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Modularity of mind is the notion that a mind may, at least in part, be composed of innate neural structures or mental modules which have distinct, established, and evolutionarily developed functions. However, different definitions of "module" have been proposed by different authors.
It is used in theories of the modularity of mind and the closely related society of mind theory and was developed by Jerry Fodor. It became better known throughout cognitive psychology by means of his book, The Modularity of Mind (1983). The nine aspects he lists that make up a mental module are domain specificity, mandatory operation, limited ...
The Modularity of the Mind theory indicates that distinct neurological regions called modules are defined by their functional roles in cognition. He also rooted many of his concepts on modularity back to philosophers like Descartes, who wrote about the mind being composed of "organs" or "psychological faculties".
Modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. [1] The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a system into varying degrees of interdependence and independence across and "hide the complexity of each part behind an abstraction and interface". [2]
Jerry Alan Fodor (/ ˈ f oʊ d ər / FOH-dər; April 22, 1935 – November 29, 2017) was an American philosopher and the author of works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science. [1]
In his 2006 book, [2] Carruthers lays out the main case supporting massive modularity, shows how the notion of "module" in this context should properly be understood, and takes up Fodor’s challenge by showing how the distinctive flexibility, creativity, and rationality of the human mind can result from the interactions of massive numbers of ...
An early supporter was Jerry Fodor, who argued that the mind functions partly, by innate, domain-specific mental modules. [3] In Modularity of Mind, Fodor proposed the Hypothesis of Modest Modularity, stating that input systems such as perception and language are modular, whereas central systems such as belief fixation and practical reasoning ...
Supporters of neuroconstructivism, such as Annette Karmiloff-Smith, argue against innate modularity of mind, the notion that a brain is composed of innate neural structures or modules which have distinct evolutionarily established functions. Instead, emphasis is put on innate domain relevant biases.