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.

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.

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.

Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications for the Dispersal of Modern Humans

Science ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 315 (5809) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Anikovich ◽  
A. A. Sinitsyn ◽  
John F. Hoffecker ◽  
Vance T. Holliday ◽  
V. V. Popov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
Early Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Don River

Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic occupation—probably representing modern humans—at archaeological sites on the Don River in Russia 45,000 to 42,000 years ago. The oldest levels at Kostenki underlie a volcanic ash horizon identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated elsewhere to about 40,000 years ago. The occupation layers contain bone and ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers. Thus, modern humans appeared on the central plain of Eastern Europe as early as anywhere else in northern Eurasia.

scholarly journals An abundance of developmental anomalies and abnormalities in Pleistocene people

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (47) ◽  
pp. 11941-11946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Trinkaus
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Elevated Level ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Single Factor ◽  
Developmental Abnormalities ◽  
Low Probability ◽  
Developmental Variants

Diverse developmental abnormalities and anomalous features are evident in the PleistoceneHomofossil record, varying from minor but rare dental, vertebral, and carpal variants to exceptional systemic disorders. There are currently 75 documented anomalies or abnormalities from 66 individuals, spanning the Pleistocene but primarily from the Late Pleistocene Middle and Upper Paleolithic with their more complete skeletal remains. The expected probabilities of finding these variants or developmental disorders vary from <5% to <0.0001%, based on either recent human incidences or relevant Pleistocene sample distributions. Given the modest sample sizes available for the skeletal or dental elements in question, especially if the samples are appropriately limited in time and geography, the cumulative multiplicative probability of finding these developmental changes is vanishingly small. These data raise questions regarding social survival abilities, differing mortuary treatments of the biologically unusual, the role of ubiquitous stress among these Pleistocene foragers, and their levels of consanguinity. No single factor sufficiently accounts for the elevated level of these developmental variants or the low probability of finding them in the available paleontological record.

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 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.

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