Dynamical Cognitive Science! Wherefore Art Thou?

This topic revisits and elucidates the impact of dynamical systems theory (DST) since the "dynamical hypothesis" was presented in the 1990s as an alternative to the information-processing approaches central to orthodox cognitive science. The dynamical hypothesis does not investigate cognition as necessitating explanations in computational or representational terms. Instead, DST is leveraged to approach cognition in temporal terms (e.g., continuous, self-organizing) that often encompass brain-body-environment systems. The contributions collected here examine DST's experimental, methodological, and theoretical roles across such areas as informatics, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. They explore how DST reshapes debates about computation, representation, and embodiment, extending from individual cognition to artificial and social systems. Papers address advances in fractality, multiscale modeling, and nonlinear methods; applications to behavioral and neural coordination; and theoretical syntheses linking dynamics with cultural and symbolic processes. Together, they assess DST's growing influence in a "dynamical renaissance" within the cognitive and brain sciences, highlighting both its promise as a unifying framework and its conceptual challenges. Thus, this provides a comprehensive and critical overview of how the dynamical hypothesis continues to expand, guide, and refine the understanding of cognition as an emergent, temporally extended, and interactive process across biological, social, and artificial domains.

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Publication Details

Journal
Topics in Cognitive Science
Published
2026-02-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70042
Primary Topic
Embodied and Extended Cognition
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Dynamical Cognitive Science! Wherefore Art Thou?

Luis H. Favela, Vicente Raja
Topics in Cognitive Science
Embodied and Extended Cognition
article

Dynamical Cognitive Science! Wherefore Art Thou?

Luis H. Favela, Vicente Raja
article en

Abstract

This topic revisits and elucidates the impact of dynamical systems theory (DST) since the "dynamical hypothesis" was presented in the 1990s as an alternative to the information-processing approaches central to orthodox cognitive science. The dynamical hypothesis does not investigate cognition as necessitating explanations in computational or representational terms. Instead, DST is leveraged to approach cognition in temporal terms (e.g., continuous, self-organizing) that often encompass brain-body-environment systems. The contributions collected here examine DST's experimental, methodological, and theoretical roles across such areas as informatics, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. They explore how DST reshapes debates about computation, representation, and embodiment, extending from individual cognition to artificial and social systems. Papers address advances in fractality, multiscale modeling, and nonlinear methods; applications to behavioral and neural coordination; and theoretical syntheses linking dynamics with cultural and symbolic processes. Together, they assess DST's growing influence in a "dynamical renaissance" within the cognitive and brain sciences, highlighting both its promise as a unifying framework and its conceptual challenges. Thus, this provides a comprehensive and critical overview of how the dynamical hypothesis continues to expand, guide, and refine the understanding of cognition as an emergent, temporally extended, and interactive process across biological, social, and artificial domains.

Topics in Cognitive Science
Indiana University Bloomington (US), Universidad de Murcia (ES)
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 55%
Embodied and Extended Cognition
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