The evidence for representation

Philosophers sometimes observe that some scientists believe in representations because those representations explain behavior. Philosophers also sometimes observe that some scientists believe that single-unit (single-cell, single-neuron) firing rates represent environmental features, in part, because of correlations between the environmental features and the single-unit firing rates. Less frequently, philosophers have observed that sometimes scientists combine the results of behavioral experiments and neuroscientific experiments. Recent philosophical work discussing the evidence for representations has not recognized this picture. In addition, this recent philosophical work has undertheorized the abductive reasoning underlying the postulation of representations to explain behavior.