Animal cognition + optimal choice = behavior: A review of adaptive behavior and learning, 2nd Ed., by J. E. R. Staddon

Staddon discusses a vast array of topics in comparative psychology in this book. His view is that adaptive behavior in most cases is the result of optimal choice acting on an animal's knowledge about the world. Staddon refers to this as a functional teleonomic approach inasmuch as it attempts to understand an animal's behavior in terms of goals. He builds mathematical models based on this idea that are designed to reproduce specific sets of empirical observations, usually qualitatively. A natural consequence of Staddon's approach is that many models are developed, each of which applies to a specific set of observations. An alternative to functional teleonomy is a functional approach that builds on prior principles. In most cases, this approach favors a single‐theory account of behavior. Prior principles can be understood as functional stand‐ins for antecedent material causes, which means that these accounts are closer to mechanistic theories than are goal‐based teleonomic accounts. An ontological perspective, referred to as supervenient realism, is a means of understanding the relationship between functional theories and the material world. According to this perspective, the algorithmic operation of a successful functional theory may be understood to supervene on the material operation of the nervous system.     

On the current status of the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics

The evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics is a complexity theory that instantiates the Darwinian principles of selection, reproduction, and mutation in a genetic algorithm. The algorithm is used to animate artificial organisms that behave continuously in time and can be placed in any experimental environment. The present paper is an update on the status of the theory. It includes a summary of the evidence supporting the theory, a list of the theory's untested predictions, and a discussion of how the algorithmic operations of the theory may correspond to material reality. Based on the evidence reviewed here, the evolutionary theory appears to be a strong candidate for a comprehensive theory of adaptive behavior.     

Translational research in behavior analysis: historical traditions and imperative for the future

"Pure basic" science can become detached from the natural world that it is supposed to explain. "Pure applied" work can become detached from fundamental processes that shape the world it is supposed to improve. Neither demands the intellectual support of a broad scholarly community or the material support of society. Translational research can do better by seeking innovation in theory or practice through the synthesis of basic and applied questions, literatures, and methods. Although translational thinking has always occurred in behavior analysis, progress often has been constrained by a functional separation of basic and applied communities. A review of translational traditions in behavior analysis suggests that innovation is most likely when individuals with basic and applied expertise collaborate. Such innovation may have to accelerate for behavior analysis to be taken seriously as a general-purpose science of behavior. We discuss the need for better coordination between the basic and applied sectors, and argue that such coordination compromises neither while benefiting both.     

Matching in an undisturbed natural human environment

Data from the Oregon Youth Study, consisting of the verbal behavior of 210 adolescent boys determined to be at risk for delinquency (targets) and 210 of their friends (peers), were analyzed for their conformance to the complete family of matching theory equations in light of recent findings from the basic science, and using recently developed analytic techniques. Equations of the classic and modern theories of matching were fitted as ensembles to rates and time allocations of the boys' rule-break and normative talk obtained from conversations between pairs of boys. The verbal behavior of each boy in a conversation was presumed to be reinforced by positive social responses from the other boy. Consistent with recent findings from the basic science, the boys' verbal behavior was accurately described by the modern but not the classic theory of matching. These findings also add support to the assertion that basic principles and processes that are known to govern behavior in laboratory experiments also govern human social behavior in undisturbed natural environments.     

认知加工的自动化现象：从二分法到渐进观

认知自动化是人类学习和进步的必经之路。传统的二分法通过无意识等特征简单地将认知加工过程分为受控加工与自动化加工。但这些特征取决于研究者所采用的研究范式, 不具有普适性。近年来研究者根据注意资源有限理论提出自动化是一个渐进的过程, 而注意资源需求的减少是自动化发展的核心特征。相比二分法, 这种渐进观更加符合实证研究的发现。而且, 渐进观在信息加工自动化理论和技能习得理论的阶段性中都得以体现, 进一步证明了渐进观的普适性。     

