Turing-equivalent computation at the “conception” of cognitive science

Many philosophical accounts of the computational theory of mind focus on Turing machines or Turing-equivalent computational formalisms. ¹ Such devices have finite sets of instructions (programs) operating on finitely many symbols with unbounded memory resources that enable them to compute a specific class of functions, the partial recursive functions. ² The recurrent allusions to Turing machines and Turing-equivalent computing devices suggest that the history of the computational theory of mind is the history of the birth of Turing machines and their subsequent influence.