Toward an interpretation of dynamic neural activity in terms of chaotic dynamical systems

Using the concepts of chaotic dynamical systems, we present an interpretation of dynamic neural activity found in cortical and subcortical areas. The discovery of chaotic itinerancy in high-dimensional dynamical systems with and without a noise term has motivated a new interpretation of this dynamic neural activity, cast in terms of the high-dimensional transitory dynamics among "exotic" attractors. This interpretation is quite different from the conventional one, cast in terms of simple behavior on low-dimensional attractors. Skarda and Freeman (1987) presented evidence in support of the conclusion that animals cannot memorize odor without chaotic activity of neuron populations. Following their work, we study the role of chaotic dynamics in biological information processing, perception, and memory. We propose a new coding scheme of information in chaos-driven contracting systems we refer to as Cantor coding. Since these systems are found in the hippocampal formation and also in the olfactory system, the proposed coding scheme should be of biological significance. Based on these intensive studies, a hypothesis regarding the formation of episodic memory is given.     

动力学与吸引子理论在冲突研究中的应用

用动力学的观点来看待冲突是近年来关于冲突研究的一个新发展。与传统的研究概念和方法不同的是,动力学的观点将冲突及与冲突相关的过程作为一个复杂系统,冲突各方的思想、情感和行为的相互关系构成了冲突内在的动力学机制。系统内各要素的相互关系可以用吸引子来反映,冲突的发展和结束取决于引发冲突的吸引子的性质。所谓成功的干预则意味着冲突各方形成了新的心理和行为模式和不同于以往的心理和社会环境。     

Development of Infant Action Systems and Exploratory Activity: A Tribute to Edward S. Reed

I use Edward S. Reed's work on action systems as a framework to discuss an ecological approach to the development of infant action. I use illustrations from infant action to argue that during development, infants make use of the intrinsic dynamics of their spontaneous motor activity, under a variety of task constraints, to create a small set of action systems. The paper focuses on dynamical systems that generate oscillations as the basis for observable rhythmic behaviors during infancy, such as rocking, shaking the arms, and babbling. Data are presented to illustrate the development of action systems for crawling, object manipulation, and speech. Particular underlying dynamical systems, under different task constraints, may transform body effectors into task-specific action systems: The leg becomes a "kicker," the arm holding a rattle becomes a "shaker," and the vocal tract a "talker."     

A comparison of information processing and dynamical systems perspectives on problem solving

Abstract

This article compares the information processing and dynamical systems perspectives on problem solving. Key theoretical constructs of the information-processing perspective include “searching” a “problem space” by using “heuristics” that produce “incremental” changes such as reaching a “subgoal” to solve a puzzle. Key theoretical constructs of the dynamical-systems perspective include “positive attractors”, “negative attractors”, and “latent attractors” that can cause large “nonincremental” changes in the possibility of a solution through the “emergence” of new ideas and beliefs that can resolve a conflict. The proposed alignment maps dynamical-system constructs to information-processing constructs: state space to problem space, negative attractor to impasse, positive attractor to productive subgoal, latent attractor to implicit cognition, and nonincremental change to insight. The purpose of the mapping is to explore similarities and differences between these constructs. Research from cognitive and social psychology illustrates how using constructs from both perspectives is helpful. The concluding section on Future Directions recommends an agenda based on three objectives: (1) create ontologies to organise current knowledge, (2) conduct research to obtain new knowledge, and (3) provide education to inform students about this knowledge.     