AN ALGORITHMIC INFORMATION THEORY CHALLENGE TO INTELLIGENT DESIGN

William Dembski claims to have established a decision process to determine when highly unlikely events observed in the natural world are due to Intelligent Design. This article argues that, as no implementable randomness test is superior to a universal Martin‐Löf test, this test should be used to replace Dembski's decision process. Furthermore, Dembski's decision process is flawed, as natural explanations are eliminated before chance. Dembski also introduces a fourth law of thermodynamics, his “law of conservation of information,” to argue that information cannot increase by natural processes. However, this article, using algorithmic information theory, shows that this law is no more than the second law of thermodynamics. The article concludes that any discussions on the possibilities of design interventions in nature should be articulated in terms of the algorithmic information theory approach to randomness and its robust decision process.     

心理理论对幼儿白谎行为的影响：认知移情的部分中介作用

采用失望礼物研究范式考察心理理论与幼儿白谎行为的关系,及认知移情和情绪移情在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）幼儿的白谎行为发生率、心理理论、认知移情和情绪移情能力随年龄的增长而提高;（2）控制年龄与言语能力后,幼儿的心理理论与认知移情呈显著正相关、与白谎行为也呈显著正相关,且认知移情与白谎行为呈显著正相关;（3）幼儿的认知移情在心理理论和白谎行为间起部分中介的作用。结果表明：幼儿的心理理论可直接影响其白谎行为,也可通过认知移情的中介作用间接影响其白谎行为。     

内隐序列学习意识的理论、测量和影响因素

内隐序列学习意识理论有二分和渐进两种观点。意识的主观和客观行为测量来源于二分理论, 其研究却产生了渐进理论; 电生理和脑成像测量则存在严重的二分偏向。影响意识的三因素--反应刺激间隔(RSI)、人格开放性和新异刺激都是意识产生的原因, 其有关研究各自支持或反对两种意识理论, 进一步探索可能孕育出新的意识理论。鉴于二分理论无法解释中间意识, 反之渐进理论无法解释意识与无意识的脑区分离, 本文提出双系统渐进理论或可统合两者, 且可能促使大脑网络技术探索意识产生机制的多样性和竞争性等新研究的产生。此外, 所有测量方式的敏感性等级尚待确定, 影响意识三因素的交互作用也值得探索。     

The neuronal basis of bimanual coordination: recent neurophysiological evidence and functional models

Recent physiological studies of the neuronal processes underlying bimanual movements provide new tests for earlier functional models of bimanual coordination. The recently acquired data address three conceptual areas: the generalized motor program (GMP), intermanual crosstalk and dynamic systems models. To varying degrees, each of these concepts has aspects that can be reconciled with experimental evidence. The idea of a GMP is supported by the demonstration of abstract neuronal motor codes, e.g. bimanual-specific activity in motor cortex. The crosstalk model is consistent with the facts that hand-specific coding also exists and that interactions occur between the motor commands for each arm. Uncrossed efferent projections may underlie crosstalk on an executional level. Dynamic interhemispheric interactions through the corpus callosum may provide a high-level link at the parametric programming level, allowing flexible coupling and de-coupling. Flexible neuronal interactions could also underlie adaptive large-scale systems dynamics that can be formalized within the dynamic systems theory approach.

The correspondence of identified neuronal processes with functions of abstract models encourages the development of realistic computational models that can predict bimanual behavior on the basis of neuronal activity.     

The functional theory of counterfactual thinking.

Counterfactuals are thoughts about alternatives to past events, that is, thoughts of what might have been. This article provides an updated account of the functional theory of counterfactual thinking, suggesting that such thoughts are best explained in terms of their role in behavior regulation and performance improvement. The article reviews a wide range of cognitive experiments indicating that counterfactual thoughts may influence behavior by either of two routes: a content-specific pathway (which involves specific informational effects on behavioral intentions, which then influence behavior) and a content-neutral pathway (which involves indirect effects via affect, mind-sets, or motivation). The functional theory is particularly useful in organizing recent findings regarding counterfactual thinking and mental health. The article concludes by considering the connections to other theoretical conceptions, especially recent advances in goal cognition.     

