Computational Inference in Cognitive Science: Operational, Societal and Ethical Considerations

TL;DR

This paper discusses the transformation of cognitive science through computational methods, emphasizing operational, societal, and ethical challenges in conducting and interpreting computational inference research.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of computational cognitive inference and examines operational, societal, and ethical considerations in this emerging research area.

Findings

Identification of operational challenges in computational cognitive inference

Discussion of societal impacts of data-driven cognitive science

Proposal of ethical guidelines for research and interpretation

Abstract

Emerging research frontiers and computational advances have gradually transformed cognitive science into a multidisciplinary and data-driven field. As a result, there is a proliferation of cognitive theories investigated and interpreted from different academic lens and in different levels of abstraction. We formulate this applied aspect of this challenge as the computational cognitive inference, and describe the major routes of computational approaches. To balance the potential optimism alongside the speed and scale of the data-driven era of cognitive science, we propose to inspect this trend in more empirical terms by identifying the operational challenges, societal impacts and ethical guidelines in conducting research and interpreting results from the computational inference in cognitive science.