Parallel Distributed Processing is transforming the field of cognitive science. Microcognition provides a clear, readable guide to this emerging paradigm from a cognitive philosopher's point of view. It explains and explores the biological basis of PDP, its psychological importance, and its philosophical relevance.

Starting with a survey of the assumptions and methodology of classical AI, Microcognition proceeds to a full treatment of the PDP alternative. It describes the main properties of PDP architectures with numerous examples, and it explores the tangled question of their relationship with classical work, the theoretical significance of mixed PDP and classical models, and various criticisms of the models. Biological and evolutionary perspectives are also included. Of particular philosophical interest is the author's treatment of the relation between these computational models and ordinary talk of beliefs and desires, or folk-psychology.

Microcognition is included in the series Explorations in Cognitive Science, edited by Margaret Boden. A Bradford Book.

Andy Clark is a Professor of Philosophy and Chair in Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Before this he was director of the Cognitive Science Program at Indiana University in Bloomington. Previously, he taught at Washington University at St. Louis and the University of Sussex in England. Clark is one of the founding members of the Contact collaborative research project whose aim is to investigate the role environment plays in shaping the nature of conscious experience. Professor Clark’s papers and books deal with the philosophy of mind and he is considered a leading scientist in mind extension. He has also written extensively on connectionism, robotics, and the role and nature of mental representation.