140 Joint Cognitive Systems
substance of modelling while the second is the technical issue of the
language of modelling.
Cognition without Context
Arguably the earliest early attempt to describe cognition as specific processes
or functions was made by Edwin Boring (1946), who outlined a five-step
programme for how the functions of the human mind could be accounted for
in an objective manner.
1. The functional capacities of the human should be analysed, e.g., by listing
the essential functions.
2. The functional capacities should be translated into properties of the
organism by providing a description of the input-output characteristics
(essentially a black-box approach).
3. The functions should ...