The Impact of Behaviorism: Sociology as a Negative Case

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 732-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donal E. Muir

Although belief in free will obstructs the application of causal models to human systems, a quasi-experiment indicates that the behavioristic assumption that human behavior is as determined as any other empirical phenomenon is discouraged by current instruction in sociology.

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Garcia ◽  
K. Portney ◽  
S. Islam

Abstract. Human and hydrological systems are coupled: human activity impacts the hydrological cycle and hydrological conditions can, but do not always, trigger changes in human systems. Traditional modeling approaches with no feedback between hydrological and human systems typically cannot offer insight into how different patterns of natural variability or human-induced changes may propagate through this coupled system. Modeling of coupled human–hydrological systems, also called socio-hydrological systems, recognizes the potential for humans to transform hydrological systems and for hydrological conditions to influence human behavior. However, this coupling introduces new challenges and existing literature does not offer clear guidance regarding model conceptualization. There are no universally accepted laws of human behavior as there are for the physical systems; furthermore, a shared understanding of important processes within the field is often used to develop hydrological models, but there is no such consensus on the relevant processes in socio-hydrological systems. Here we present a question driven process to address these challenges. Such an approach allows modeling structure, scope and detail to remain contingent on and adaptive to the question context. We demonstrate the utility of this process by revisiting a classic question in water resources engineering on reservoir operation rules: what is the impact of reservoir operation policy on the reliability of water supply for a growing city? Our example model couples hydrological and human systems by linking the rate of demand decreases to the past reliability to compare standard operating policy (SOP) with hedging policy (HP). The model shows that reservoir storage acts both as a buffer for variability and as a delay triggering oscillations around a sustainable level of demand. HP reduces the threshold for action thereby decreasing the delay and the oscillation effect. As a result, per capita demand decreases during periods of water stress are more frequent but less drastic and the additive effect of small adjustments decreases the tendency of the system to overshoot available supplies. This distinction between the two policies was not apparent using a traditional noncoupled model.


1963 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selden D. Bacon

This article is concerned with the overlapping of two phe nomena, each of which can occur independently of the other. The first is deviation from the specific social custom of drinking. The second, crime, refers to a class of deviations from many different customs of a society—deviations possessing one unique attribute in common, that of eliciting purposeful, negative sanc tions by the government. General knowledge about deviation from custom and about the impact of alcohol upon human behavior must be combined with an understanding of each of these two categories of deviance in order to assess the overlap.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Silva ◽  
Vinícius Andrade ◽  
Reginaldo Ré ◽  
Rafael Meneses

Author(s):  
Shao Chun Han ◽  
Yun Liu ◽  
Hui Ling Chen ◽  
Zhen Jiang Zhang

Quantitative analysis on human behavior, especially mining and modeling temporal and spatial regularities, is a common focus of statistical physics and complexity sciences. The in-depth understanding of human behavior helps in explaining many complex socioeconomic phenomena, and in finding applications in public opinion monitoring, disease control, transportation system design, calling center services, information recommendation. In this paper,we study the impact of human activity patterns on information diffusion. Using SIR propagation model and empirical data, conduct quantitative research on the impact of user behavior on information dissemination. It is found that when the exponent is small, user behavioral characteristics have features of many new dissemination nodes, fast information dissemination, but information continued propagation time is short, with limited influence; when the exponent is big, there are fewer new dissemination nodes, but will expand the scope of information dissemination and extend information dissemination duration; it is also found that for group behaviors, the power-law characteristic a greater impact on the speed of information dissemination than individual behaviors. This study provides a reference to better understand influence of social networking user behavior characteristics on information dissemination and kinetic effect.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasil Dinev Penchev

If the concept of “free will” is reduced to that of “choice” all physical world share the latter quality. Anyway the “free will” can be distinguished from the “choice”: The “free will” involves implicitly a certain goal, and the choice is only the mean, by which the aim can be achieved or not by the one who determines the target. Thus, for example, an electron has always a choice but not free will unlike a human possessing both. Consequently, and paradoxically, the determinism of classical physics is more subjective and more anthropomorphic than the indeterminism of quantum mechanics for the former presupposes certain deterministic goal implicitly following the model of human freewill behavior. Quantum mechanics introduces the choice in the fundament of physical world involving a generalized case of choice, which can be called “subjectless”: There is certain choice, which originates from the transition of the future into the past. Thus that kind of choice is shared of all existing and does not need any subject: It can be considered as a low of nature. There are a few theorems in quantum mechanics directly relevant to the topic: two of them are called “free will theorems” by their authors (Conway and Kochen 2006; 2009). Any quantum system either a human or an electron or whatever else has always a choice: Its behavior is not predetermined by its past. This is a physical law. It implies that a form of information, the quantum information underlies all existing for the unit of the quantity of information is an elementary choice: either a bit or a quantum bit (qubit).


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. e006794
Author(s):  
Didier Wernli ◽  
Mia Clausin ◽  
Nino Antulov-Fantulin ◽  
John Berezowski ◽  
Nikola Biller ◽  
...  

