The Social-Emotional Brain

Unplugging the Computer Metaphor

by Eddie Harmon-Jones, Ph.D.

Responses to Oddballs: A Robust Finding in Neuroscience

One of the most robust findings in neuroscience research is increased brain activity to the unexpected. This finding would not be predicted by a computer model of how the brain functions. However, it fits well with a model that emphasizes motivation. Read More

Unplugging the Computer Metaphor

The cognitive revolution began in the 1960s, and since then psychological research has been dominated by an information-processing model of brain function based on the computer metaphor. Recent social and affective neuroscience research shows that a computer is an inadequate and misleading metaphor for the human brain. The brain is much too hot and wet to be represented by a computer. Read More

Eddie Harmon-Jones is a Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University whose research is focused on social, affective, and motivational neuroscience.

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