This paper approaches the question of how to describe the higher-level internal structures and representations of cognitive systems across various kinds of nonhuman (neuro)cognitive systems. While much research in cognitive (neuro)science and comparative cognition is dedicated to the exploration of the (neuro)cognitive mechanisms and processes with a focus on brain-behavior relations across different non-human species, not much has been done to connect (neuro)cognitive mechanisms and processes and the associated behaviors to plausible higher-level structures and representations of distinct kinds of cognitive systems in non-humans. Although the study of (neuro)cognitive mechanisms and processes can certainly be revealing, (neuro)cognitive mechanisms and processes are underspecified with respect to internal structures and representations of non-human cognitive systems because multiple such mechanisms can target, or be mapped onto, the same internal structure or vice versa. This paper outlines a biosemiotic approach to this linking problem in order to bridge the gap between functions of (neuro)cognitive systems in different species and the higher-level cognitive structures and representations. It is contended that the higher-level internal structures and representations of various cognitive systems are biosemiotic constraints on the (biological) functions of (neuro)cognitive systems that serve to restrict the range of functions (neuro)cognitive systems have or are selected for. This turns out to have implications for issues on the convergent evolution of cognitive traits.

中文翻译：

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心理结构作为对非人类（神经）认知系统功能的生物符号约束。

本文探讨了如何在各种非人类（神经）认知系统中描述认知系统的高级内部结构和表示的问题。尽管认知（神经）科学和比较认知方面的许多研究致力于探索（神经）认知机制和过程，并着重研究了不同非人类物种之间的大脑与行为的关系，但对于连接（神经认知机制和过程，以及与非人类中不同种类的认知系统的合理高层结构和表示相关的行为。尽管对（神经）认知机制和过程的研究肯定可以揭示，（神经）认知机制和过程在非人类认知系统的内部结构和表示方面未得到充分说明，因为多个这样的机制可以针对或映射到相同的内部结构，反之亦然。本文概述了针对这种联系问题的生物符号学方法，以弥合不同物种中（神经）认知系统的功能与高级认知结构和表示之间的鸿沟。认为各种认知系统的高级内部结构和表示形式是对（神经）认知系统（生物）功能的生物符号学约束，其作用是限制（神经）认知系统已选择的功能范围。