Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Allen Newell’s Knowledge Level theory is a philosophical position on the reality of knowledge that is best understood through the lens of Pragmatism--specifically, the view that the practical effects of general concepts are indelibly linked with the reality of those concepts. Consequently, the reality of the knowledge level is context-dependent. Newell’s theory reduces the complexity of analyzing every mechanism behind intelligence systems by abstracting away details irrelevant to predicting behavior and, as such, is more important than ever in light of current challenges in cognitive science.