Pim Haselager
Encyclopedia
Willem F.G. "Pim" Haselager (1970??) is a Dutch philosopher-researcher in the philosophy
of cognitive science
. In the Netherlands
he is part of a growing minority of scientists and philosophers advocating an embodied embedded
perspective on cognition
and intelligent behavior. Pim lives in Groesbeek
and Amsterdam
, the Netherlands
. He holds a position at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.
degree in philosophy
and psychology
. He obtained a PhD
degree in 1995 at the Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
. He is particularly interested in the integration of empirical work (i.e. psychological experiments, brain imaging, computational modeling, and robotics
) with philosophical issues regarding knowledge
and intelligent behavior.
He analyzed the debate between proponents of classical cognitive science
and connectionism
on the nature of representation, in relation to the inability of computational model
s to deal with the frame problem
(which is related to common sense behavior, knowledge
and reasoning. He examined the consequences of this debate for the status of folk psychology
More recently he extended his research by investigating the embodied embeddedness of cognition
(EEC
) in relation to dynamical systems theory
(DST). According to Haselager, both EEC and DST sharpen the debate on the role of representations in cognitive science. Currently he investigates the question of how far one can push non-representational ways of modeling
intelligent behavior, experimentally and through robot
simulations
Articles, a selection
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
of cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
. In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
he is part of a growing minority of scientists and philosophers advocating an embodied embedded
Embodied Embedded Cognition
Embodied Embedded Cognition is a philosophical theoretical position in cognitive science, closely related to situated cognition, embodied cognition, embodied cognitive science and dynamical systems theory. The theory states that intelligent behaviour emerges out of the interplay between brain,...
perspective on cognition
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
and intelligent behavior. Pim lives in Groesbeek
Groesbeek
Groesbeek is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.-Description:Groesbeek is named after a small stream called the Groesbeek, which in its original form doesn't exist anymore...
and 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 Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He holds a position at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Life and work
Haselager obtained a MAMaster of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. He obtained a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in 1995 at the Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He is particularly interested in the integration of empirical work (i.e. psychological experiments, brain imaging, computational modeling, and robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
) with philosophical issues regarding knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
and intelligent behavior.
He analyzed the debate between proponents of classical cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
and connectionism
Connectionism
Connectionism is a set of approaches in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, that models mental or behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks of simple units...
on the nature of representation, in relation to the inability of computational model
Computational model
A computational model is a mathematical model in computational science that requires extensive computational resources to study the behavior of a complex system by computer simulation. The system under study is often a complex nonlinear system for which simple, intuitive analytical solutions are...
s to deal with the frame problem
Frame problem
In artificial intelligence, the frame problem was initially formulated as the problem of expressing a dynamical domain in logic without explicitly specifying which conditions are not affected by an action. John McCarthy and Patrick J. Hayes defined this problem in their 1969 article, Some...
(which is related to common sense behavior, knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
and reasoning. He examined the consequences of this debate for the status of folk psychology
Folk psychology
Folk psychology is the set of assumptions, constructs, and convictions that makes up the everyday language in which people discuss human psychology...
More recently he extended his research by investigating the embodied embeddedness of cognition
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
(EEC
Embodied Embedded Cognition
Embodied Embedded Cognition is a philosophical theoretical position in cognitive science, closely related to situated cognition, embodied cognition, embodied cognitive science and dynamical systems theory. The theory states that intelligent behaviour emerges out of the interplay between brain,...
) in relation to dynamical systems theory
Dynamical systems theory
Dynamical systems theory is an area of applied mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations or difference equations. When differential equations are employed, the theory is called continuous dynamical systems. When difference...
(DST). According to Haselager, both EEC and DST sharpen the debate on the role of representations in cognitive science. Currently he investigates the question of how far one can push non-representational ways of modeling
Scientific modelling
Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, graphical and/or mathematical models. Science offers a growing collection of methods, techniques and theory about all kinds of specialized scientific modelling...
intelligent behavior, experimentally and through robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
simulations
Publications
Books- Haselager, W.F.G. (1997). Cognitive science and folk psychology: The right frame of mind. London: Sage.
Articles, a selection
- Haselager, W.F.G., & Van Rappard, J.F.H. (1998). Connectionism, systematicity, and the frame problem. Minds and Machines, 8 (2), 161-179.
- Haselager, W.F.G. (1999). Neurodynamics and the revival of associationism in cognitive science. In A. Riegler, M. Peschl, & A. Von Stein (Eds.), Understanding representation in the cognitive sciences: Does representation need reality? (pp. 115–120). New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publ.
- Haselager, W.F.G. (1999). On the potential of non-classical constituency. Acta Analytica, 22, 23-42.
- van Rooij, I., Bongers, R.M., & Haselager, W.F.G. (2002). A non-representational approach to imagined action. Cognitive Science, 26(3), 345-375.
- Haselager, W.F.G., Bongers, R.M. & van Rooij, I. (2003). Cognitive science, representations and dynamical systems theory. In W. Tschacher and J-P. Dauwalder (Eds.) The dynamical systems approach to cognition: Concepts and empirical paradigms based on self-organization, embodiment, and coordination Dynamics. Studies of Nonlinear Phenomena in Life Science - Vol. 10. (pp. 229–242). Singapore: World Scientific. (more info) pdf-file of penultimate draft
- Willems, D.J.M. & Haselager, W.F.G. (2003). Cooperative behavior in simulated reactive robots. In T. Heskes, P. Lucas, L. Vuurpijl, W. Wiegerinck (Eds). Proceedings of the 15th Belgium-Netherlands Conference on Artificial Intelligence (BNAIC). (pp. 355–362). Nijmegen: University of Nijmegen. pdf-file
- Frank, S.L., & Haselager, W.F.G. (2006). Robust semantic systematicity and distributed representations in a connectionist model of sentence comprehension. In: R. Sun & N. Miyake (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 226–231), Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. pdf-file