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What is the “Cognitive” in Cognitive Neuroscience?

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Abstract

This paper argues that the cognitive neuroscientific use of ordinary mental terms to report research results and draw implications can contribute to public confusion and misunderstanding regarding neuroscience results. This concern is raised at a time when cognitive neuroscientists are increasingly required by funding agencies to link their research to specific results of public benefit, and when neuroethicists have called for greater attention to public communication of neuroscience. The paper identifies an ethical dimension to the problem and presses for greater sensitivity and responsibility among neuroscientists regarding their use of such terms.

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Acknowledgements

My deepest thanks go to Bradley Taber-Thomas for extensive input on early drafts of this paper and Colin Klein for astute comments on the final draft. Thanks also to Daniel Tranel, Tom Brashers-Krug, and Justin Feinstein for comments and references, and to audiences at presentations of drafts at the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, the Iowa Philosophical Society 2010 annual meeting, and the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology 2011 annual meeting.

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  1. Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Iowa, 260 English-Philosophy Building, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Carrie Figdor

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  1. Carrie Figdor
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Correspondence to Carrie Figdor.

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Figdor, C. What is the “Cognitive” in Cognitive Neuroscience?. Neuroethics 6, 105–114 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-012-9157-5

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