The Modular Theory Of Mind: What It Is And What It Explains About The Brain

Theory of mind tells us that specialized neurons in our brain allow us to generate hypotheses about how the minds of others work. This allows us to anticipate the behaviors and intentions of others and, based on that, direct our behavior. For this reason, it is an important skill in the acquisition of knowledge and behavior, and an essential value has been attributed to it in adaptive terms.

But how does this happen? Modular theory suggests that the mentalization process described above is possible because our mind works through different modules. We will see below What the modular theory of mind is about and how it explains our cognitive processes

Modular theory of mind: the psyche as a set of processes

Among other things, the more traditional approach to theory of mind suggested that the mind It is a multipurpose tool, capable of being activated by any type of task or information Thus, regardless of whether we are presented with a logical-mathematical, linguistic, physical or social problem, our mind (as a unitary system) sets in motion mechanisms for perception and resolution of the problem.

Faced with this conception, the modular approach maintains that the mind is not a unitary or monolithic tool. Rather, it is a set of tools, each specialized in a specific problem, task or information. Beyond being a single multipurpose tool, the mind is conceived as a set of processes and systems specialized in solving different types of problems (García García, 2008).

As such, each process would have a specific structure and competence. And for this reason, each process is conceived as a different “module.” Thus, the mind would be built by a set of modules specialized in a specific type of process or activity.

Development and background

In the year 1986, philosopher and psycholinguist Jerry Fodor proposed that the mind is structured in “innate modules.” He defined the latter as input systems (i.e., perceptual systems). According to Fodor, modules work independently and specialized in a domain. And what’s more, they are automatic and fast processes.

But our mind is not only made up of different modules encapsulated and independent of each other. Contrary to this, Fodor also proposed that in the middle of the modules there is a central system, whose task is to receive information from the input systems (that is, from the different modules). In other words, there is a central system that is responsible for integrating and recording the information processed by each module, and from this, we can generate complex processes and functions such as memory

This is how Fodor developed the concept of “modularity.” Through this he explained how perceptual and cognitive processes work as a set of modules with specialized tasks. One of the examples where the modular theory of mind is reflected is the theory of multiple intelligences, and another is the metaphor of the computational processor applied to the theory of mind.

Does our mind work like a Swiss army knife?

One of the most used ways in theory of mind to explain the modular approach is the Swiss army knife. It was proposed in 1994 by the psychologist Leda Cosmides and the anthropologist John Tooby both specialized in evolutionary psychology.

What they suggest is that, traditionally, theory of mind held that the latter functioned like a common razor that we can carry with us to solve any problem, from opening a can to cutting a piece of bread. On the contrary, the modular theory of mind maintains that the latter operates like a “Swiss army knife”, which is also a manual utensil, but is made up of different tools with different functions.

You can have a knife, scissors, knives of different sizes, a flashlight, among others; and each one is useful to specifically solve some problems (and not others). In fact, its usefulness is precisely this: extreme specialization of each component which allows you to effectively solve specific problems.

The physical bases of mental modules

According to this theory, the modular structure and organization would be the result of a complex phylogenetic process that has allowed us to develop different structures and mechanisms. At the same time, said development occurs adaptively that is, it is a consequence of the constant modification of problems and tasks that our environment presents to us.

Thus, we generate new and different needs as we develop in a given context, which ends up building diverse mental modules. The latter, translated into neurophysiological language, corresponds to brain plasticity and the connectionist model that maintains that the information received is stored in neural circuits. In this way, a part of the modular theory maintains that the physiological basis of the nodules is precisely the clusters and neuronal networks; and in the same way, the psychophysical basis of modular development would be brain plasticity.