Why American conservatives and individuals from traditionalist cultures may share a preference for group uniformity

American culture is known for its emphasis on freedom‐promoting values such as self‐determination and autonomy. Yet, a large segment of American society endorses a conservative ideology that seems to go against these values. In this article, we empirically show that conservatives’ weaker endorsement of autonomy values predicts a preference to be an amorphous entity in a tight, uniform group (Study 1A). We do so by implementing a novel measure of sociocultural tightness that is not based on self‐report items. We subsequently show that cultural (East–West) differences in this preference can be explained through a similar mechanism (Study 1B). Hence, we show that some cognitive processes of American conservatives are similar to those of individuals coming from more collectivist, non‐Western societies.     

Curiosity‐based learning in infants: a neurocomputational approach

Infants are curious learners who drive their own cognitive development by imposing structure on their learning environment as they explore. Understanding the mechanisms by which infants structure their own learning is therefore critical to our understanding of development. Here we propose an explicit mechanism for intrinsically motivated information selection that maximizes learning. We first present a neurocomputational model of infant visual category learning, capturing existing empirical data on the role of environmental complexity on learning. Next we “set the model free”, allowing it to select its own stimuli based on a formalization of curiosity and three alternative selection mechanisms. We demonstrate that maximal learning emerges when the model is able to maximize stimulus novelty relative to its internal states, depending on the interaction across learning between the structure of the environment and the plasticity in the learner itself. We discuss the implications of this new curiosity mechanism for both existing computational models of reinforcement learning and for our understanding of this fundamental mechanism in early development.     

A bio-inspired model of behavior considering decision-making and planning,spatial attention and basic motor commands processes

Cognitive architectures (CA) are an IA approach to implement computer systems with human-like behavior. Fundamental exhibited human capabilities include planning and decision-making. In that regard, numerous AI systems successfully exhibit human-like behavior but are limited to either achieving specific objectives or are restrained to too heavily constrained environments, which makes them unsuitable in the presence of unforeseen situations where autonomy is required. To try to alleviate the problem, we present a bio-inspired computational model to solve the autonomous navigation problem of a computational entity in a controlled context. This proposal is the result of the interaction between planning and decision-making, spatial attention and the motor cognitive functions. The proposed model is based on neuroscientific evidence concerning the involved cognitive functions and is part of a more general cognitive architecture. In the case study developed to validate our idea, we can see that the processes previously identified play an important role to accomplish spatial navigation. In the case study presented, an agent achieves the navigation over an unexplored maze from an initial to a final position successfully. The reunited results motivate us to continue improving our model considering attentional information to influence the agent’s motor behavior.     

Diachronic Emergence and Its Characteristics from the Viewpoint of Complexity Science

Complexity science, which arose in the second half of the 20th century, initiated research into the emergence of complex systems and led to the rise of the concept of diachronic emergence. Compared to British emergentism, research on diachronic emergence underwent some crucial changes—namely, (1) putting the enterprise of unveiling the mechanics of emergence at its core; (2) taking inter-disciplinary research as its viewpoint; (3) and taking computer simulation as its method. Because of this new approach, “diachronic emergence” is closely related to terms from complexity science such as “systems,” “self-organization,” “complexity,” and “chaos.” In this paper, we examine two cases of purported diachronic emergence and argue that both count as genuine cases of ontological emergence. The first is Paul Humphreys’ fusion emergence and the second is Mark Bedau’s simulation emergence. In both cases, the emergent entity/property possesses genuine causal powers, and hence counts as a form of ontological, not merely epistemological emergence. Fusion emergence is a kind of strong diachronic emergence that emphasizes diachronicity and non-supervenience. The kind of emergence based on computer simulations can be seen as a kind of weak diachronic emergence. Bedau studies the process and mechanics of emergence with the help of computer simulations, and he argues that weak diachronic emergence has characteristics such as underivability without simulation, explanatory incompressibility, and underivability without crawling the micro-causal web. Moreover, he tries to present an explanatory model of weak emergence that posits the existence of higher-level entities with weak downward causation and claims the emergent level to be explanatorily autonomous. The core of both strong diachronic emergence and weak diachronic emergence is a focus on unpredictable emergent entities, which are new properties or new structures generated from evolution, and a characteristic emphasis on the diachronicity of the generation of emergent entities. Therefore, diachronic emergence has characteristics such as novelty in evolution, unpredictability, and autonomy of macro-explanation.     

