scholarly journals Revisiting the Social Origins of Human Morality: A Constructivist Perspective on the Nature of Moral Sense-Making

Topoi ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Segovia-Cuéllar
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Moral Sense ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Constructivist Perspective ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractA recent turn in the cognitive sciences has deepened the attention on embodied and situated dynamics for explaining different cognitive processes such as perception, emotion, and social cognition. This has fostered an extensive interest in the social and ‘intersubjective’ nature of moral behavior, especially from the perspective of enactivism. In this paper, I argue that embodied and situated perspectives, enactivism in particular, nonetheless require further improvements with regards to their analysis of the social nature of human morality. In brief, enactivist proposals still do not define what features of the social-relational context, or which kind of processes within social interactions, make an evaluation or action morally relevant or distinctive from other types of social normativity. As an alternative to this proclivity, and seeking to complement the enactive perspective, I present a definition of the process of moral sense-making and offer an empirically-based ethical distinction between different domains of social knowledge in moral development. For doing so, I take insights from the constructivist tradition in moral psychology. My objective is not to radically oppose embodied and enactive alternatives but to expand the horizon of their conceptual and empirical contributions to morality research.

scholarly journals From speech and talkers to the social world: The neural processing of human spoken language

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6461) ◽  
pp. 58-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie K. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Social World ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Use

Human speech perception is a paradigm example of the complexity of human linguistic processing; however, it is also the dominant way of expressing vocal identity and is critically important for social interactions. Here, I review the ways that the speech, the talker, and the social nature of speech interact and how this may be computed in the human brain, using models and approaches from nonhuman primate studies. I explore the extent to which domain-general approaches may be able to account for some of these neural findings. Finally, I address the importance of extending these findings into a better understanding of the social use of speech in conversations.

Social behavior of alpine marmots (Marmota marmota): seasonal, group, and individual variability

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 1945-1953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Perrin ◽  
Jacques Coulon ◽  
Michel Le Berre
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Active Season ◽  
Play Fighting ◽  
Marmota Marmota ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Family Groups

The composition and social interactions of three family groups of Marmota marmota were observed during a study in the Vanoise National Park (French Alps) from mid-June to late September. Interactions between members of the same group were mainly cohesive, which confirms the social nature of this species. Social interactions between marmots from different family groups were rare and agonistic. The rate of social interactions decreased as the season progressed, probably in relation to a shift in allocation of energy to preparation for hibernation. Some cohesive interactions increased just before immergence, when marmots restricted their activity to the main burrow system. Rates of social interactions differed between groups and between individuals. Fewer agonistic acts, more play-fighting, and persistence of play-fighting late in the active season among immatures suggest the influence of an ontogenetic component. The most agonistic of the studied groups included an adult male that had recently immigrated. He focused most of his agonistic acts on three 2-year-old males, of which two dispersed during the season. Social events characteristic of each group, individual variability, and level of familiarity between group members influence the quality of social interactions and the dispersal of immatures. Social relationships between familiar individuals are amicable and can facilitate the retention of immatures in their natal group as well as their recruitment by emigrant adults.

scholarly journals A Quality Assessment Directory for Evaluating Multi-functional Public Spaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-151
Author(s):  
M. Salim Ferwati ◽  
Ali Keyvanfar ◽  
Arezou Shafaghat ◽  
Omar Ferwati
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Space Design ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Impact ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Public spaces facilitate opportunities for social interaction and promote social life. The social-spatial complexity of public spaces can be explored through the relationship between built forms and users’ daily social activities. The contemporary needs of users have retrofitted or replaced the controversial public spaces such as streets, depriving the prime function of sustaining and facilitating social life. Thus, any factors influencing users’ social/public life impact the quality of public spaces. Also, contextualization and definition of public spaces necessitate an evaluation of their quality. The lack of a quality assessment directory (QAD) for evaluating multi-functional public spaces motivated us to address it. To achieve the aim, this research has conducted a systematic literature review applying the content analysis to explore the principles and indicators influencing and enhancing social interactions in multi-functional public space design and then performed a normalization analysis to measure the weight of each indicator. The QAD constitutes five criteria (C1 – Inclusiveness, C2 – Desirable activities, C3 – Comfort, C4 – Safety, C5 – Pleasurability), and forty-two (42) embedded sub-criteria. The research found that Inclusiveness (Wn C1 = 4.38) and Pleasurability (Wn C2 = 3.88) have received the highest weights. Also, the research found that the sub-criteria ‘Physical/visual connection or openness to adjacent spaces’ (Wn Sc.4.1 = 1.00), ‘Users of diverse ages’ and ‘Community gathering third places’ (Wn = 0.750) have received the highest weights. Using such a QAD, urban professionals can quantify the effectiveness and efficiency of public spaces’ environmental and physical qualities in promoting social interactions and sociability.

