Rational analysis is a theoretical framework, methodology, and research program in cognitive science that has been developed by John Anderson.Anderson, J. R. (1990). "The adaptive character of thought". Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. The goal of rational analysis as a research program is to explain the function and purpose of

cognitive processes Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and to discover the structure of the mind. Chater and Oaksford contrast it with the

mechanistic The mechanical philosophy is a form of natural philosophy which compares the universe to a large-scale mechanism (i.e. a machine). The mechanical philosophy is associated with the scientific revolution of early modern Europe. One of the first expo ...

explanations of cognition offered by both

computational model A computational model uses computer programs to simulate and study complex systems using an algorithmic or mechanistic approach and is widely used in a diverse range of fields spanning from physics, chemistry and biology to economics, psychology, ...

s and

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

. Rational analysis starts from the assumption that the mind is adapted to its environment. Rational analysis uses this assumption to investigate the structure and purpose of

representations ''Representations'' is an interdisciplinary journal in the humanities published quarterly by the University of California Press. The journal was established in 1983 and is the founding publication of the New Historicism movement of the 1980s. It ...

and

by studying the structure of the environment. The methodology of rational analysis comprises six steps: #Goals: Specify precisely the goals of the cognitive system. #Environment: Develop a formal model of the environment to which the system is adapted. #Computational Limitations: Make the minimal assumptions about computational limitations. #Optimization: Derive the optimal behavioral function given 1-3 above. #Data: Examine the empirical literature to see whether the predictions of the behavioral function are confirmed. #Iteration: Repeat, iteratively refining the theory Rational analysis has been applied to memory, categorization, causal inference, problem solving, and reasoning. Recent work in rational analysis often involves

Bayesian cognitive science Bayesian cognitive science, also known as computational cognitive science, is an approach to cognitive science concerned with the rational analysis of cognition through the use of Bayesian inference and cognitive modeling. The term "computation ...

. This framework has been recently extended by Falk Lieder and Thomas L. Griffiths that have proposed the so-called Resource-Rational Analysis (RRA), trying to incorporate additional constraints from those minimally hypothesized by the Rational analysis. Such constraints also consider, for example, which cognitive operations are actually available to a cognitive agent and their time and cost demands .

References

{{Portal, Philosophy, Psychology Analysis Cognitive science Cognitive psychology