Negative hysteresis in the behavioral dynamics of the affordance “graspable”

One commonly perceives whether a visible object will afford grasping with one hand or with both hands. In experiments in which differently sized objects of a fixed type are presented, the transition from using one of these manual modes to the other depends on the ratio of object size to hand span and on the presentation sequence, with size increasing versus decreasing. Conventional positive hysteresis (i.e., a larger transition ratio for the increasing sequence) can be accommodated by the order parameter dynamics that typify self-organizing systems (Lopresti-Goodman, Turvey, and Frank, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 73:1948–1965, 2011). Here we identified and addressed conditions of unconventional negative hysteresis (i.e., a larger transition ratio for the decreasing sequence). They suggest a second control parameter in the self-organization of affordance perception, one that is seemingly regulated by inhibitory dynamics occurring in the agent–task–environment system. Our experimental results and modeling extend the investigation of affordance perception within dynamical systems theory.     

ABSTRACTS OF LITERATURE

This is a clinical essay describing a theory of marital conflict. The data were obtained by sending an unstructured questionnaire to four hundred caseworkers in 104 member agencies throughout the United States and by stimulating local study groups to prepare reports in depth on such topics. There is a "marital balance," which helps keep the family in equilibrium and is derived from courtship and in the early years of marriage. The breakdown of the "marital balance," and the conflicts resulting, are described, including the point at which couples apply for help. Good and bad prognostic factors in terms of case-work intervention and treatment of marital conflict are described. Although outcome is described as "optimistic," there are no data describing outcome results. Research implications are made.     

Levels of personal agency among academic majors

Action identification theory presented by Vallacher and Wegner characterizes individual differences in identification level in terms of a personality dimension known as "level of personal agency." Levels of personal agency, as measured by the Behavior Identification Form, were examined in a sample of 237 college "seniors" representing eight academic majors. The mean levels of personal agency among individuals in several of these majors were significantly different.     

Jewish Ethical Themes That Should Inform the National Healthcare Discussion: A Prolegomenon

Despite the passage of H.R. 3590 in the 111th Congress, the national healthcare debate in the United States continues, with repeal or modification of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under ongoing consideration. Reference is often made to morality or ethics, but typically in general terms only. This paper elucidates themes from one system of moral theology, namely Jewish healthcare ethics, that would valuably inform this debate. Themes include "covenant," "holiness," "justice," "mercy," "for the sake of peace," "to save a life," "peoplehood," "repair of the world," "repentance," and "jubilee." Policy-related, economic, political, and moral challenges to acting on these principles are discussed.     

Parent-offspring conflict theory: an evolutionary framework for understanding conflict within human families

Decades of research demonstrate that conflict shapes and permeates a broad range of family processes. In the current article, we argue that greater insight, integration of knowledge, and empirical achievement in the study of family conflict can be realized by utilizing a powerful theory from evolutionary biology that is barely known within psychology: parent-offspring conflict theory (POCT). In the current article, we articulate POCT for psychological scientists, extend its scope by connecting it to the broader framework of life history theory, and draw out its implications for understanding conflict within human families. We specifically apply POCT to 2 instances of early mother-offspring interaction (prenatal conflict and weaning conflict); discuss the effects of genetic relatedness on behavioral conflict between parents, children, and their siblings; review the emerging literature on parent-offspring conflict over the choice of mates and spouses; and examine parent-offspring conflict from the perspective of imprinted genes. This review demonstrates the utility of POCT, not only for explaining what is known about conflict within families but also for generating novel hypotheses, suggesting new lines of research, and moving us toward the "big picture" by integrating across biological and psychological domains of knowledge.     

Wittgenstein on K?hler and Gestalt psychology: a critique.

Wittgenstein's objections to K?hler and gestalt psychology are critically examined. Principal features of K?hler's Gestalt Psychology are discussed that are relevant to Wittgenstein's views. They include K?hler's concepts of "subjective" and "objective" experiences, "sensory organization," and "empiristic theory." Wittgenstein's objections, which focus on the concept of sensory organization, are examined. Wittgenstein employs the term "aspect," which is derived from the findings of gestalt psychology, as a replacement for K?hler's term "sensory organization." After tracing his uses of aspect, it is shown that aspect is a superordinate entity distinct from 'sensory content' (colors and shapes). This dualism of aspect and sensory content is of the same kind that prevailed in the empiristic theory of visual perception. Wittgenstein's adherence to the empiristic theory is discussed. Finally, the difference between Wittgenstein's aspect and K?hler's sensory organization is examined.     

