scholarly journals Fishnition: Developing Models From Cognition Toward Consciousness

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Droege ◽  
Natalie Schwob ◽  
Daniel J. Weiss

A challenge to developing a model for testing animal consciousness is the pull of opposite intuitions. On one extreme, the anthropocentric view holds that consciousness is a highly sophisticated capacity involving self-reflection and conceptual categorization that is almost certainly exclusive to humans. At the opposite extreme, an anthropomorphic view attributes consciousness broadly to any behavior that involves sensory responsiveness. Yet human experience and observation of diverse species suggest that the most plausible case is that consciousness functions between these poles. In exploring the middle ground, we discuss the pros and cons of “high level” approaches such as the dual systems approach. According to this model, System 1 can be thought of as unconscious; processing is fast, automatic, associative, heuristic, parallel, contextual, and likely to be conserved across species. Consciousness is associated with System 2 processing that is slow, effortful, rule-based, serial, abstract, and exclusively human. An advantage of this model is the clear contrast between heuristic and decision-based responses, but it fails to include contextual decision-making in novel conditions which falls in between these two categories. We also review a “low level” model involving trace conditioning, which is a trained response to the first of two paired stimuli separated by an interval. This model highlights the role of consciousness in maintaining a stimulus representation over a temporal span, though it overlooks the importance of attention in subserving and also disrupting trace conditioning in humans. Through a critical analysis of these two extremes, we will develop the case for flexible behavioral response to the stimulus environment as the best model for demonstrating animal consciousness. We discuss a methodology for gauging flexibility across a wide variety of species and offer a case study in spatial navigation to illustrate our proposal. Flexibility serves the evolutionary function of enabling the complex evaluation of changing conditions, where motivation is the basis for goal valuation, and attention selects task-relevant stimuli to aid decision-making processes. We situate this evolutionary function within the Temporal Representation Theory of consciousness, which proposes that consciousness represents the present moment in order to facilitate flexible action.

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Levine ◽  
Leonid I. Perlovsky

Theories of cognitive processes, such as decision making and creative problem solving, for a long time neglected the contributions of emotion or affect in favor of analysis based on use of deliberative rules to optimize performance. Since the 1990s, emotion has increasingly been incorporated into theories of these cognitive processes. Some theorists have in fact posited a “dual-systems approach” to understanding decision making and high-level cognition. One system is fast, emotional, and intuitive, while the other is slow, rational, and deliberative. However, one’s understanding of the relevant brain regions indicate that emotional and rational processes are deeply intertwined, with each exerting major influences on the functioning of the other. Also presented in this paper are neural network modeling principles that may capture the interrelationships of emotion and cognition. The authors also review evidence that humans, and possibly other mammals, possess a “knowledge instinct,” which acts as a drive to make sense of the environment. This drive typically incorporates a strong affective component in the form of aesthetic fulfillment or dissatisfaction.


Author(s):  
Mahesh Raisinghani ◽  
John H. Nugent

This chapter presents a high-level model for employing intelligent agents in business management processes, much like has been successfully accomplished in complex telecommunications networks, in order to gain competitive advantage by timely, rapidly, and effectively using key, unfiltered measurements to improve cycle-time decision making. The importance of automated, timely, unfiltered (versus “end of period” filtered) reports is highlighted, as are some management issues relative to the pressures that may result concerning an organization’s employees who must now take action in near real time. Furthermore, the authors hope that understanding the underlying assumptions and theoretical constructs through the use of employing intelligent agents in business management processes as a sub element of, or tool within Business Intelligence (BI), will not only inform researchers of a better design for studying information systems, but also assist in the understanding of intricate relationships between different factors.


Author(s):  
Oksana Khurtenko ◽  
Anatolii Shuldyk ◽  
Maya Zubal ◽  
Iryna Raytarovska ◽  
Alla Senyk ◽  
...  

Most prospective coaches are not fully ready to manage sports teams under extreme conditions and cannot make quick decisions in difficult situations. The article aims to develop students’ psychological readiness to make decisions in extreme coaching situations. The formative experiment involved 50 students (25 respondents in the experimental group; 25 respondents in the control group). It became possible to develop operational readiness in prospective coaches by conducting special classes on the development of decision-making skills, self-reflection, self-regulation (theoretical classes and a set of exercises aimed at developing the necessary qualities). The final stage of the experiment shows that the number of EG students with a high level of anxiety has decreased by 16%. At the same time, the expert assessment shows that their capacity for self-regulation in extremely competitive situations has increased by 20%. The group of students’ leading motives includes the following: to achieve the set goals; to win; to enjoy the team’s victory; to prove oneself and test one’s abilities as a coach in extreme situations. In extreme professional situations, the leading motives behind coaches’ decisions involve achieving the set goals and enjoying the team’s victory. There were no significant differences in decision-making motivation among students (both males and females). However, almost every third student has a low level of motivation for competition.


