Understanding Complex Cognitive Phenomena

Abstract

We have established in Chaps. 9 and 10 that causal descriptions of relatively simple cognitive phenomena at high-level using the condition definition/detection and behavioural recommendation information models can be mapped into more detailed causal descriptions at anatomical, physiological and neurochemical levels. Hence we can have confidence that higher level descriptions of more complex cognitive phenomena made up of combinations of the information processes used by the simpler phenomena could also be mapped to more detailed levels as required. In this chapter we will develop such higher level descriptions of more complex phenomena, only rarely going down to the more detailed levels. These higher level descriptions will be in terms of cortical column receptive field detections at different levels of complexity and behavioural interpretation of these receptive field detections in various subcortical structures.