Bernstein's theory of movement behavior: historical development and contemporary relevance

In present-day movement science, N. A. Bernstein's formulation of the problems of motor control is often taken as the starting point. The reliance on Bernstein has not brought agreement among his followers, however. In this article, the authors pose the following question: Does the disagreement arise from the structure of his work itself or from incomplete exploitation of his thinking? By using, inter alia, Bernstein's 24 English and German articles, the authors present an analysis of the development of Bernstein's theory of movement behavior, against the backdrop of the scientific progress in the Soviet Union in Bernstein's time and the clashes between Soviet politics and science. Bernstein addressed in his early articles the measurement and biomechanical analysis of movements. His experimental data soon indicated the need for a new understanding of the organization of movements, which he formulated in terms of coordination. Because of political problems, his work was interrupted; but after being "rehabilitated" and again allowed to work, Bernstein aimed to explain how animals find and optimize the solutions to motor problems. The structure of the theory that ensued was comprehensive exactly by virtue of his repeatedly shifting focus between the different aspects of the organization of movement: More important than the answers he gave were the questions he asked. Moreover, the way he approached those questions may help scientists solve pressing problems in present-day movement science.     

Identity theory and personality theory: mutual relevance

Some personality psychologists have found a structural symbolic interactionist frame and identity theory relevant to their work. This frame and theory, developed in sociology, are first reviewed. Emphasized in the review are a multiple identity conception of self, identities as internalized expectations derived from roles embedded in organized networks of social interaction, and a view of social structures as facilitators in bringing people into networks or constraints in keeping them out, subsequently, attention turns to a discussion of the mutual relevance of structural symbolic interactionism/identity theory and personality theory, looking to extensions of the current literature on these topics.     

A pitfall for the expectancy theory of human eyelid conditioning

Two simple eyeblink conditioning experiments with random intermittent reinforcement schedules were performed. In Experiment 1, subjects had to rate their expectancy for an unconditioned stimulus (US) on a seven-level scale prior to each trial. As anticipated, expectancy for US increased with a successive conditioned stimulus (CS) alone, and decreased with successive CS-US pairings. However, Experiments 1 and 2 showed that the frequency of eyeblink conditioned responses (CRs) evolved in a direction opposite to that of expectancy changes: CRs increased, whereas expectancy for US decreased, and vice versa. The possible effect of sensitization on eyeblink response was ruled out by the lack of a run effect in an unpaired control group in Experiment 2. These results tend to disconfirm the expectancy theory of conditioning. Although they were explicitly predicted by the conventional “strength” theory of conditioning, an alternative interpretation is proposed within a cognitive framework.     

Persistence of stereotypic behavior: examining the effects of external reinforcers

Basic research has shown that behavioral persistence is often positively related to rate of reinforcement. This relation, expressed in the metaphor of behavioral momentum, has potentially important implications for clinical application. The current study examined one prediction of the momentum metaphor for automatically reinforced behavior. Participants were 3 children who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and who engaged in stereotypic behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results suggested that stereotypic behavior was more resistant to disruption following periods of access to preferred stimuli delivered on a variable-time schedule than following periods without access to preferred stimuli. The implications of these findings for the treatment of automatically reinforced behavior are discussed.     

The relevance of the theory of pseudo-culture

Continental Philosophy Review - Some 60 years separate us from Theodor W. Adorno’s “Theory of pseudo-culture.” Yet Adorno’s analysis might never have been as...