The Nature and Function of Content in Computational Models

Much of computational cognitive science construes human cognitive capacities as representational capacities, or as involving representation in some way. Computational theories of vision, for example, typically posit structures that represent edges in the distal scene. Neurons are often said to represent elements of their receptive fields. Despite the ubiquity of representational talk in computational theorizing there is surprisingly little consensus about how such claims are to be understood. The point of this chapter is to sketch an account of the nature and function of representation in computational cognitive models

The Euler and Springer numbers as moment sequences

I study the sequences of Euler and Springer numbers from the point of view of the classical moment problem.Comment: LaTeX2e, 30 pages. Version 2 contains some small clarifications suggested by a referee. Version 3 contains new footnotes 9 and 10. To appear in Expositiones Mathematica

Egocentric Spatial Representation in Action and Perception

Neuropsychological findings used to motivate the “two visual systems” hypothesis have been taken to endanger a pair of widely accepted claims about spatial representation in visual experience. The first is the claim that visual experience represents 3-D space around the perceiver using an egocentric frame of reference. The second is the claim that there is a constitutive link between the spatial contents of visual experience and the perceiver’s bodily actions. In this paper, I carefully assess three main sources of evidence for the two visual systems hypothesis and argue that the best interpretation of the evidence is in fact consistent with both claims. I conclude with some brief remarks on the relation between visual consciousness and rational agency

The log-L\'evy moment problem via Berg-Urbanik semigroups

We consider the Stieltjes moment problem for the Berg-Urbanik semigroups which form a class of multiplicative convolution semigroups on $\mathbb{R}_+$ that is in bijection with the set of Bernstein functions. Berg and Dur\'an proved that the law of such semigroups is moment determinate (at least) up to time $t=2$, and, for the Bernstein function $\phi(u)=u$, Berg made the striking observation that for time $t>2$ the law of this semigroup is moment indeterminate. We extend these works by estimating the threshold time \scr{T}_\phi \in [2,\infty] that it takes for the law of such Berg-Urbanik semigroups to transition from moment determinacy to moment indeterminacy in terms of simple properties of the underlying Bernstein function $\phi$, such as its Blumenthal-Getoor index. One of the several strategies we implement to deal with the different cases relies on a non-classical Abelian type criterion for the moment problem, recently proved by the authors. To implement this approach we provide detailed information regarding distributional properties of the semigroup such as existence and smoothness of a density, and, the large asymptotic behavior for all $t > 0$ of this density along with its successive derivatives. In particular, these results, which are original in the L\'evy processes literature, may be of independent interests.Comment: Studia Mathematic

Quantum value indefiniteness

The indeterministic outcome of a measurement of an individual quantum is certified by the impossibility of the simultaneous, definite, deterministic pre-existence of all conceivable observables from physical conditions of that quantum alone. We discuss possible interpretations and consequences for quantum oracles.Comment: 19 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures; contribution to PC0