idea that cognitive processing involves internal information-carrying states tha t mediate cognitive processing. These mediating states are a superordinate category of representations. We discuss five properties that can he added t o mediating states and examine their importance in various cognitive models . Finally, three methodological lessons are drawn from our analysis and dis cussion. (C) 2000 Academic Press.