Behavioral dynamics of the affordance “graspable”

On a daily basis, one perceives whether an object affords grasping with one hand or with both hands. In experiments in which differently sized objects of a fixed type have been presented, the transition from using one manual mode to the other has depended on both the ratio of object size to hand span and the presentation sequence-that is, size increasing versus decreasing. The transitions and their observed hysteresis (i.e., a transition ratio larger for the increasing sequence) can be accommodated by the order parameter dynamics typifying self-organizing systems. Here, we show that hysteresis magnitude depends on (a) the interaction between the attractors (one hand vs. two hands) and (b) the strength of the two-hands attractor. Through modeling and experimental results, we extend the investigation of affordance perception within dynamical-systems theory.     

Experimental design: Problems in understanding the dynamical behavior-environment system

In this paper, I attempt to describe the implications of dynamical approaches to science for research in the experimental study of behavior. I discuss the differences between classical and dynamical science, and focus on how dynamical science might see replication differently from classical science. Focusing on replication specifically, I present some problems that the classical approach has in dealing with dynamics and multiple causation. I ask about the status and meaning of "error" variance, and whether it may be a potent source of information. I show how a dynamical approach can handle the sort of control by past events that is hard for classical science to understand. These concerns require, I believe, an approach to variability that is quite different from the one most researchers currently employ. I suggest that some of these problems can be overcome by a notion of "behavioral state," which is a distillation of an organism's history.     

双向偏见引发冲突情境下自我归类对民族社会化觉察的影响——来自景颇族、傣族和汉族初中生的证据

采用情境实验法和故事补全任务,考察双向偏见引发冲突情境下的自我归类对景颇族、傣族与汉族初中生的民族社会化觉察的影响。结果表明,作为冲突事件的当事者,景颇族学生和傣族学生觉察到的促进和睦、文化社会化及促使不信任等民族社会化信息存在差异;景颇族、傣族和汉族学生的自我归类存在差异;自我归类对促进和睦、文化社会化与报告权威等信息的觉察的影响亦存在民族差异。在双向偏见冲突情境下,三族学生的自我归类与民族社会化觉察有一定关系:无论是做当事者/内群体归类、旁观者/外群体归类,还是做调解者/群际归类,被试对促进和睦的觉察均最多。偏见准备主要与当事者归类有关,而进行调解者归类的被试更容易觉察到"报告权威"。     

Psychodynamic Formulation in the Age of Neuroscience: A Dynamical Systems Model

The dichotomy between biological and psychosocial psychiatry has stood as a deep divide in psychiatric treatment and training since the advent of psychoanalysis. It is now complicated by the proliferation of diverse theoretical perspectives, both psychotherapeutic and neurochemical. Our deepening understanding of neural network dynamics can provide empirical constraints in validating psychotherapeutic approaches, while the appreciation of the patient–therapist intersubjective matrix can inform biological treatment. The Cartesian mind–body fallacy can now be analyzed as a unified complex dynamical system in the same light as Einstein’s integration of the seemingly divergent concepts of space and time into a unified fabric of spacetime.

Dynamical systems approach to neural network functioning offers the most comprehensive foundation for psychotherapy available to us today. Recurrent patterns of thinking, feeling, and relating can be analyzed by modeling the dynamical landscape of cortical and subcortical network processes. Dynamical Systems Therapy (DST) stands as a trans-theoretical model with the explanatory power to integrate systems of synaptic networks with systems of meaning. It powerfully argues for shifting the clinical emphasis from our patient’s symptomatic presentation as the focus of clinical attention to conceptualizing psychopathology as fixed patterns of adaptive attractors in response to the dysfunctional developmental environment. Patients come to be seen as active agents who create the meaning of their experiences based on their unique implicit templates. In this view, DST-informed psychodynamic formulation helps us chart the patient’s dysfunctional attractor basins, and therapeutic relationship becomes our tool in reshaping the dynamical landscape topology to reestablish self-organizing process.     