Activity Versus Reactivity in Psychology and Neurophysiology

The traditional reflex approach in neurophysiology is incompatible with modern psychology's concern with goal-directed activity. We try to show that a ne~roph~siological approach based on the theory of functional systems may help to solve this problem. According to functional systems theory, all the elements of the organism are organized in systems that are neither sensory nor motor, but functional; the elements of these systems are defined in terms of how they enable the achievement of useful results of behavior. To make our case for this functional systems approach, experimental data are reviewed to illustrate the significance of the behavioral context in determining the activity of both central and peripheral neurons. One key indicator of the functionally specific organization of neural elements is the role of efferent influences in the coordination of the central and peripheral neural processes, and this is discussed at some length here. We offer the present approach as a basis for a new integration of neurophysiology and psy- chology (systemic psychophysiology), an integration which aims not at correla- tions of psychological with neural phenomena, but at their methodologically consistent unification through an understanding of the organization of different levels of the organism-environment system.     

A strategy disruption component to retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieval-induced forgetting refers to a paradoxical occurrence wherein the act of remembering some material disrupts the retrieval of other, related material (see, e.g., M. C. Anderson, R. A. Bjork, & E. L. Bjork, 1994). This effect is generally accounted for in terms of inhibitory processes. Across three experiments, we test the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting, as well as whether there may be a strategy disruption component to the effect. In our first two experiments, we manipulate which items individuals are cued to recall during retrieval practice and demonstrate that retrieval-induced forgetting can be neutralized when those items do not interfere with the individual's retrieval strategy. In the third experiment, we confirm this finding with a different set of stimuli. These results are inconsistent with a purely inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting, and we discuss implications for inhibition theory and strategy disruption in light of these and other findings.     

动作理解因境而异:动作加工中情境信息的自动整合

针对动作理解的机制,模拟论主张大脑自发模拟他人的动作,就相同的动作其理解也相同,而理论论则认为人们基于合理性原则对他人动作进行推理,相同的动作发生在不同的情境时会有不同的理解。但以往研究所采用动作材料的运动学特性和发生情境存在共变,其难以区分动作理解是支持模拟论还是理论论。通过两项实验,采用动画制作技术来产生有无约束情境下的追逐动作,以指示动作加工过程的脑电μ抑制为指标,对前述两种观点进行了检验。其中,在约束情境中存在障碍物,追逐者需改变运动方向以绕过障碍物,从后方逐渐趋近目标;而无约束情境中不存在障碍物,但追逐者依然保持与存在约束情景下相同的运动模式。结果发现,当追逐动作发生在存在约束的情境时,其基于合理性原则推测可获得清晰的动作目标,该条件下的μ抑制程度高于不存在约束情境的条件(实验1);而当仅追逐者运动,即趋近的目标不确定时,虽然有约束和无约束情境间的物理差异与实验1相同,但条件间μ抑制的差异消失(实验2);且上述μ抑制并非与注意相关的枕叶α活动的泛化。该结果提示,动作发生的情境信息影响人们对动作的理解,即基于推理过程理解动作,支持理论论观点。     

On the classic and modern theories of matching

Classic matching theory, which is based on Herrnstein's (1961) original matching equation and includes the well-known quantitative law of effect, is almost certainly false. The theory is logically inconsistent with known experimental findings, and experiments have shown that its central constant-k assumption is not tenable. Modern matching theory, which is based on the power function version of the original matching equation, remains tenable, although it has not been discussed or studied extensively. The modern theory is logically consistent with known experimental findings, it predicts the fact and details of the violation of the classic theory's constant-k assumption, and it accurately describes at least some data that are inconsistent with the classic theory.     

