scholarly journals A model of the transition to behavioural and cognitive modernity using reflexively autocatalytic networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (171) ◽  
pp. 20200545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liane Gabora ◽  
Mike Steel
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
New Associations ◽  
Cumulative Change ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Autocatalytic Networks ◽  
Scientific Framework

This paper proposes a model of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the transition to behavioural and cognitive modernity in the Upper Palaeolithic using autocatalytic networks. These networks have been used to model life’s origins. More recently, they have been applied to the emergence of cognitive structure capable of undergoing cultural evolution. Mental representations of knowledge and experiences play the role of catalytic molecules, the interactions among them (e.g. the forging of new associations or affordances) play the role of reactions, and thought processes are modelled as chains of these interactions. We posit that one or more genetic mutations may have allowed thought to be spontaneously tailored to the situation by modulating the degree of (i) divergence (versus convergence), (ii) abstractness (versus concreteness), and (iii) context specificity. This culminated in persistent, unified autocatalytic semantic networks that bridged previously compartmentalized knowledge and experience. We explain the model using one of the oldest-known uncontested examples of figurative art: the carving of the Hohlenstein–Stadel Löwenmensch, or lion man. The approach keeps track of where in a cultural lineage each innovation appears, and models cumulative change step by step. It paves the way for a broad scientific framework for the origins of both biological and cultural evolutionary processes.

scholarly journals A Model of the Transition to Behavioral and Cognitive Modernity using Reflexively Autocatalytic Networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liane Gabora ◽  
Mike Steel
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
New Associations ◽  
Cumulative Change ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Autocatalytic Networks

AbstractThis paper proposes a model of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the transition to behavioral and cognitive modernity in the Upper Paleolithic using autocatalytic networks. These networks have been used to model life’s origins. More recently, they have been applied to the emergence of cognitive structure capable of undergoing cultural evolution. Mental representations of knowledge and experiences play the role of catalytic molecules, the interactions among them (e.g., the forging of new associations or affordances) play the role of reactions, and thought processes are modeled as chains of these interactions. We posit that one or more genetic mutations may have allowed thought to be spontaneously tailored to the situation by modulating the degree of (1) divergence (versus convergence), (2) abstractness (versus concreteness), and (3) context-specificity. This culminated in persistent, unified autocatalytic semantic networks that bridged previously compartmentalized knowledge and experience. We explain the model using one of the oldest-known uncontested examples of figurative art: the carving of the Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch, or lion-man. The approach keeps track of where in a cultural lineage each innovation appears, and models cumulative change step by step. It paves the way for a broad scientific framework for the origins of both biological and cultural evolutionary processes.

METHODOLOGY OF PLAYING ACTIVITY IN REHABILITATION PRACTICE

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2543-2548
Author(s):  
Petya Kasnakova
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Movement Skills ◽  
Movement Training ◽  
Motor Movement

The games play a special role in rehabilitation practice. The positive emotions they cause in patients cannot be achieved by other methods and means of modern rehabilitation. The role of game playing activity in practice is crucial to the achievement of one of the important tasks in implementing rehabilitation measures, namely to evacuate the patient from the depressed mental state, to distract him from the disease process and to focus on mobilizing his healing powers. The mood, the emotional charge and the dynamics that the games create are particularly suited to awakening the patient's interest in the healing process, their attraction and their active involvement in the rehabilitation activities. The connection between the actions in the game and the movements in the analytical exercises accelerates the formation of motor habits, physical qualities and skills not only in children but also in adult patients with various pathological injuries. Rehabilitation games are suitable for all ages by enhancing the health of the occupants, developing their mental qualities, improving the activity of the vestibular, visual and motor analyzers. The basis of the motor movement training game methodology and the improvement of motor movement skills is the activation of the thought processes and emotional experiences, the development of the functions of the musculoskeletal system, the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system.

Music and Gesture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence M. Zbikowski
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Charlie Chaplin ◽  
Swing Time ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the relationship between music and physical gesture, drawing on recent research on the spontaneous gestures that accompany speech. Such gestures appear to be motivated by thought processes that are independent from speech and that in many cases offer analogs for dynamic processes. The chapter outlines the infrastructure for human communication that supports language and gesture as well as music. This outline provides a framework for exploring how music and gesture are similar and for how they are different. These comparisons are made through analyses of the movements Fred Astaire makes while accompanying himself at the piano in the 1936 film Swing Time and those Charlie Chaplin makes to Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 5 in the 1941 film The Great Dictator. These analyses further explicate the role of syntactic processes and syntactic layers in musical grammar and introduce referential frameworks, which serve as perceptual anchors for syntactic processes.

