This proposal is a request for a multi-user central computer facility for the cognitive science group at Brown University. Broadly defined, cognitive science is the study of the mind and its structural and functional representation. Such study includes the investigation of representational and computational components involved in using and comprehending language, and in perceiving, acting, thinking, and knowing. A central characteristic of cognitive science is its concern with computational problems. There are four broad areas of research represented in Cognitive Science at Brown University in which the computer has served as a necessary tool. These include neural modelling of language and cognitive process, computational vision, speech, and memory and cognitive processes. Although most of us represented in this proposal have our own computer equipment, the need for and the utility of a central cognitive science machine has been proven to us over and over again. The requested equipment and associated software will allow us not only to maintain but increase our current computational resources and will allow us to maintain, and develop a state-of-the-art computer and communications network for research in many areas of cognitive science.
