Keith Stenning
Encyclopedia
Keith Stenning is a cognitive scientist and Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh
in Scotland
, UK. He received a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology at the University of Oxford
in 1969, and a PhD in discourse semantics as a basis for a theory of memory in New York, 1975, supervised by George Armitage Miller.
Between 1975 to 1983 he taught at Liverpool University before moving to Edinburgh to the Centre for Cognitive Science in 1983. Between 1989 and 1999 he was the director of the Human Communication Research Centre.
He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society
and a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Netherlands National Academy. He was chairman of an Expert Group gathered by the European Commission
Directorate-General for Research which proposed some lines of evolutionary cognitive research under the title "What it Means to be Human".
His main research interest is integrating logical and psychological accounts of reasoning
. Recent work includes investigations of interpretative processes in reasoning and, with Michiel van Lambalgen
at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation
in Amsterdam
, the use of non-monotonic logic
and neural network
implementations to model reasoning.
His most recent books have dealt with how the mind responds to different representations of the same information and his 2008 book with Michiel van Lambalgen
discusses the relevance of modern mathematical logic to the study of
human reasoning.
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, UK. He received a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 1969, and a PhD in discourse semantics as a basis for a theory of memory in New York, 1975, supervised by George Armitage Miller.
Between 1975 to 1983 he taught at Liverpool University before moving to Edinburgh to the Centre for Cognitive Science in 1983. Between 1989 and 1999 he was the director of the Human Communication Research Centre.
He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society
Cognitive Science Society
The Cognitive Science Society is a professional society for the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science. It brings together researchers from many fields who hold the common goal of understanding the nature of the human mind...
and a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Netherlands National Academy. He was chairman of an Expert Group gathered by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
Directorate-General for Research which proposed some lines of evolutionary cognitive research under the title "What it Means to be Human".
His main research interest is integrating logical and psychological accounts of reasoning
Psychology of reasoning
The psychology of reasoning is the study of how people reason, often broadly defined as the process of drawing conclusions to inform how people solve problems and make decisions...
. Recent work includes investigations of interpretative processes in reasoning and, with Michiel van Lambalgen
Michiel van Lambalgen
Michiel van Lambalgen is a professor of Logic and Cognitive Science at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and the Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands....
at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation
Institute for Logic, Language and Computation
The Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation is a research institute of the University of Amsterdam, in which researchers from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities collaborate....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the use of non-monotonic logic
Non-monotonic logic
A non-monotonic logic is a formal logic whose consequence relation is not monotonic. Most studied formal logics have a monotonic consequence relation, meaning that adding a formula to a theory never produces a reduction of its set of consequences. Intuitively, monotonicity indicates that learning a...
and neural network
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
implementations to model reasoning.
His most recent books have dealt with how the mind responds to different representations of the same information and his 2008 book with Michiel van Lambalgen
Michiel van Lambalgen
Michiel van Lambalgen is a professor of Logic and Cognitive Science at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and the Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands....
discusses the relevance of modern mathematical logic to the study of
human reasoning.