Hierarchical Control of Cognitive Processes: The Case for Skilled Typewriting

The idea that cognition is controlled hierarchically is appealing to many but is difficult to demonstrate empirically. Often, nonhierarchical theories can account for the data as well as hierarchical ones do. The purpose of this chapter is to document the case for hierarchical control in skilled typing and present it as an example of a strategy for demonstrating hierarchical control in other cognitive acts. We propose that typing is controlled by two nested feedback loops that can be distinguished in terms of the factors that affect them, that communicate through intermediate representations (words), that know little about how each other work, and rely on different kinds of feedback. We discuss hierarchical control in other skills; the relation between hierarchical control and familiar concepts like automaticity, procedural memory, and implicit knowledge; and the development of hierarchical skills. We end with speculations about the role of hierarchical control in everyday cognition and the search for a meaningful life.