Doing versus knowing.
Aristotle's four causes frame Webb's question. Comprehension requires specification of trigger, function, mechanism, and representation. Robots are real models of function. Physical, biological, and epigenetic constraints delimit the hypothesis space for candidate mechanisms. Robots constitute a simplified system more susceptible to formal representation than the target system. They thus constitute an important tool in a constructivist development of scientific knowledge.
Killeen
Peter R
PR
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104 killeen@asu.edu www.asu.edu/clas/psych/dresearch/blab.html.