The Self-Organizing Social Mind

The Self-Organizing Social Mind PDF Author: John Bolender
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549131
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book Here

Book Description
A proposal that the basic mental models used to structure social interaction result from self-organization in brain activity. In The Self-Organizing Social Mind, John Bolender proposes a new explanation for the forms of social relations. He argues that the core of social-relational cognition exhibits beauty—in the physicist's sense of the word, associated with symmetry. Bolender describes a fundamental set of patterns in interpersonal cognition, which account for the resulting structures of social life in terms of their symmetries and the breaking of those symmetries. He further describes the symmetries of the four fundamental social relations as ordered in a nested series akin to what one finds in the formation of a snowflake or spiral galaxy. Symmetry breaking organizes the neural activity generating the cognitive models that structure our social relationships. Bolender's primary claim is that there exists a social pattern generator analogous to the central pattern generators associated with locomotion in many animal species. Spontaneous symmetry breaking structures the activity of the social pattern generator just as it does in central pattern generators. Bolender's hypothesis that relational cognition results from self-organization is entirely novel, distinct from other theories that describe sociality in terms of evolution or environment. It presents a picture of social-relational cognition as resembling something inorganic. In doing so it reveals deep connections among cognition, biology, and the inorganic world. One can go too far, he acknowledges, in taking a solely dynamical view of the mind; the mind's innate functional complexity must be due to natural selection. But this does not mean that every simple mental feature is the result of natural selection. By noting a descending symmetry subgroup chain at the core of relational cognition, Bolender takes the first step in an important investigation. Bradford Books imprint

The Self-Organizing Social Mind

The Self-Organizing Social Mind PDF Author: John Bolender
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549131
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book Here

Book Description
A proposal that the basic mental models used to structure social interaction result from self-organization in brain activity. In The Self-Organizing Social Mind, John Bolender proposes a new explanation for the forms of social relations. He argues that the core of social-relational cognition exhibits beauty—in the physicist's sense of the word, associated with symmetry. Bolender describes a fundamental set of patterns in interpersonal cognition, which account for the resulting structures of social life in terms of their symmetries and the breaking of those symmetries. He further describes the symmetries of the four fundamental social relations as ordered in a nested series akin to what one finds in the formation of a snowflake or spiral galaxy. Symmetry breaking organizes the neural activity generating the cognitive models that structure our social relationships. Bolender's primary claim is that there exists a social pattern generator analogous to the central pattern generators associated with locomotion in many animal species. Spontaneous symmetry breaking structures the activity of the social pattern generator just as it does in central pattern generators. Bolender's hypothesis that relational cognition results from self-organization is entirely novel, distinct from other theories that describe sociality in terms of evolution or environment. It presents a picture of social-relational cognition as resembling something inorganic. In doing so it reveals deep connections among cognition, biology, and the inorganic world. One can go too far, he acknowledges, in taking a solely dynamical view of the mind; the mind's innate functional complexity must be due to natural selection. But this does not mean that every simple mental feature is the result of natural selection. By noting a descending symmetry subgroup chain at the core of relational cognition, Bolender takes the first step in an important investigation. Bradford Books imprint

Exploring Robotic Minds

Exploring Robotic Minds PDF Author: Jun Tani
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190281065
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Get Book Here

Book Description
How do 'minds' work? In 'Exploring Robotic Minds', Jun Tani answers this fundamental question by reviewing his own pioneering neurorobotics research project.

Dynamic Patterns

Dynamic Patterns PDF Author: J. A. Scott Kelso
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262611312
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book Here

Book Description
foreword by Hermann Haken For the past twenty years Scott Kelso's research has focused on extending the physical concepts of self- organization and the mathematical tools of nonlinear dynamics to understand how human beings (and human brains) perceive, intend, learn, control, and coordinate complex behaviors. In this book Kelso proposes a new, general framework within which to connect brain, mind, and behavior.Kelso's prescription for mental life breaks dramatically with the classical computational approach that is still the operative framework for many newer psychological and neurophysiological studies. His core thesis is that the creation and evolution of patterned behavior at all levels--from neurons to mind--is governed by the generic processes of self-organization. Both human brain and behavior are shown to exhibit features of pattern-forming dynamical systems, including multistability, abrupt phase transitions, crises, and intermittency. Dynamic Patterns brings together different aspects of this approach to the study of human behavior, using simple experimental examples and illustrations to convey essential concepts, strategies, and methods, with a minimum of mathematics. Kelso begins with a general account of dynamic pattern formation. He then takes up behavior, focusing initially on identifying pattern-forming instabilities in human sensorimotor coordination. Moving back and forth between theory and experiment, he establishes the notion that the same pattern-forming mechanisms apply regardless of the component parts involved (parts of the body, parts of the nervous system, parts of society) and the medium through which the parts are coupled. Finally, employing the latest techniques to observe spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity, Kelso shows that the human brain is fundamentally a pattern forming dynamical system, poised on the brink of instability. Self-organization thus underlies the cooperative action of neurons that produces human behavior in all its forms.

Emergent Strategy

Emergent Strategy PDF Author: adrienne maree brown
Publisher: AK Press
ISBN: 1849352615
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically. A resolutely materialist spirituality based equally on science and science fiction: a wild feminist and afro-futurist ride! adrienne maree brown, co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, is a social justice facilitator, healer, and doula living in Detroit.

