Will Christensen

Biographic Data

ID147740
NAMEWill Christensen
GIVEN NAMESWill
FAMILY NAMEChristensen
SIGNATURECHRISTENSEN W
AFFILIATIONSMacquarie University
ORCID0000-0001-7146-285X
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS13
TOTAL CITATIONS43
AUTHOR COUNT13
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1998
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2022
H-INDEX3

  • Cognitive control, intentions, and problem solving in skill learning

    Open AccessWill Christensen, Kath BicknellARTICLESynthese2022Cited by: 3References: 54

    We investigate flexibility and problem solving in skilled action. We conducted a field study of mountain bike riding that required a learner rider to cope with major changes in technique and equipment. Our results indicate that relatively inexperienced individuals can be capable of fairly complex 'on-the-fly' problem solving which allows them to cope with new conditions. This problem solving is hard to explain for classical theories of skill beca…

  • The Skill of Translating Thought into Action: Framing The Problem

    Open AccessWill ChristensenARTICLEReview of Philosophy and Psychology2021

  • Skilled action

    Open AccessWill ChristensenARTICLEPhilosophy Compass2019Cited by: 3References: 65

    I focus on problems defining skill and a core theoretical dispute over whether skilled action is largely automatic or consciously controlled. The dominant view in philosophy and psychology has been that skills are automatic, but an emerging body of work suggests that conscious cognition plays a significant role

  • Cognition in Skilled Action: Meshed Control and the Varieties of Skill Experience

    Open AccessWill Christensen, Wayne Christensen et al.ARTICLEMind & Language2016

    We present a synthetic theory of skilled action which proposes that cognitive processes make an important contribution to almost all skilled action, contrary to influential views that many skills are performed largely automatically. Cognitive control is focused on strategic aspects of performance, and plays a greater role as difficulty increases. We offer an analysis of various forms of skill experience and show that the theory provides a better …

  • Mindreading as social expertise

    Open AccessJohn Michael, Will Christensen et al.ARTICLESynthese2014Cited by: 3References: 94

  • To Think or Not To Think: The apparent paradox of expert skill in music performance

    Andrew Geeves, Doris Mcilwain et al.ARTICLEEducational Philosophy and Theory2013Cited by: 6References: 1

    Expert skill in music performance involves an apparent paradox. On stage, expert musicians are required accurately to retrieve information that has been encoded over hours of practice. Yet they must also remain open to the demands of the ever-changing situational contingencies with which they are faced during performance. To further explore this apparent paradox and the way in which it is negotiated by expert musicians, this article profiles theo…

  • Natural sources of normativity

    Open AccessWill Christensen, Wayne ChristensenARTICLEStudies in History and Philosophy…2011Cited by: 3References: 5

  • Applying Intelligence to the Reflexes: Embodied Skills and Habits between Dreyfus and Descartes

    Jeanna Sutton, John Sutton et al.ARTICLEJournal of the British Society…2011Cited by: 18References: 15

    (2011). Applying Intelligence to the Reflexes: Embodied Skills and Habits between Dreyfus and Descartes. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology: Vol. 42, Habit, pp. 78-103

  • The Decoupled Representation Theory of the Evolution of Cognition—A Critical Assessment

    Will Christensen, Wayne ChristensenARTICLEThe British Journal for the…2010Cited by: 3References: 30

    Sterelny’s Thought in a Hostile World ([2003]) presents a complex, systematically structured theory of the evolution of cognition centered on a concept of decoupled representation. Taking Godfrey-Smith’s ([1996]) analysis of the evolution of behavioral flexibility as a framework, the theory describes increasingly complex grades of representation beginning with simple detection and culminating with decoupled representation, said to be belief-like,…

  • The Green Frog and Desalination: A Nyungar Metaphor for the (Mis‐)Management of Water Resources, Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia

    Open AccessEdward Mcdonald, Bryn Coldrick et al.ARTICLEOceania2008

    In common with Aboriginal groups around Australia, the indigenous people, or Nyungars, of Perth adopt a holistic attitude towards groundwater resources. Of cultural significance are lakes, springs, soaks and watercourses that feature in Dreamtime creation narratives. Perth is experiencing major water shortages and many Nyungars feel that the degradation of the freshwater supply is a result of mismanagement and unsustainable development by non‐Abo…

  • Self-directedness, integration and higher cognition

    Open AccessWill Christensen, Wayne ChristensenARTICLELanguage Sciences2004Cited by: 2References: 87

  • The Organization of Knowledge: Beyond Campbell's Evolutionary Epistemology

    Open AccessWill Christensen, Wayne D Christensen et al.ARTICLEPhilosophy of Science1999Cited by: 2References: 2

    Donald Campbell has long advocated a naturalist epistemology based on a general selection theory, with the scope of knowledge restricted to vicarious adaptive processes. But being a vicariant is problematic because it involves an unexplained epistemic relation. We argue that this relation is to be explicated organizationally in terms of the regulation of behavior and internal state by the vicariant, but that Campbell's selectionist approach can g…

  • Churchland Symposium

    Will Christensen, W D Christensen et al.ARTICLEPhilosophy and Phenomenological…1998