The language of thought
The language of thought's a formal language that mental processes operate on; with a combinatorial syntax and semantics. Sentences are generated from combinations of words: complex mental representations from combinations of simpler representations.
Just as complex sentences are generated from combinations of words, complex mental representations are generated from combinations of simpler representations.
Jerry Fodor (1975).
Although no formal theory of the language of thought has yet been fully successful, the search for one is the goal of computational psychology.
Notes:
- For more arguments about this aspect of AI see "The Representationalist Assumption" Box 103, and the "Can connectionist networks exhibit systematicity?" arguments on Map 5.
- The language of thought is also know as "mentalese".