Learning as change of coordination dynamics: theory and experiment

Learning of coordination patterns was investigated theoretically from the point of view of a dynamic theory of biological coordination and with reference to recent experiments on the learning of relative timing patterns. The theory is based on theoretical and experimental work showing that coordinated movement is characterized not only by the actually performed pattern of coordination but by an entire dynamics of coordination. Theoretically, such dynamics are captured as equations of motion of relevant collective variables. Experimentally, signatures of these underlying dynamics can be found in the temporal stability of coordination patterns, which can be assessed through various stability measures as well as through processes of pattern change. We argue that not only intrinsic coordination tendencies, but also specific behavioral requirements, be they perceived, memorized, or intended, must be expressed in terms of such dynamics. The concept of behavioral information captures such requirements as part of the coordination dynamics. We expound two hypotheses on the nature of learning in this framework. First, we assume that at each point during the learning process the system is governed by a well-defined coordination dynamics. This equation of motion evolves with learning so as to acquire an attractor solution near the to-be-learned pattern. Second, we hypothesize that this change of the coordination dynamics, captured by the time course of memorized behavioral information, can itself be ascribed to an additional layer of dynamics, the slower learning dynamics. Testable consequences of these views are discussed in the light of recent experimental findings on the learning of a relative phase in rhythmic movement: (a) Learning affects dynamic properties of performed coordination patterns, in particular, their stability; (b) the change of the coordination dynamics due to learning leads to specific changes of behavior also under conditions other than the learned condition, namely, to systematic deviation toward the learned patterns; (c) learning may lead to instabilities in the coordination behavior if initial and learned performance differ sufficiently; and (d) the dynamic properties of the performed coordination patterns are distinct on the two time scales of learning and of performance.     

Two Theories of Home Heat Control*

People routinely develop their own theories to explain the world around them. These theories can be useful even when they contradict conventional technical wisdom. Based on in-depth interviews about home heating and thermostat setting behavior, the present study presents two theories people use to understand and adjust their thermostats. The two theories are here called the feedback theory and the valve theory. The valve theory is inconsistent with engineering knowledge, but is estimated to be held by 25% to 50% of Americans. Predictions of each of the theories are compared with the operations normally performed in home heat control. This comparison suggests that the valve theory may be highly functional in normal day-to-day use. Further data is needed on the ways this theory guides behavior in natural environments.     

Reminders of secular authority reduce believers' distrust of atheists

Atheists have long been distrusted, in part because they do not believe that a watchful, judging god monitors their behavior. However, in many parts of the world, secular institutions such as police, judges, and courts are also potent sources of social monitoring that encourage prosocial behavior. Reminders of such secular authority could therefore reduce believers' distrust of atheists. In our experiments, participants who watched a video about police effectiveness (Experiment 1) or were subtly primed with secular-authority concepts (Experiments 2-3) expressed less distrust of atheists than did participants who watched a control video or were not primed, respectively. We tested three distinct alternative explanations for these findings. Compared with control participants, participants primed with secular-authority concepts did not exhibit reduced general prejudice against out-groups (Experiment 1), prejudice reactions associated with functional threats that particular out-groups are perceived to pose (specifically, viewing gays with disgust; Experiment 2), or general distrust of out-groups (Experiment 3). These findings contribute to theory regarding both the psychological bases of prejudices and the psychological functions served by gods and governments.     

Dynamic analyses of mother-child interactions in functional and dysfunctional dyads: a synergetic approach

Describes the application of a new analytical approach (derived from synergetics, a complex dynamic systems theory) to home observational data of mother–child interactions in average dyads and dyads with children referred for disruptive behavior problems at home and school (n = 11 in each group). Results show that (1) the two groups differed in their daily interactions in predictable ways, and (2) the most frequent patterns of interactions observed in the two groups brought them back repeatedly to behave in similar ways toward each other. The findings are in keeping with a body of literature on mother–child interactions. However, they add to it by providing multivariate, graphical representations of these interactions and by offering a conceptual framework within which to move from an observational to an inferential level of analysis. At that level, the transactional processes that are characteristic of functional and dysfunctional relationships may become apparent.