The current global systemic crisis reveals how globalised societies are unprepared to face a pandemic. Beyond the dramatic loss of human life, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered widespread disturbances in health, social, economic, environmental and governance systems in many countries across the world. Resilience describes the capacities of natural and human systems to prevent, react to and recover from shocks. Societal resilience to the current COVID-19 pandemic relates to the ability of societies in maintaining their core functions while minimising the impact of the pandemic and other societal effects. Drawing on the emerging evidence about resilience in health, social, economic, environmental and governance systems, this paper delineates a multisystemic understanding of societal resilience to COVID-19. Such an understanding provides the foundation for an integrated approach to build societal resilience to current and future pandemics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 130-135
Author(s):  
M. V. Tserenyuk ◽  
O. M. Tserenyuk

In addition to assessing the absolute performance of animals, the impact of certain technological approaches, breeding influence and other external organized factors on the consolidation of pigs groups on certain grounds should be evaluated. Breeding consolidation is a desirable breeding process that is realized through more motivated consolidation of intra-breeding structural units for maintaining a significant level of intergroup differentiation and variability. If the issue relates to the rearing young animals that are introduced into the herd, this is the most urgent issue that needs to be monitored. The purpose of the research is to determine the consociality of the main signs of reproductive ability of the gilts, which are checked at different rates of artificial insemination of sows of the main herd. The research was carried out at the Shubs`ke farm in the Bogoduhivsky District of Kharkiv Oblast at the pig farm for the pure breeding of the Welsh breed pigs (breeding reproductive status from 2014). In order to evaluate the optimal multiplicity (from single to triple), a gilts with a total of 30 heads was selected. The main indicators of reproductive ability of gilts (multiplicity, weight of nest at birth and excommunication and keeping piglets before weaning on day 28) were evaluated. Recalculation on the weight of the litter at weaning at the weight of the nest at extermination in 60 days was carried out in accordance with the current instruction on the boning of pigs. The results of researches were worked out according to traditional methods by the method of variation statistics. Consolidation of individual indicators of reproductive capacity of gilts was calculated to the total number of evaluated animals. In the previous stage of the research, it was found that the use of multiple insemination of gilts compared to single insemination is positively reflected at the level of their reproductive ability. A decrease in the percentage of non-productive inseminants in animal groups has been established. Triple insemination of gilts allows for 1.14 piglets to be obtained more compared to single insemination of the same pigs (p < 0.01). Also, for three times insemination of gilts, in comparison with single insemination, larger nest for weaning were obtained (by 14.24 kg, converted to 60th day p < 0.01). At the same time, the reduction in the keeping of piglets to weaning for increase frequency of insemination of gilts. According to the multiplicity of gilts, the most consolidated level of symptoms per group was obtained for single insemination. Increasing the multiplicity of insemination negatively affected the consolidation of the multiplicity of the piglets (as for determining the coefficients of phenotypic consolidation due to the mean square deviation, so, and for determining the coefficient of variability). The least consolidated in terms of multiplicity were uterus for double insemination. It should also be noted that there is little difference, in general, on the indicators of the theonotypical consolidation of the multiplicity of piglets between different groups of animals. So this difference between the most contrasting groups was 0.447 points for determining the coefficients due to the mean square deviation and 0.397 points for the determination due to the coefficient of variability, respectively. By weight of the same litters at birth, the most consolidated group was gilts, which was inseminated twice. The least consolidated are trimmed three times, respectively. The difference as a whole, according to the indicators of the theonotype consolidation of the mass of the litter’s piglets at birth, between different groups of pigs was even smaller. The difference between the most contrasting groups was 0.270 points for determining the coefficients due to the mean square deviation and 0.260 points for the determination due to the coefficient of variability, respectively. On the basis of the mass of the litter at weaning, the most consolidated level of symptoms was obtained in the group of gilts for triple insemination. The least consolidated group, respectively, was gilts for single insemination. At the same time, on the basis of the weight of the litter at weaning, the slightest differences were obtained after the consolidation of the signs between different groups of pigs. The difference between the most contrasting groups was 0.173 points for determining the coefficients due to the mean square deviation and 0.248 points for the determination due to the coefficient of variation, respectively. At different rates of insemination of gilts, there are no significant differences between the groups between the groups in terms of the consolidation of signs of reproductive ability. Also, there was no clear effect on increasing the multiplicity of insemination of gilts to the consolidation of their signs of reproductive qualities.


Kinesic Humor ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 25-50
Author(s):  
Guillemette Bolens

John Milton plays with his readers’ embodied cognition. Reading Paradise Lost triggers complex perceptual simulations that are fascinatingly conflicting at the level of sensorimotricity. The carefully crafted effects thus elicited lead to a possible experience of humor. Kinesic incongruities in Paradise Lost are studied in this chapter to show how critics and expert readers respond to them, and to suggest that such effects are correlated with Milton’s investment in the notion of free will. The fact that Milton was able to create suspense in a plot known by all is addressed in relation to surprisingly dynamic gestures and the impact they may have on the ways in which readers conceive of the Fall of humankind.


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