scholarly journals Understanding institutions: replies to Aoki, Binmore, Hodgson, Searle, Smith, and Sugden

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK HINDRIKS ◽  
FRANCESCO GUALA
Keyword(s):  
Common Knowledge ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Human Exceptionalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Simple Rules ◽  
Satisfactory Account ◽  
Collective Intentions

AbstractOur goal is to develop a theory that combines the best insights of philosophical and scientific theories of institutions. We are not committed a priori to save the commonsense notion of institution, or the thesis of human exceptionalism. We think that human cognition is important, but we do not claim that common knowledge or collective intentions are necessary for coordination. Like most of our commentators, we believe that there is continuity between simple rules of precedence and sophisticated institutions like property, marriage, or money. Finally, we argue that a satisfactory account of institutions must be compatible with different theories of normativity, specifying the social and psychological mechanisms that make it possible to override selfish desires.

scholarly journals Unraveling the evolution of uniquely human cognition

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (23) ◽  
pp. 6348-6354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan L. MacLean
Keyword(s):  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Human Aspects ◽  
Satisfactory Account ◽  
Substantial Progress

A satisfactory account of human cognitive evolution will explain not only the psychological mechanisms that make our species unique, but also how, when, and why these traits evolved. To date, researchers have made substantial progress toward defining uniquely human aspects of cognition, but considerably less effort has been devoted to questions about the evolutionary processes through which these traits have arisen. In this article, I aim to link these complementary aims by synthesizing recent advances in our understanding of what makes human cognition unique, with theory and data regarding the processes of cognitive evolution. I review evidence that uniquely human cognition depends on synergism between both representational and motivational factors and is unlikely to be accounted for by changes to any singular cognitive system. I argue that, whereas no nonhuman animal possesses the full constellation of traits that define the human mind, homologies and analogies of critical aspects of human psychology can be found in diverse nonhuman taxa. I suggest that phylogenetic approaches to the study of animal cognition—which can address questions about the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms driving cognitive change—have the potential to yield important insights regarding the processes through which the human cognitive phenotype evolved.

Concluding Summary

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Figdor
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
Conceptual Confusion

Chapter 10 provides a summary of the argument of the book. It elaborates some of the benefits of Literalism, such as less conceptual confusion and an expanded range of entities for research that might illuminate human cognition. It motivates distinguishing the questions of whether something has a cognitive capacity from whether it is intuitively like us. It provides a conceptual foundation for the social sciences appropriate for the increasing role of modeling in these sciences. It also promotes convergence in terms of the roles of internal and external factors in explaining both human and nonhuman behavior. Finally, it sketches some of the areas of new research that it supports, including group cognition and artificial intelligence.

Can Humanism be the Social Norm?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon D. Welch
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Human Reasoning ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
The Social

Assaults on truth and divisions about the nature of wise governance are not momentary political challenges, unique to particular moments in history. Rather, they demonstrate fundamental weaknesses in human reasoning and core dangers in ways of construing both individual freedom and cohesive communities. It will remain an ongoing challenge to learn to deal rationally with what is an intrinsic irrationality in human cognition and with what is an intrinsic tendency toward domination and violence in human collectivities. In times of intense social divisions, it is vital to consider the ways in which humanism might function as the social norm by, paradoxically, functioning in a way different from other social norms. Humanism is not the declaration that a certain set of values or norms are universally valid. At its best and most creative, humanism is not limited to a particular set of norms, but is, rather, the commitment to a certain process in which norms are continuously created, critically evaluated, implemented, sustained or revised. Humanism is a process of connection, perception, implementation, and critique, and it applies this process as much to itself as to other traditions.

scholarly journals Frequency of Recent Binge Drinking Is Associated With Sex-Specific Cognitive Deficits: Evidence for Condition-Dependent Trait Expression in Humans

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470492095444
Author(s):  
Liana S. E. Hone ◽  
John E. Scofield ◽  
Bruce D. Bartholow ◽  
David C. Geary
Keyword(s):  
Binge Drinking ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Visuospatial Abilities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Binge Drinkers ◽  
Visuospatial Tasks

Evolutionary theory suggests that commonly found sex differences are largest in healthy populations and smaller in populations that have been exposed to stressors. We tested this idea in the context of men’s typical advantage (vs. women) in visuospatial abilities (e.g., mental rotation) and women’s typical advantage (vs. men) in social-cognitive (e.g., facial-expression decoding) abilities, as related to frequent binge drinking. Four hundred nineteen undergraduates classified as frequent or infrequent binge drinkers were assessed in these domains. Trial-level multilevel models were used to test a priori Sex × Group (binge drinking) interactions for visuospatial and social-cognitive tasks. Among infrequent binge drinkers, men’s typical advantage in visuospatial abilities and women’s typical advantage in social-cognitive abilities was confirmed. Among frequent binge drinkers, men’s advantage was reduced for one visuospatial task (Δ d = 0.29) and eliminated for another (Δ d = 0.75), and women’s advantage on the social-cognitive task was eliminated (Δ d = 0.12). Males who frequently engaged in extreme binges had exaggerated deficits on one of the visuospatial tasks, as did their female counterparts on the social-cognitive task. The results suggest sex-specific vulnerabilities associated with recent, frequent binge drinking, and support an evolutionary approach to the study of these vulnerabilities.