Levels of Intelligence

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Daeyeol Lee
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Essential Property ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Self Replication ◽  
Simple Behavior

Intelligence is the ability to find solutions to complex problems a life faces in a complex and uncertain environment. This cannot be captured by a standardized numerical score, such as IQ, that focuses on a narrow range of cognitive capabilities, such as working memory or verbal fluency. Intelligence also cannot be separated from the most essential property of all life forms, which is self-replication. This chapter briefly reviews the evolutionary history and diversity of intelligence from single-cell organisms to humans. The chapter includes a definition of intelligence and a discussion of how the nervous system works, the simple behavior of reflexes and the limitations of reflexes, connectome (the comprehensive map of all the connections in an animal’s nervous system), the multiple controllers for muscles, and the social nature of many behaviors. The chapter also includes a case study on eye movements.

scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship Between Event Knowledge, Autistic Traits, and Social Ability Using Graph Theory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Elise Hannah ◽  
Kevin Brown ◽  
Mikayla Hall-Bruce ◽  
Ryan A Stevenson ◽  
Ken McRae
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Ability ◽  
Event Knowledge ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Abilities ◽  
The Relationship

Event knowledge, a person’s understanding of patterns of activities in the world, is crucial for everyday social interactions. Atypical event knowledge could contribute to social communication problems, which are prominent in autism spectrum disorder. Previous research has found atypical event knowledge in autistic individuals; however, research is minimal. In two studies, the relationship between event knowledge and autistic traits, namely social abilities, was investigated. We predicted associations between atypical event knowledge and poorer social abilities. In Study 1, lower social ability correlated with more atypical ordering of event activities. In Study 2, for atypical activity ordering, a relationship was found between social ability and the social nature of events. No significant results were found for other measures of event knowledge. These findings suggest a relationship exists between autistic traits, namely social abilities, and event activity ordering, but does not exist for other areas of event knowledge in the general population.

scholarly journals Attitude as an Expressible Info-Operational Reaction to a Perceived/Purposed Object/Objective

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
External Information ◽  
Psychological Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Controversial Problem ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

The definition of the psychological concept of attitude is still a controversial problem, and the scholars have not yet reached a consensus on this important issue. The attitude is defined in various ways, as a mental and emotional “construct” not directly detectable, or as a “psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity”. However, as attitude is an achievement of the mind during the exploration of reality, it is naturally to approach first of all the nature of mind and the relation with the cognition processes from the informational perspective. Therefore, in this paper it is investigated the concept of attitude from a completely new point of view, starting from the informational nature of consciousness. It is shown that the informational structure of consciousness can be fully described by the activity of seven distinct cognitive centers and the attitude can be defined actually as an informational reactive output with respect to an object/objective either perceived or mentally proposed. The attitude is thus the result of a decisional info-processing of an input internal or external information, expressible by the specific informational center managed by the brain associated with this activity, defined suggestively as I want. It is shown that attitude is consequently a function of all other six centers, which intervene in the decisional process as decisional criteria or as priority contributing components, and these centers can become dominant or inactive. In agreement with some previous studies and with the neuro-connections of specific regions of the brain, it is shown that emotions contribute to attitude, but also the personal state, the inherited predispositions, the social interactions, the life experience and the trust in the objective, if this is a proposed project. Associated with the attitude, behavior is different, depending on all cognitive centers.

Synergy through Disunity, Science as Social Practice: Comments on Vanpool and Vanpool

2001 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott R. Hutson
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scientific Nature ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Demarcation Criteria

In “The Scientific Nature of Postprocessualism”, VanPool and VanPool (1999) attempt to demonstrate that the sometimes hostile debate between processualist and postprocessualist archaeologies disguises substantive intellectual similarities. The most important similarity is their conformity to a refined definition of science. This definition is based on seven criteria that, as a group, demarcate science from nonscience. VanPool and VanPool pay inadequate attention to critiques of the notion that science can be clearly separated from other forms of inquiry. These critiques come from both within the literature VanPool and VanPool cite as well as from bodies of literature that they do not acknowledge, such as recent sociological, philosophical, and anthropological studies of science. Many of the demarcation criteria can be shown to suffer from overly simplistic accounts of the connections between evidence and hypothesis. Other demarcations do not recognize the social nature of scientific inquiry and the consequent incorporation of interests at various scales. Although VanPool and VanPool believe their criteria of science will promote synergy between processual and postprocessual, this paper questions the conceptualization of these schools and argues that synergy is better accomplished through the appreciation of difference among the various archaeologies and openness to alternative epistemologies.

THE SOCIAL NATURE OF INFORMATION AND THE ROLE OF TRUST

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 381-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
CRISTIANO CASTELFRANCHI
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Interacting Agents ◽  
Information Agents ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nature Of Information

In this paper, I claim that "information" is a social construct, is created and tailored on purpose by somebody for somebody else or collectively, accepted, believed, or propagated through social interactions. In particular, I argue about the essential social nature of several crucial aspects of information in IT and specifically in relation to Information Agents. After situating this view of information within the broader perspective of Social Artificial Intelligence — the new AI paradigm — I analyize the intrinsic social aspects of information ontology, search and access, presentation, overload, credibility and sources, value. The issue of real "collaboration" in providing information deserves special attention and I introduce our theory of over-help and of the ability to provide something different from what is requested in order to satisfy the real need beyond the request. In the second part, I focus on the crucial role of trust (an intrinsically social and cognitive notion) for dealing with information and sources especially on the web. My objective is to claim that: if information per se is a social construct, then its technology should be socially designed and integrated, and that machines must be involved in real social relationships because they have to mediate them among humans. It is necessary incorporating some part of this social knowledge and capability in the information technology itself, especially in adaptive and interacting "agents" and MAS.

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