The naturalness of (many) social institutions: evolved cognition as their foundation

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
PASCAL BOYER ◽  
MICHAEL BANG PETERSEN
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Exogenous Factors

Abstract:Most standard social science accounts only offer limited explanations of institutional design, i.e. why institutions have common features observed in many different human groups. Here we suggest that these features are best explained as the outcome of evolved human cognition, in such domains as mating, moral judgment and social exchange. As empirical illustrations, we show how this evolved psychology makes marriage systems, legal norms and commons management systems intuitively obvious and compelling, thereby ensuring their occurrence and cultural stability. We extend this to propose under what conditions institutions can become ‘natural’, compelling and legitimate, and outline probable paths for institutional change given human cognitive dispositions. Explaining institutions in terms of these exogenous factors also suggests that a general theory of institutions as such is neither necessary nor in fact possible. What are required are domain-specific accounts of institutional design in different domains of evolved cognition.

scholarly journals Análise crítica da teoria dos direitos humanos na obra de Michel Villey

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Rabay Guerra ◽  
Henrique Jerônimo Bezerra Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
General Theory ◽  
John Locke ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Christian Wolff ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Given ◽  
Intrinsic Contradiction ◽  
Do So

RESUMOEste artigo tem por objeto a Teoria dos Direitos Humanos em Michel Villey. Seu objetivo é apresentar uma contestação à alegação de Michel Villey de que os direitos humanos não podem ser considerados Direito. Para tanto, realiza uma apresentação da Teoria dos Direitos Humanos em Michel Villey, passando pela criação dos direitos humanos em Thomas Hobbes, a inversão de objetivos dos direitos humanos em John Locke e a expansão dos direitos humanos em Christian Wolff. Em seguida passa a apresentar a crítica de Michel Villey aos direitos humanos e as falhas deste autor ao realizar suas acusações, haja vista a possibilidade de solução das contradições (colisões) entre os direitos humanos, além de que não se pode confundir o critério de validade da norma com sua eficácia. O trabalho conclui pela juridicidade dos direitos humanos ao demonstrar que a suposta contradição não seria razão para retirar esta qualidade.PALAVRAS-CHAVEFilosofia do Direito. Direitos Humanos. Michel Villey. ABSTRACTThe present work deals with the General Theory of Human Rights in Michel Villey. Its purpose is to present a challenge to Michel Villeys’ claim that human rights are not legal norms. To do so, the text presents the General Theory of Human Rights in Michel Villey, including the creation of human rights by Thomas Hobbes, the changing perspective attributed to John Locke and the numerical expansion of human rights attributed to Christian Wolff. The text then presents Michel Villeys’ critics of human rights and the problems with those critics; specifically, that the given conflicts between norms aren’t sufficient to declare that they aren’t legal norms, other than that, the text points that in his critics Michel Villey confuses the concepts of validity of the norm with its effectiveness. The work concludes that human rights are legal norms and its supposed intrinsic contradiction is not sufficient to withdraw this quality.KEYWORDSPhilosophy of Law. Human Rights. Michel Villey.

scholarly journals Measuring Faculty-Student Interaction in Online Courses Using Asynchronous Discussion Boards

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal Gasell
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Instructor Interaction ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Learning Management

Online learning is growing. As such, institutions want to grow programs, while ensuring quality. Part of ensuring quality in online courses is ensuring that there is regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between students and instructors. Discussion boards are often used in online courses as a way to promote social exchange, interaction, and the discussion of course concepts. Therefore, discussion board activity can provide a glimpse into the RSI that occur between students and instructors. Until recently, data from learning management systems was difficult to access and analyze. However, advances in technology and an increased interest in learning analytics provides researchers and institutions with billions of data points about student and instructor activity within a learning management system (LMS). This study used LMS data to explore the frequency of interaction between instructors and students in discussion boards in online courses at one institution. 415 courses were selected for the study, spanning two semesters. Results from the study found that the average number of posts by an instructor was 32.9. The average instructor interaction was 1.49 instructor posts per student. 23% of courses had no instructor posts. Student posts averaged 470 per course and the average posts per student was 19.9. Based on the discussion board activity, the most discussion interaction occurred during the first two weeks of the semester. Results suggested that there is no relationship between student satisfaction and the number of total posts in a course.

An Overview of Learning Management Systems

2010 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony A. Piña
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Learning Management Systems ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Common ◽  
Learning Management

In this chapter, the reader is taken through a macro level view of learning management systems, with a particular emphasis on systems offered by commercial vendors. Included is a consideration of the growth of learning management systems during the past decade, the common features and tools contained within these systems, and a look at the advantages and disadvantages that learning management systems provide to institutions. In addition, the reader is presented with specific resources and options for evaluating, selecting and deploying learning management systems. A section highlighting the possible advantages and disadvantages of selecting a commercial versus an open source system is followed by a series of brief profiles of the leading vendors of commercial and open source learning management systems.

