?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Wholes+and+their+parts+in+cognitive+psychology%3A+Systems%2C+subsystems+and+persons.&rft.creator=Atkinson%2C+Anthony+P.&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=Decompositional+analysis+is+the+process+of+constructing+explanations+of+the+characteristics+of+whole+systems+in+terms+of+characteristics+of+parts+of+those+whole+systems.+Cognitive+psychology+is+an+endeavour+that+develops+explanations+of+the+capacities+of+the+human+organism+in+terms+of+descriptions+of+the+brain's+functionally+defined+information-processing+components.+This+paper+details+the+nature+of+this+explanatory+strategy%2C+known+as+functional+analysis.+Functional+analysis+is+contrasted+with+two+other+varieties+of+decompositional+analysis%2C+namely%2C+structural+analysis+and+capacity+analysis.+After+an+examination+of+these+three+varieties+of+analysis%2C+there+follows+a+consideration+of+a+mistake+to+avoid+when+conducting+decompositional+analyses+in+psychology%2C+and+a+possible+limitation+on+their+explanatory+scope.&rft.date=1998&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F337%2F1%2FS_2CS_26P-Balz.html&rft.identifier=++Atkinson%2C+Anthony+P.++(1998)+Wholes+and+their+parts+in+cognitive+psychology%3A+Systems%2C+subsystems+and+persons.++%5BConference+Paper%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F337%2F