What Counts as Behavior? The Molar Multiscale View

Because the definition of behavior changes as our understanding of behavior changes, giving a final definition is impossible. One can, however, rule out some possibilities and propose some others based on what we currently know. Behavior is not simply movement, but must be defined by its function. Also, our understanding of behavior must agree with evolutionary theory. I suggest 4 basic principles: (a) only whole organisms behave; (b) behavior is purposive; (c) behavior takes time; and (d) behavior is choice. Saying that parts of an organism behave is nonsense, and, moreover, evolutionary theory explains the existence of organisms mainly through their adaptive behavior. Behavior is purposive in that behavior is shaped by its consequences, through an organism''s lifetime or through interactions with the environment across many generations of natural selection. Behavior takes time in that behavior is interaction with the environment that cannot take place at a moment. Moreover, at a moment in time, one cannot definitely identify the function of behavior. Identification of an activity requires a span of time. Behavior is choice in the sense that a suitable span of time always includes time spent in more than 1 activity. Activities include parts that are themselves activities on a smaller time scale and compete for time. Thus, behavior constitutes time allocation. An accounting problem arises whenever any behavior is attributed to multiple consequences. In the molar multiscale view, this raises the question of whether 2 activities can occur at the same time. The question remains open.     

小康社会与公民道德断想

应当把社会伦理关系的变革和主体道德人格的完善列为全面建设小康社会的基本的价值目标 ,不仅要切实理顺经济伦理关系 ,而且必须逐步建立起与社会主义市场经济体制相适应的、公正的政治伦理关系和文化伦理关系。小康社会的道德要求包括经济交往中的效率与公平、政治生活中的正义与民主、文化领域中的服务与奉献。小康社会的人格理想将以追求人性的自我完善和人格的自主、自觉、自由为基本特点。小康社会也将使人们的行为方式发生这样或那样的变化。     

家庭创新环境的特征及其与中学生日常创造性行为的关系：创造性人格的中介作用

以1117名中学生为被试,采用问卷法考察家庭创新环境的特点及其对日常创造性行为的影响机制。结果发现：（1）家庭创新环境体现在家庭情感氛围、父母创造性行为、父母教育理念和自主准予,可分为抑制型（17.3%）、一般型（41.9%）和创新型（40.8%）,创新型在日常创造性行为上得分显著高于抑制型;（2）家庭创新环境与创造性人格、日常创造性行为以及同伴提名得分相关显著;（3）创造性人格在家庭创新环境和同伴提名之间起完全中介作用,在家庭创新环境和日常创造性行为之间起部分中介作用。     

家庭环境与高中生发展:自主的中介作用及其性别差异

从浙江省三所全日制高中选取348名高一到高三的学生为被试, 采用集体上机填答的方式实施问卷调查, 考察家庭环境对高中生发展的影响及作用机制, 探讨自主的中介作用及其性别差异。使用描述检验、相关分析和结构方程模型等方法, 结果发现:(1)男生的情感自主显著高于女生, 感知到的家庭亲密度水平显著低于女生;(2)家庭环境和自主与积极发展呈显著正相关, 与消极发展呈显著负相关, 积极发展与消极发展呈显著负相关;(3)家庭环境对积极发展有显著的正向预测作用, 对消极发展有显著的负向预测作用, 且对积极发展的预测作用显著高于消极发展;(4)总体上, 自主在家庭环境和高中生积极、消极发展的关系中起显著的中介作用;自主在家庭环境和积极发展间的中介作用在男生和女生样本中均达到显著水平, 而在家庭环境和消极发展间的中介作用在男生样本中为完全中介, 在女生样本中不显著。研究结果为从家庭角度促进高中生的积极发展、降低消极发展的可能性提供了依据。     

