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178 Adaptation

of stating this theory is not to assert something new, but to assert that what
everybody knows is the theory of behavior that the behaviorists failed to
bequeath us, or a first approximation thereof. The task of this theory is not to
predict behavior but to describe what human behavior is like. it complements
the theory of analytic thinking in Chapter 4 by fleshing out the action side of
the cognitive architecture.

The Units of Behavior

in physical terms, a person’s behavior is continuous and, if sleep counts as a
behavior, lasts from birth to death, but we spontaneously parse the stream of
movements into discrete and qualitative units: pour the water, push the button,
open the window, slice the loaf, and so on. An action is a unit of behavior that
has a relatively well-defined beginning, unfolds in a certain manner and has
a relatively well-defined end. Strictly speaking, a phrase like pour the water
references an action type, and each event in which someone pours water is a
token of that type. The ease with which both adults and children refer to action
types in ordinary conversation implies that we possess mental representations
of such types. Verb phrases like pour the water, pass the butter and open the
door are overt expressions of those representations.
Complex actions break down into recognizable parts. Consider make tea,
which is made up of, at least, boil the water, fetch the tea leaves, fetch a cup, fetch
a strainer, place tea leaves in strainer and pour the water through the strainer.
The breakdown into parts can be pursued further. Boil the water is composed
of, for example, fetch the pan, fill the pan with water, turn on the stove, and so
on. if we continue the analysis, we reach a point at which the actions are so
simple that we cannot discern any meaningful parts. The action turn the faucet
is a case in point. Cognitive theory shares with common sense the inclination
to accept units like push the button and turn the faucet as elementary actions,
atoms of behavior that cannot be further divided.
in cognitive analyses, the individuation of elementary actions abstracts
from the physical aspects of movements. Consider the domain of chess. An
elementary action in this task domain is to move a chess piece from one square
to another. The move has to follow the rules that apply to that piece, differ-
ent rules for different pieces. But it does not matter, from the point of view
of chess, by which physical movement a chess piece is moved. A piece can
be moved with the left hand, the right hand, the mouth or even grasped by a
foot. in Kungsträdgården, a park in downtown Stockholm, Sweden, there is a
giant chessboard painted on the ground and the park service supplies wooden