The translocation of organizational practices – knowledge creation in Greenfield Plants

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-97
Author(s):  
Arne Lindseth Bygdås
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Organizational Practice ◽  
Organizational Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose – The literature on knowledge transfer is dominated by a one-way transmission model logic where knowledge is captured and transferred from one source to another, assuming the source and receiver resemble each other and have some common knowledge. The social learning processes, what is learned and the phases and sequences of the developmental processes by which learning take place are more or less black boxed in the literature. This paper investigates the social dynamics of the formation and shaping of organizational practice from scratch in a greenfield organizational setting where no prior organizational practice exist. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on a case study approach applied in two greenfield organizational settings. A descriptive process model is developed to analyze the translocation and sociogenesis of organizational practices. Findings – A transfer-approach provides a too simplistic and narrow understanding of the process of “moving” organizational practices. Establishing an organizational practice can be described as a community of knowing “in the making” following various modes of cultural learning characterised by mutual adjustments, joint interactions, and alignment of shared understandings, and as such is more learned than transferred. Practical implications – The process model developed in the paper provides a platform for better understanding, planning and execution of intra-firm knowledge transfer and regeneration. Originality/value – The paper provides an in-depth empirical analysis of organizational practice generation from scratch emphasizing the social dynamics and co-construction of meaning when a collective capability is being acquired and built up.

Composable Markov processes

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Schweder
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Markov Process ◽  
Markov Processes ◽  
Infinitesimal Generator ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Social

Many phenomena studied in the social sciences and elsewhere are complexes of more or less independent characteristics which develop simultaneously. Such phenomena may often be realistically described by time-continuous finite Markov processes. In order to define such a model which will take care of all the relevant a priori information, there ought to be a way of defining a Markov process as a vector of components representing the various characteristics constituting the phenomenon such that the dependences between the characteristics are represented by explicit requirements on the Markov process, preferably on its infinitesimal generator.

BUSINESS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 196-203
Author(s):  
T.B. Tauyekelova ◽  
◽  
G.O. Abdikerova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Main Issue ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Theoretical Overview

The main issue discussed in the article is the social responsibility of business. The article provides various definitions of the category of social responsibility. The concept of "social responsibility of business" is a multilevel and complex category. Responsibility includes ethical categories such as morality, duty and charity.The article examines the theoretical aspects of scientific approaches to corporate social responsibility, analyzes classical and modern scientific theories and concepts. The factors influencing the growing importance of corporate social responsibility in society, issues related to the role of business in the formation of a voluntary society are considered.

scholarly journals Measuring social networks in primates: wearable sensors versus direct observations

2020 ◽  
Vol 476 (2236) ◽  
pp. 20190737
Author(s):  
Valeria Gelardi ◽  
Jeanne Godard ◽  
Dany Paleressompoulle ◽  
Nicolas Claidiere ◽  
Alain Barrat
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Wearable Sensors ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Collection Method ◽  
Data Collection Method ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Data Yield

Network analysis represents a valuable and flexible framework to understand the structure of individual interactions at the population level in animal societies. The versatility of network representations is moreover suited to different types of datasets describing these interactions. However, depending on the data collection method, different pictures of the social bonds between individuals could a priori emerge. Understanding how the data collection method influences the description of the social structure of a group is thus essential to assess the reliability of social studies based on different types of data. This is however rarely feasible, especially for animal groups, where data collection is often challenging. Here, we address this issue by comparing datasets of interactions between primates collected through two different methods: behavioural observations and wearable proximity sensors. We show that, although many directly observed interactions are not detected by the sensors, the global pictures obtained when aggregating the data to build interaction networks turn out to be remarkably similar. Moreover, sensor data yield a reliable social network over short time scales and can be used for long-term studies, showing their important potential for detailed studies of the evolution of animal social groups.

scholarly journals Self-Organized Societies: On the Sakoda Model of Social Interactions

Complexity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Medina ◽  
Eric Goles ◽  
Roberto Zarama ◽  
Sergio Rica
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Periodic Lattice ◽  
Long Range Order ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Dynamical Behaviors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interacting Populations ◽  
Simple Rules

We characterize the behavior and the social structures appearing from a model of general social interaction proposed by Sakoda. The model consists of two interacting populations in a two-dimensional periodic lattice with empty sites. It contemplates a set of simple rules that combine attitudes, ranges of interactions, and movement decisions. We analyze the evolution of the 45 different interaction rules via a Potts-like energy function which drives the system irreversibly to an equilibrium or a steady state. We discuss the robustness of the social structures, dynamical behaviors, and the existence of spatial long range order in terms of the social interactions and the equilibrium energy.

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