Origins of the Social Mind

Origins of the Social Mind PDF Author: Bruce J. Ellis
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 9781593851033
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 572

Get Book Here

Book Description
Applying an evolutionary framework to advance the understanding of child development, this volume brings together leading figures to contribute chapters in their areas of expertise. Researcher- and student-friendly chapters adhere to a common format.

Self-organization in Biological Systems

Self-organization in Biological Systems PDF Author: Scott Camazine
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691116242
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 558

Get Book Here

Book Description
Biological structures built through mechanisms involving self-organization are examined in this text. Examples of such structures are termite mounds, which provide their inhabitants with a secure & stable environment. The text looks at why & how self-organization occurs in nature.

Evolution and the Social Mind

Evolution and the Social Mind PDF Author: Joseph P. Forgas
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1136872973
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book seeks to combine the study of human social cognition - the way we think, decide, plan and analyze social situations - with an evolutionary framework that considers these activities in light of evolutionary adaptations for solving problems of survival faced by our ancestors over thousands of generations. The chapters report recent research and theories illustrating how evolutionary principles can shed new light on the subtle and often subconscious ways that cognitive mechanisms guide peoples’ thoughts, memories, judgments, attitudes and behaviors in social life. The contributors to this volume, who are leading researchers in their fields, seek answers to such intriguing questions as: how can evolutionary principles help to explain human beliefs, attitudes, judgments, prejudice, and group preferences? Are there benefits to behaving unpredictably? Why are prototypical faces more attractive than atypical ones? How do men and women think about, and select potential mates? What are the adaptive functions of negative affect? What are the evolutionary influences on the way people think about and respond to social exclusion and ostracism? Evolution and the Social Mind offers a highly integrated and representative coverage of this emerging field, and is suitable as a textbook in advanced courses dealing with social cognition and evolutionary psychology.

Constructivist Educational Psychology and Systemic Thinking: Principles, Concepts, and Examples

Constructivist Educational Psychology and Systemic Thinking: Principles, Concepts, and Examples PDF Author: Radek Trnka
Publisher: Palacký University Olomouc
ISBN: 8024460556
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Get Book Here

Book Description
The book provides an overview of basic principles of constructivist pedagogy and constructivist educational psychology involving the examples of their practical applications. Furthermore, the links between constructivist cognitive approach and systemic thinking are described providing the reader with the rich insights into the systemic nature of constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. The main focus is given to cognitive mechanisms and psychological processes that are involved in students' construction of knowledge. The book builds on recent and past research to expand to a more in-depth understanding of constructivist pedagogy and constructivist educational psychology.

Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture

Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture PDF Author: Louise Sundararajan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319182218
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book Here

Book Description
This mind-opening take on indigenous psychology presents a multi-level analysis of culture to frame the differences between Chinese and Western cognitive and emotive styles. Eastern and Western cultures are seen here as mirror images in terms of rationality, relational thinking, and symmetry or harmony. Examples from the philosophical texts of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and classical poetry illustrate constructs of shading and nuancing emotions in contrast to discrete emotions and emotion regulation commonly associated with traditional psychology. The resulting text offers readers bold new understandings of emotion-based states both familiar (intimacy, solitude) and unfamiliar (resonance, being spoiled rotten), as well as larger concepts of freedom, creativity, and love. Included among the topics: The mirror universes of East and West. In the crucible of Confucianism. Freedom and emotion: Daoist recipes for authenticity and creativity. Chinese creativity, with special focus on solitude and its seekers. Savoring, from aesthetics to the everyday. What is an emotion? Answers from a wild garden of knowledge. Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture has a wealth of research and study potential for undergraduate and graduate courses in affective science, cognitive psychology, cultural and cross- cultural psychology, indigenous psychology, multicultural studies, Asian psychology, theoretical and philosophical psychology, anthropology, sociology, international psychology, and regional studies.

Nonlinear Analysis for Human Movement Variability

Nonlinear Analysis for Human Movement Variability PDF Author: Nicholas Stergiou
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315362376
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 409

Get Book Here

Book Description
How Does the Body’s Motor Control System Deal with Repetition? While the presence of nonlinear dynamics can be explained and understood, it is difficult to be measured. A study of human movement variability with a focus on nonlinear dynamics, Nonlinear Analysis for Human Movement Variability, examines the characteristics of human movement within this framework, explores human movement in repetition, and explains how and why we analyze human movement data. It takes an in-depth look into the nonlinear dynamics of systems within and around us, investigates the temporal structure of variability, and discusses the properties of chaos and fractals as they relate to human movement. Providing a foundation for the use of nonlinear analysis and the study of movement variability in practice, the book describes the nonlinear dynamical features found in complex biological and physical systems, and introduces key concepts that help determine and identify patterns within the fluctuations of data that are repeated over time. It presents commonly used methods and novel approaches to movement analysis that reveal intriguing properties of the motor control system and introduce new ways of thinking about variability, adaptability, health, and motor learning. In addition, this text: Demonstrates how nonlinear measures can be used in a variety of different tasks and populations Presents a wide variety of nonlinear tools such as the Lyapunov exponent, surrogation, entropy, and fractal analysis Includes examples from research on how nonlinear analysis can be used to understand real-world applications Provides numerous case studies in postural control, gait, motor control, and motor development Nonlinear Analysis for Human Movement Variability advances the field of human movement variability research by dissecting human movement and studying the role of movement variability. The book proposes new ways to use nonlinear analysis and investigate the temporal structure of variability, and enables engineers, movement scientists, clinicians, and those in related disciplines to effectively apply nonlinear analysis in practice.