Otherness in interior identity: a reflection about the Freudian concepts of unconscious, superego, and id

Theoretical, psychoanalytical constructs referring to the unconscious, the superego, and id, enjoy an autonomy within the I. As such, this study contemplates the discussion of these foreign entities that inhabit the interior of the I, producing an effect of foreignness. In the first section, I will develop a reflection on the state of foreignness of the unconscious. I will begin with an analogy used by Freud, which addresses the thesis of universality of consciousness with the psychoanalytical thesis of the subconscience within the I. Affirmation of consciousness in the other may be used analogously for affirm the idea of another inhabiting our own being. I shall continue, seeking to understand how the process of unconscious repression produces the effect of foreignness. The idea of a moral censor present in the entity of the superego constitutes the theme of the second section. The superego follows the principle of otherness in its constitution and in its effects on the I. Finally, a reflection on the dimension of otherness in the Id seems urgent to me, as with this concept, Freud radicalized in the idea of the foreign as the origin of the subject.     

Reaching long-term goals based on local interaction between an organism and the environment: computer simulations based on adaptive behavior

An agent-based computer simulation created using the adaptive-behavior approach has shown that in some cases it is possible to reach a long-term goal (defined here as a desirable place far removed from the agent in time and in space) without necessarily having an exhaustive, predefined plan of action, but rather by using a set of rules on sensorimotor couplings that govern the organism's local interaction with its environment. We used an agent-based simulation program that emulated a two-dimensional microworld in which agents interacted with their environment and other agents through a set of sensorimotor couplings to reach a long-term goal. The main hypothesis was that the sensorimotor coupling, which consisted of following other agents, led to the emergence of collective behavior that enabled the agents to attain the long-term goal. We systematically varied the sensorimotor couplings that allowed agents to follow other agents, agents' perceptual field length, and the number of obstacles. In total, there were 160 independent simulations for each design cell. Analysis supported the hypothesis and suggested that, in addition to the process of reaching long-term goals, other cognitive processes, such as categorization, memory, and reasoning, can be reconsidered bearing in mind the emergence of behavior and an approach based on interaction between the organism and its environment.     

Cognition as a dynamic system: Principles from embodiment

Traditional approaches to cognitive development concentrate on the stability of cognition and explain that stability via concepts segregated from perceiving acting. A dynamic systems approach in contrast focuses on the self-organization of behavior in tasks. This article uses recent results concerning the embodiment of cognition to argue for a dynamic systems approach. The embodiment hypothesis is the idea that intelligence emerges in the interaction of an organism with an environment and as a result of sensory-motor activity. The continual coupling of cognition to the world through the body both adapts cognition to the idiosyncrasies of the here and now, makes it relevant, and provides the mechanism for developmental change.     

Enhancing a Sense of Competence at Work by Engaging in Proactive Behavior: The Role of Proactive Personality

To understand how individuals’ senses of competence are cultivated, scholars have primarily focused on situational factors such as job autonomy and supervisor support. Against this backdrop, we propose that individuals can work as active agents and enhance their sense of competence by initiating actions that aim to master the environment. We adopt the behavioral concordance model and propose that people higher in proactive personality are more likely to engage in proactive behavior that elevates their senses of competence over time. We further propose that such behavioral concordance contributes to boosting a sense of competence is more prominent among those with higher proactive personality. Our predictions are supported by data from 172 employees and their direct supervisors in China, after controlling for the effect of job autonomy and supervisor support for autonomy. Specifically, only those higher in proactive personality engaged in more proactive behavior and increased their sense of competence over time. This study highlights both a self-initiated and a behavioral perspective on understanding the development of a sense of competence.     

Explaining Biological Functionality: Is Control Theory Enough?