Author(s):  
Daniel S. Levine ◽  
Leonid I. Perlovsky

Theories of cognitive processes, such as decision making and creative problem solving, for a long time neglected the contributions of emotion or affect in favor of analysis based on use of deliberative rules to optimize performance. Since the 1990s, emotion has increasingly been incorporated into theories of these cognitive processes. Some theorists have in fact posited a “dual-systems approach” to understanding decision making and high-level cognition. One system is fast, emotional, and intuitive, while the other is slow, rational, and deliberative. However, one’s understanding of the relevant brain regions indicate that emotional and rational processes are deeply intertwined, with each exerting major influences on the functioning of the other. Also presented in this paper are neural network modeling principles that may capture the interrelationships of emotion and cognition. The authors also review evidence that humans, and possibly other mammals, possess a “knowledge instinct,” which acts as a drive to make sense of the environment. This drive typically incorporates a strong affective component in the form of aesthetic fulfillment or dissatisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mabel Yu

The investigation of mindfulness has increased significantly over the past decade regarding its efficacy as a clinical tool, particularly in the treatment of depression. Mindfulness is often conceptualized as a mental state characterized by present-moment, non-judgmental attention and awareness. Past researchers have suggested that mindfulness is linked to reduction of self-rumination (i.e. maladaptive self-focused attention to one’s self-worth) through promotion of concrete focus and inhibition of automatic elaboration of intrusive thoughts. Moreover, mindfulness also promotes low-level construal thinking (i.e. concrete thinking) which competes against high-level construal thinking (i.e. abstract thinking). Researchers have proposed that self-rumination involves high-level construal of the self and others, which could increase the likelihood of experiencing negative moods. On the other hand, mindfulness may potentially promote self-reflection (i.e. adaptive self-focused attention to the self) while inhibiting self-rumination. The purpose of this paper is to propose a research idea that will explore the relationship between mindfulness, self-rumination, self-reflection, and depressive symptoms (i.e., low mood, anhedonia or ability to feel pleasure, and changes in sleep). The findings of the proposed research may have significant implications for treatment of depressive symptoms and for promotion of positive outcomes such as mitigation of self-rumination and enhancement of self-reflective processes through potential effects of mindfulness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
Elizabeth K. Vig ◽  
Janelle S. Taylor ◽  
Ann M. O'Hare

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Economides ◽  
C.J. Hourdakis ◽  
C. Pafilis ◽  
G. Simantirakis ◽  
P. Tritakis ◽  
...  

This paper concerns an analysis regarding the performance of X-ray equipment as well as the radiological safety in veterinary facilities. Data were collected from 380 X-ray veterinary facilities countrywide during the on-site regulatory inspections carried out by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission. The analysis of the results shows that the majority of the veterinary radiographic systems perform within the acceptable limits; moreover, the design and shielding of X-ray rooms as well as the applied procedures ensure a high level of radiological safety for the practitioners, operators and the members of the public. An issue that requires specific attention in the optimization process for the proper implementation of veterinary radiology practices in terms of radiological safety is the continuous training of the personnel. The above findings and the regulatory experience gained were valuable decision-making elements regarding the type of the regulatory control of veterinary radiology practices in the new radiation protection framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Parul Gill ◽  
Poonam Malik ◽  
Pankaj Gill

The present study was undertaken to explore the decision making patterns of college girls in relation to clothing and their satisfaction level with these decision making patterns. Thirty under graduate college girls from Panipat city were approached to record their responses regarding decision making in relation to clothing and satisfaction level through a well structured questionnaire. It was found that most of the girls (56.66%) themselves made the decisions about the type of garment (Indian, western or both) they wear and majority of girls (70%) were highly satisfied with this decision making. Parents performed the role of buyers for their college going daughters' garments in most of the cases (63.33%) and the 73.33% girls had high level of satisfaction with this. In most of the cases (60%) the decision about the garment design was made by the girls themselves and they were highly satisfied with it. Keywords: clothing, college, girls, decision making.


2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Poniszewska-Marańda

Abstract Nowadays, the growth and complexity of functionalities of current information systems, especially dynamic, distributed and heterogeneous information systems, makes the design and creation of such systems a difficult task and at the same time, strategic for businesses. A very important stage of data protection in an information system is the creation of a high level model, independent of the software, satisfying the needs of system protection and security. The process of role engineering, i.e. the identification of roles and setting up in an organization is a complex task. The paper presents the modeling and design stages in the process of role engineering in the aspect of security schema development for information systems, in particular for dynamic, distributed information systems, based on the role concept and the usage concept. Such a schema is created first of all during the design phase of a system. Two actors should cooperate with each other in this creation process, the application developer and the security administrator, to determine the minimal set of user’s roles in agreement with the security constraints that guarantee the global security coherence of the system.


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