Timing, clocks, and dynamical systems.

Theoretical and experimental issues for our understanding of the timing of motor acts are reviewed, contrasting stochastic and dynamic timing models. It is argued that the theory of dynamical systems and, in particular, of limit cycle attractors, provides a unified framework within which these issues can be appreciated. The strength of stochastic timing models in the domain of absolute timing is contrasted with the strength of dynamic timing models in the domain of relative timing, the unification of the two domains being currently under way. It is further argued that accounts of timing must examine the interrelation between timing and other levels of processing involved in movement generation, in particular, the representation of spatial aspects of movement and the control of movement. The emergence of discrete event structure in timing skills is discussed from a dynamical systems perspective. Finally, the understanding of the timing structure of discrete movement is raised as a further challenge for future work.     

theorizing non-linear communities: on social deviance and housing the homeless

Theories of deviance abound; however, little attention has been given to the construction and meaning of deviance in postmodern society. According to some theorists, one conceptual variant of postmodernism is chaology or non-linear dynamical systems theory. In this article, the relevance of chaos theory for advancing our understanding of social deviance is examined. In particular, such notions as non-linearity, fractal space, attractors, self-similarity, bifurcations, and dissipative structures are described as constitutive of the postmodern agenda. These insights are then applied to the difficult and complex issue of housing the homeless, especially shelter strategies designed to create personhood and place for the poor and disenfranchised.     

"Don't lock me out": life-story interviews of family business owners facing succession

This qualitative study used a grounded theory methodology to analyze life-story interviews obtained from 10 family business owners regarding their experiences in their businesses with the goal of understanding the complexities of family business succession. The grounded theory that emerged from this study is best understood as a potential web of constraints that can bear on the succession process. Coding of these interviews revealed four key influences, which seem to have the potential to facilitate or constrain the family business owner's approach to succession. Influence 1, "The business within," captures intrapsychic dynamics of differentiation and control. Influence 2, "The marriage," addresses how traditional gender roles shape succession. Influence 3, "The adult children," examines the role of having a natural (accidental, organic, passively groomed) successor. Influence 4, "The vision of retirement," captures the impact of owners' notions of life post-succession. Family therapists frequently encounter family systems in which the family business is facing succession. Even if succession is not the presenting problem, and even if the business owner is in the indirect (rather than direct) system, this research reminds clinicians of the importance of the family's story about the family business. Therefore, clinical implications and recommendations are included.     

Approche dynamique et temporalité en psychologie sociale

The purpose was to specify the advantages and limits of the dynamical perspective proposed by Nowak et Vallacher (1998) for social psychology studies. This perspective contributes massively to new knowledge in economy, biology and motor control. Theoretical models, methods, self-assessment tools, and time series analyses are now available for addressing hypotheses that nomothetical approach has let unanswered, and to determine the impact of daily events on self-perception.     

THE VIEW OF THE SYSTEMICIST: A CONVERSATION

In this reflective dialogue, Humberto Maturana speaks about his understanding of living systems and its implications for psychotherapy. Dismissing the myth of "instructive interaction," Maturana argues that a simple causal conceptualization of therapeutic procedures producing precise and predictable effects in clients is incoherent with a theory of structure-determined systems. Instead, he contends that every therapeutic action is embedded in a network of relationships, whose dynamics must be appreciated by therapists in order for them to participate in the client's system and at the same time maintain the distance necessary to relate reflectively and in a noncontrolling fashion. Maturana contends that the profound and un­biased understanding that can follow from this stance fosters an awareness of the observer-dependent nature of "pathology," and provides grounds for a critique of larger cultural systems in shaping the distress or liberation of their members.