ABSTRACT
The notion of computation is ubiquitous in discussions of the aims and advances of cognitive science and neuroscience. This is partly a practical matter, since computational models are used in the analysis of everything from behavioral performance in cognitive tasks to massive brain imaging data sets to fine-scaled neural activities. But beyond the practical utility of computational tools, the computational approach – computationalism – represents a commitment to a theoretically and philosophically motivated conception of the nature of the brain as a computational system, and the nature of cognition as a computational process.
