Modular programming: Difference between revisions

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==Modularity in Cognitive Science==

{{main|Modularity of mind}}

The question of whether mind is structured in a modular fashion is a prominent one in the [[cognitive science]]s. The basic modular position, as articulated by [[Jerry Fodor]] in his [[1983]] Monograph ''The Modularity of Mind'', essentially argues that the mind is composed of '''independent''', closed, '''___domain-specific''' processing modules governed by a central controlling module, similar to the main program of a modular computer program. Fodor's proposal includes only lower-level cognitive processes, while he argues that higher-level processes are not modular. (See Also: [[Modularity of Mind]])

Other perspectives on modularity come from [[evolutionary psychology]], particularly from the work of [[Leda Cosmides]] and [[John Tooby]]. This perspective suggests that modules are units of mental processing that evolved in response to selection pressures. On this view, much modern human psychological activity is rooted in adaptations that occurred earlier in [[human evolution]], when [[natural selection]] was forming the modern human species.