ABSTRACT
In a quest for general and fundamental cognitive mechanisms the “minds” of humans, computers and animals have been explored. The problems faced by each of these approaches are similar, and revolve around the difficulty of inferring the workings of a system to which we have no direct access. One of the complicating factors in the study of human cognition is our intimate familiarity with at least one example of the system—ourselves. The lack of such intimacy in the case of computer or animal “minds” means that it is harder to conceal tacit assumptions and justifications derived from our own awareness of our own minds.
