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--- abstract: "In a recent series of publications, dynamicist researchers have proposed a new conception of cognitive functioning. This conception is intended to replace the currently dominant theories of connectionism and symbolicism. The dynamicist approach to cognitive modeling employs concepts developed in the mathematical field of dynamical systems theory. They claim that cognitive models should be embedded, low-dimensional, complex, described by coupled differential equations, and non-representational. In this paper I begin with a short description of the dynamicist project and its role as a cognitive theory. Subsequently, I determine the theoretical commitments of dynamicists, critically examine those commitments and discuss current examples of dynamicist models. In conclusion, I determine dynamicism's relation to symbolicism and connectionism and find that the dynamicist goal to establish a new paradigm has yet to be realized." altloc: - http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~celiasmi/Papers/thirdcontender.html chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Eliasmith given: Chris honourific: '' lineage: '' date: 1996 date_type: published datestamp: 1998-06-16 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/03/24 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: [] eprint_status: archive eprintid: 324 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/324/1/thirdcontender.html full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: 'cognitive science, cognitive theories, dynamical systems, connectionism, dynamicism, symbolicism, theories of mind, neural nets, artificial intelligence, cognition, van Gelder' lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:53:49 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 4 pagerange: 441-463 pubdom: FALSE publication: Journal of Philosophical Psychology publisher: ~ refereed: TRUE referencetext: ~ relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 8 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:26:38 subjects: - cog-psy - comp-sci-mach-dynam-sys - phil-mind - phil-sci succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: 'The third contender: A critical examination of the dynamicist theory of cognition' type: journalp userid: 222 volume: 9