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Carruthers on Massive Modularity

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Adaptive specialisations; Domain specificity

Definition

Carruthers defines mental modules more loosely than does Fodor and provides three arguments in defense of the concept of massive modularity of mind.

Introduction

In The Architecture of the Mind: Massive Modularity and the Flexibility of Thought, Carruthers (2006) defends the concept of massive modularity of the human mind. He first distinguishes massive modularity (that the brain is composed entirely of modules) from Fodorian modularity (which postulated peripheral modules feeding into a domain-general central processor/s). He then provides a series of three formal arguments for the massive modularity of mind: an argument based on the architecture of complex biological systems; an argument appealing to task specificity, which is supported largely by comparative evidence; and an argument from computational tractability. The current entry summarizes Carruthers’ position and notes some key challenges that his arguments have...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Ian D. Stephen

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Ian D. Stephen

  3. Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Ian D. Stephen

  4. School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, NSW, Australia

    Darren Burke

  5. School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia

    Danielle Sulikowski

Authors
  1. Ian D. Stephen
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  2. Darren Burke
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  3. Danielle Sulikowski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian D. Stephen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Stephen, I.D., Burke, D., Sulikowski, D. (2016). Carruthers on Massive Modularity. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3095-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3095-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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