Human Cognitive Processes

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Slava Kalyuga
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Domain Specific Knowledge ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Memory Knowledge ◽  
High Level

One of the major components of our cognitive architecture, working memory, becomes overloaded if more than a few chunks of information are processed simultaneously. For example, we all experience this cognitive overload when trying to keep in memory an unfamiliar telephone number or add two four-digit numbers in the absence of a pen and paper. Similar in nature processing limitations of working memory represent a major factor influencing the effectiveness of human learning and performance, particularly in complex environments that require concurrent performance of multiple tasks. The learner prior domain-specific knowledge structures and associated levels of expertise are considered as means of reducing these limitations and guiding high-level knowledge-based cognitive activities. One of the most important results of studies in human cognition is that the available knowledge is a single most significant learner cognitive characteristic that influences learning and cognitive performance. Understanding the key role of long-term memory knowledge base in our cognition is important to the successful management of cognitive load in multimedia learning.

Exit Options and the Effectiveness of Regional Economic Organizations

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Gray ◽  
Jonathan B. Slapin
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Economic Organizations ◽  
Exogenous Factors ◽  
Exit Options ◽  
Expert Surveys

Regional economic organizations (REOs) proliferate in the developed and developing world. However, there is wide variation in both their institutional structure and the degree to which they achieve their goals. This article presents a theoretical framework and empirical evidence to explain the variance in the institutional design and effectiveness of these agreements. It argues that the conditions that produce effective and broad agreements are not a function of design, but rather of exogenous factors. If countries within the REO have fewer options for world trade beyond the REO, they will develop strong institutions and make substantial use of them. This study presents a new cross-regional dataset, compiled from expert surveys, to test these arguments. It shows that expert evaluations of how well a REO functions - including its ability to meet its own goals and the ambition of those goals—hinge less on that agreement's legalization and more on the trade opportunities that REO members faced when the institution was formed.

Constraint, cognition, and written numeration

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Chrisomalis
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Study ◽  
Mathematical Cognition ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Numeral Systems ◽  
Numerical Notation

The world’s diverse written numeral systems are affected by human cognition; in turn, written numeral systems affect mathematical cognition in social environments. The present study investigates the constraints on graphic numerical notation, treating it neither as a byproduct of lexical numeration, nor a mere adjunct to writing, but as a specific written modality with its own cognitive properties. Constraints do not refute the notion of infinite cultural variability; rather, they recognize the infinity of variability within defined limits, thus transcending the universalist/particularist dichotomy. In place of strictly innatist perspectives on mathematical cognition, a model is proposed that invokes domain-specific and notationally-specific constraints to explain patterns in numerical notations. The analysis of exceptions to cross-cultural generalizations makes the study of near-universals highly productive theoretically. The cross-cultural study of patterns in written numbers thus provides a rich complement to the cognitive analysis of writing systems.

Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognition

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tomasello ◽  
Malinda Carpenter ◽  
Josep Call ◽  
Tanya Behne ◽  
Henrike Moll
Keyword(s):  
Social Institutions ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Cultural Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Shared Intentionality ◽  
Crucial Difference ◽  
Intentional Agents ◽  
Collaborative Activities

We propose that the crucial difference between human cognition and that of other species is the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions: shared intentionality. Participation in such activities requires not only especially powerful forms of intention reading and cultural learning, but also a unique motivation to share psychological states with others and unique forms of cognitive representation for doing so. The result of participating in these activities is species-unique forms of cultural cognition and evolution, enabling everything from the creation and use of linguistic symbols to the construction of social norms and individual beliefs to the establishment of social institutions. In support of this proposal we argue and present evidence that great apes (and some children with autism) understand the basics of intentional action, but they still do not participate in activities involving joint intentions and attention (shared intentionality). Human children's skills of shared intentionality develop gradually during the first 14 months of life as two ontogenetic pathways intertwine: (1) the general ape line of understanding others as animate, goal-directed, and intentional agents; and (2) a species-unique motivation to share emotions, experience, and activities with other persons. The developmental outcome is children's ability to construct dialogic cognitive representations, which enable them to participate in earnest in the collectivity that is human cognition.

TOWARD A GENERAL THEORY OF SOCIAL EXCHANGE

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wagona Makoba
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Exchange Model ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
The Relationship

Proponents of the individualistic and collectivistic theories of social exchange behavior contend that the two perspectives cannot be integrated because they are based on different assumptions about the relationship between individuals and society. In addition, the opponents of integration argue that such an effort would undermine the polemical development of sociological theory. This paper uses existing ethnographic and anthropological evidence to argue that the individualistic and collectivistic orientations of social exchange theory can be successfully integrated since they are not mutually exclusive as claimed by their proponents. I propose to synthesize the individualistic and collectivistic perspectives into an interactional exchange model of behavior that takes into account the full range of individual and group motives, values and interests.

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