scholarly journals Professional identity and experience of undergraduate students: an analysis of semantic networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luara Carvalho ◽  
Elisa Maria Barbosa de Amorim-Ribeiro ◽  
Marcelo do Vale Cunha ◽  
Luciana Mourão
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Work Experiences ◽  
Undergraduate Studies ◽  
Course Work

AbstractWork experiences during undergraduate studies can be remarkable in the journey of undergraduate students. The objective of this study was to assess, by analyzing semantic networks, the role of work experiences in the meanings those individuals attribute to professional identity. The sample consisted of 2291 students (60% women) divided into three groups: do not work, work in a field related to their course, work in a field not related to their course. The semantic networks of these groups were composed of words uttered from the professional identity prime. We chose to work with the critical network, obtained from the analysis of the incidence-fidelity indexes of the word pairs. The results evidence that work experiences are related to how undergraduate students attribute meaning to professional identity, in such a way that three different networks were formed for these groups. The network of those who work outside their field was the only one that integrated words with negative content, while the semantic networks of those who do not work and those who work in their field, despite containing words that do not always coincide, present a similar macrostructure. We conclude that work experiences play an important role in the meanings that undergraduate students attribute to professional identity. The study innovates by revealing elements of professional-identity construction, besides allowing for reflections on the effects of work experiences during the college period.

Concrete and Formal Operational thought Processes in Young Adulthood and Old Age

1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Clayton ◽  
Willis F. Overton
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence

A study was conducted to examine the role of concrete and formal operations in a young and old population. In addition, the present study explored the relation between operational thought and Cattell's concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence, as well as the role of differential living arrangements in maintaining operational thought. Eighty females from three age groups (18–20 years, 60–70 years and 70–80 years of age) were tested on a series of Piagetian tasks and indices of fluid and crystallized intelligence. The findings supported the notion that age-related performance differences occur in the area of formal operational thought prior to the time they occur in concrete operational thought. Except for the young sample, the operational tasks were found to be unrelated to fluid intelligence at the age levels represented in this study. Living independently as opposed to living in an old age home did not appear to be a significant factor in maintaining operational thought. Discussion focused on the necessity of identifying those factors which influence the developmental course of formal operational thought across the life span.

Music and Attention, Executive Function, and Creativity

2018 ◽  
pp. 262-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Psyche Loui ◽  
Rachel E. Guetta
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Monitoring Task ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Creative Art ◽  
Research Questions

This chapter provides an overview of research at the intersection of music and cognitive functions. Music, an intrinsically creative art form, requires bottom-up and top-down perceptual processing, attention, and integration of executive functions. Literature on music and attention spans debates on selection theories, and the role of temporal attention and neuronal entrainment. Attention is a subset of executive functioning, goal-directed processes including conflict monitoring, task switching, and working memory. Considerable research has addressed the effects of musical training on executive functions, with contrasting reports of success in far transfer. Finally, contrary to goal-directed processes, creativity entails unconstrained thought processes that yield novel output. Perhaps due to the unrestricted nature of both music and creativity, the relevant research has also been variable. Considering these seemingly disparate aspects of cognitive function in tandem can inspire new and interesting research questions, promoting a more cohesive conceptualization of music within cognitive science more generally.

scholarly journals Proposal to Structure Social Studies Course According to Toulmin’s Argumentation Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
İrem Namli Altintaş ◽  
Meltem Çengel Schoville
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Teaching Content ◽  
Evaluation Models ◽  
Global Problems ◽  
Role Of Teachers ◽  
Scientific Framework

Argumentation Method, which is based on data, claims, justifications, is used in education when it comes to scientific and controversial issues. The purpose of this research, is to demonstrate how argumentation method can be used in social studies courses and to guide social studies pedagogy. Examples of activities related to how argumentation can be used in social studies courses, and suggestions about the role of teachers in the teaching process are presented throughout the research. The research emphasizes forms of argumentation based on reason, particularly the analysis of cause and effect in the analysis of human actions. Using this socio-scientific framework as the basis for social studies classroom instruction allows for meaningful in-class discussions concerning individual and global problems. In this context, argumentation can be used in teaching Content-Based Critical Thinking. In evaluating the use of the argumentation model in social studies courses, this analysis examines three interrelated variables: goals, educational backgrounds and evaluation models.

scholarly journals Implementation of Mental adjustment to cancer scale in psycho-oncology practice in Bulgaria

