Empirical Evidence for Intraspecific Multiple Realization?
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2020 Francesca Strappini, Marialuisa Martelli, Cesare Cozzo et al.
Multiple realizability—the idea that the same mental property can arise from different neural substrates—has long been debated. Evidence from visual crowding shows that object recognition can be restored by increasing spacing between parts, whether in agnosic foveal vision, peripheral vision, or various patient groups. Comparing stroke patients, posterior cortical atrophy patients, strabismic amblyopia cases, and unimpaired subjects tested in the periphery reveals that restored recognition (integration) describes visual performance similarly across all cases, despite differing etiologies and neural correlates. This similarity in psychological function across diverse neural bases provides empirical support for the Multiple Realization Thesis, challenging psychoneural type-identity theory and reductionism.