Abstract

It is generally agreed that organisms are Complex Adaptive Systems. Since the rise of Cybernetics in the middle of the last century ideas from information theory and control theory have been applied to the adaptations of biological organisms in order to explain how they work. This does not, however, explain functionality, which is widely but not universally attributed to biological systems. There are two approaches to functionality, one based on etiology (what a trait was selected for), and the other based in autonomy. I argue that the etiological approach, as understood in terms of control theory, suffers from a problem of symmetry, by which function can equally well be placed in the environment as in the organism. Focusing on the autonomy view, I note that it can be understood to some degree in terms of control theory in its version called second order cybernetics. I present an approach to second order cybernetics that seems plausible for organisms with limited computational power, due to Hooker, Penfold and Evans. They hold that this approach gives something like concepts, certainly abstractions from specific situations, a trait required for functionality in its system adaptive form (i.e., control of the system by itself). Using this cue, I argue that biosemiotics provides the methodology to incorporate these quasi concepts into an account of functionality.     

On the Harm of Imposing Risk of Harm

What is wrong with imposing pure risks, that is, risks that don’t materialize into harm? According to a popular response, imposing pure risks is pro tanto wrong, when and because risk itself is harmful. Call this the Harm View. Defenders of this view make one of the following two claims. On the Constitutive Claim, pure risk imposition is pro tanto wrong when and because risk constitutes diminishing one’s well-being viz. preference-frustration or setting-back their legitimate interest in autonomy. On the Contingent Claim, pure risk imposition is pro tanto wrong when and because risk has harmful consequences for the risk-bearers, such as psychological distress. This paper argues that the Harm View is plausible only on the Contingent Claim, but fails on the Constitutive Claim. In discussing the latter, I argue that both the preference and autonomy account fail to show that risk itself is constitutively harmful and thereby wrong. In discussing the former, I argue that risk itself is contingently harmful and thereby wrong but only in a narrow range of cases. I conclude that while the Harm View can sometimes explain the wrong of imposing risk when (and because) risk itself is contingently harmful, it is unsuccessful as a general, exhaustive account of what makes pure imposition wrong.

     

‘It’s up to you’: Experimentally manipulated autonomy support for prosocial behavior improves well-being in two cultures over six weeks

Previous research has demonstrated a strong link between prosocial behavior – particularly autonomous prosocial behavior – and well-being. Little is known, however, about whether and how autonomy might be boosted in the context of everyday kindnesses. We tested the effect of supporting students’ autonomy on well-being gains from practicing acts of kindness in a six-week randomized experimental study in the United States and South Korea. As predicted, performing kind acts while receiving autonomy support led to greater improvements in well-being than performing kind acts without autonomy support or engaging in comparison activities (i.e. focusing on one’s academic work, with or without autonomy support). Notably, these well-being improvements were mediated by feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The current study is one of the first to demonstrate the causal effect of autonomous prosocial behavior on well-being, as well as the psychological mechanism (i.e. need satisfaction) explaining this effect.     

父母自主支持对青少年积极情绪适应的影响:基本心理需要满足的中介与调节作用模型

本研究旨在考察父母自主支持对青少年积极情绪适应的影响及其作用机制。采用生活满意度问卷、积极情感消极情感量表、父母自主支持量表、自尊量表以及基本心理需要量表对1912名初中生被试进行调查。结果表明：（1）父母自主支持对青少年生活满意度、积极情绪、自尊和基本心理需要满足有显著正向预测作用;（2）基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持对青少年生活满意度、自尊和积极情绪影响中的中介作用显著;（3）基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持与积极情绪、生活满意度之间起着调节作用。本研究结果揭示了基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持和积极情绪适应之间的“双重作用”。     

A measure of autonomy

This article reports the development of a measure of indicidual differences in autonomous rule compliance. The autonomy scale (a short, easily administered CPI based test) was developed within the framework of a multidimensional, role-theoretical model of moral development. Five samples were used in the construction of the scale. Two of the samples (total n = 111) were used to derive the autonomy scale. The items for the scale were derived through the sequential use of two common item selection stategies: criterion keying and factor analysis. An initial set of 55 CPI items were derived using an "ideal" autonomy Q-sort profile as a selection criterion, and an Alpha factor solution was used to reduce this initial pool to a final set of 25 items. Several analyses were conducted using three additional samples (total n = 245) to estimate the reliability of the scale and determine its validity. The results of these analyses provide initial evidence for the content, criterion-realted, and construct validity of the scale and indicate that the measure has an adequate reliability.