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Tzvetkova ◽  
N Tschilingirova
Keyword(s):  
Disease Type ◽  
Malignant Neoplasms ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Mental Adjustment ◽  
Psychological Assistance ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Personal Understanding

Abstract Background Theoretically there are several insufficiently confirmed statements based on evidences that underline the important role of psychological assistance to patients with malignant neoplasms. Since April, 2021, Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (MAC) is translated into Bulgarian and it was introduced to psycho-oncologic practice in Bulgaria. Methods The concise variant of MAC - Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC) has been implemented evaluating the degree when the patients perceive their adaptation to the diagnosis and cancer treatment. It comprises 29 items and measures four inner scales: determination, helplessness, anxiety, cognitive negligence and fatalism. It has been applied in compliance with strict confidentiality, voluntary principle and objectivity to 30 patients - 14 male and 16 female. Results MAC scales have good consistency - alpha coefficient from 0.56 to 0.74. The age correlates moderately with disease type (r=.35, p = 0.05). Helplessness is in positive relation to anxiety (r=.63, p = 0.000) and fatalism (r=.30, p = 0.05), and in negative one to determination (r=-.35, p = 0.05). The determination is in statistic positive relation to cognitive negligence (r=.44, p = 0.02). Conclusions The malignant disease type does not influence the scale results. They are influenced by inner factors as morbid experience, sensitivity to the disease, psychological protections that are frequently demonstrated by cognitive negligence and determination. MAC has been successfully implemented in the clinical psychological counseling in Bulgaria. Key messages Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale identifies patients' adaptation to cancer and is introduced in Bulgaria. The methodology shows the established cognitive mechanisms for personal understanding and behavior in the course of treatment.

scholarly journals Notes on the nature of avant-garde and constructivism

2020 ◽  
pp. 106-119
Author(s):  
Vadim Markovich Rozin
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Analysis Methods ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
The Family ◽  
Methods Of Reconstruction ◽  
Applied Arts

Based on the materials of the family of architects Zimonenko-Feierstein, this article examines the peculiarities of avant-garde and constructivism. Roman Feierstein and Lyubov Zimonenko graduated the Moscow University of Arctitecture and were taught by pedagogues – the representative of avant-garde and constructivism. To understand the nature of avant-garde and constructivism, the author characterizes the goals and tasks solved by these trends and concepts, as well as analyzes the works of Roman Feierstein and Lyubov Zimonenko. It is demonstrated that constructivists create artistic reality, juxtaposing and simultaneously combining various processes and contents, sending over consciousness of a spectator to a particular reality. This pattern is inherent not only to figurative art, but also literature. The article employs situational and comparative analysis, methods of reconstruction of the works of applied arts and generalization. As a result, the author was able to reveal certain peculiarities of avant-garde and constructivism as an approach and activity, as well as underline that avant-garde and constructivism as approaches also suggest conceptualism. The role of conceptualism consists in outlining and explaining of reality, created by an artist for their audience.

scholarly journals The Role of Native Language and the Fundamental Design of the Auditory System in Detecting Rhythm Changes

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Leona Polyanskaya ◽  
David Maximiliano Gómez ◽  
Arthur G. Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Rhythmic Pattern ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Regular Rhythm ◽  
Fundamental Design

Purpose We investigated whether rhythm discrimination is mainly driven by the native language of the listener or by the fundamental design of the human auditory system and universal cognitive mechanisms shared by all people irrespective of rhythmic patterns in their native language. Method In multiple experiments, we asked participants to listen to 2 continuous acoustic sequences and to determine whether their rhythms were the same or different (AX discrimination). Participants were native speakers of 4 languages with different rhythmic properties (Spanish, French, English, and German) to understand whether the predominant rhythmic patterns of a native language affect sensitivity, bias, and reaction time in detecting rhythmic changes in linguistic (Experiment 2) and in nonlinguistic (Experiments 1 and 2) acoustic sequences. We examined sensitivity and bias measures, as well as reaction times. We also computed Bayes factors in order to assess the effect of native language. Results All listeners performed better (i.e., responded faster and manifested higher sensitivity and accuracy) when detecting the presence or absence of a rhythm change when the 1st stimulus in an AX test pair exhibited regular rhythm (i.e., a syllable-timed rhythmic pattern) than when the 1st stimulus exhibited irregular rhythm (i.e., stress-timed rhythmic pattern). This result pattern was observed both on linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli and was not modulated by the native language of the participant. Conclusion We conclude that rhythm change detection is a fundamental function of a processing system that relies on general auditory mechanisms and is not modulated by linguistic experience.

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