Alignment and commitment in joint action

Important work on alignment systems has been applied to philosophical work on joint action by Tollefsen and Dale. This paper builds from and expands on their work. The first aim of the paper is to spell out how the empirical research on alignment may be integrated into philosophical theories of joint action. The second aim is then to develop a successful characterization of joint action, which spells out the difference between genuine joint action and simpler forms of coordination based on alignment. I begin by introducing the empirical research and two definitions of joint action. I then argue that instead of using this research in conjunction with Searle’s account of collective intentionality, as Tollefsen and Dale suggest, we would be better served by applying this research to Gilbert’s account of plural subjects. In the final sections I distinguish between alignment, coordination, and joint action, clarify the roles of joint commitment and sub-personal alignment in joint action, and argue that these concepts are both consistent and mutually supportive. Combining these two research programs gives us an account of joint action that does justice to both the empirical and philosophical research.     

“Poor is pious”: Distinctiveness threat increases glorification of poverty among the poor

The current study examines whether a threat to group distinctiveness motivates the poor to glorify poverty as an identity management strategy. Research shows that threat to ingroup distinctiveness can motivate people to positively differentiate their group from similar outgroups on relevant dimensions of comparison. Little is known however about whether such processes would occur also with respect to devalued group characteristics that are not reflective of explicit group norms. This question is of high theoretical and practical importance because it can illustrate that people internalize and glorify even adverse traits as means of managing their social identity when faced with threat. We therefore tested whether among a poor community, individuals would glorify poverty when faced with distinctiveness threat. We collected data from Haredim (ultra‐Orthodox Jews), a poor and highly religious population in Israel. Across two experiments, we manipulated distinctiveness threat via inducing similarity between Haredim and seculars in Israel. We found that poverty was reconstrued as positive and desirable following distinctiveness threat, but only among Haredim who have a high commitment to group norms (Study 1) and who strongly justify their own social system (Study 2). Theoretical and applied implications of the findings are discussed.     

Blaming a Few Bad Apples to Save a Threatened Barrel: The System‐Justifying Function of Conspiracy Theories

This research demonstrates that conspiracy theories—often represented as subversive alternatives to establishment narratives—may bolster, rather than undermine, support for the social status quo when its legitimacy is under threat. A pilot study (N = 98) found a positive relationship between conspiracy belief and satisfaction with the status quo. In Study 1 (N = 120), threatening (vs. affirming) the status quo in British society caused participants to endorse conspiracy theories. In Study 2 (N = 159), exposure to conspiracy theories increased satisfaction with the British social system after this had been experimentally threatened. In Study 3 (N = 109), this effect was mediated by the tendency for participants exposed (vs. not exposed) to conspiracy theories to attribute societal problems relatively more strongly to small groups of people rather than systemic causes. By blaming tragedies, disasters, and social problems on the actions of a malign few, conspiracy theories can divert attention from the inherent limitations of social systems.     

Interference Effects from Observed Movement in Parkinson's Disease

Previous research has demonstrated that Parkinson's disease patients have an increased susceptibility to response conflict. In the present study, the authors investigate whether Parkinson's patients have a similar sensitivity to interference from observed movements. In all, 10 patients and 10 controls performed horizontal and vertical arm movements while watching a video of either a person performing similar movements or a moving dot. Movements were performed in the same plane (congruent) and orthogonal to the observed movement (incongruent). The off-axis variance of movements was our index of interference. Although patients tended to exhibit more off-axis variability than did controls, both groups demonstrated similar congruence effects, with greater variance in incongruent conditions. These results indicated that increased susceptibility to interference in Parkinson's disease does not extend to interference from observed movements.     

Mechanisms Controlling Head Stabilization in the Elderly During Random Rotations in the Vertical Plane

Frequency-related response characteristics of the mechanisms controlling stabilization of the head in 10 elderly subjects were compared with response characteristics in 8 young adults. Angular velocity of the head with respect to the trunk and EMG responses of 2 neck muscles were recorded in 10 seated subjects during pseudorandom rotations of the trunk in the sagittal plane at frequencies of 0.35 to 3.05 Hz. Subjects were required to actively stabilize their heads with (VS) and without (NV) visual feedback so that voluntary mechanisms and the influence of vision could be tested. Reflex mechanisms were examined when subjects were distracted by a mental calculation task during rotations in the dark (MA). Age emerged as an influential factor in the performance of head stabilization mechanisms, and decrements in performance were even more pronounced in the older as compared with younger elderly subjects. Age effects could be seen in the (a) diminished ability to voluntarily stabilize the head, particularly with the absence of vision, (b) impaired ability to stabilize the head when cognitively distracted, and (c) appearance of a resonant response of the head. Control of head stabilization shifted from reflex mechanisms to system mechanics, probably as a result of age-related changes in the integrity of the sensory systems. The elderly's system mechanics could not effectively compensate for the disturbances, however, and instability was the result.     

Dynamic Touch by Hand and Head During Walking: Protective Behavior for the Head?

We investigated perception of the extent of an object held in the hand or attached to the head during walking. Participants wielded an occluded, weighted rod by hand and by head and reported the perceived location of the rod end (relative to a virtual vertical line) while walking and while standing. There was an unexpected effect of body part on perceived location of the rod end. In particular, participants stood or walked so that the rod end was farther away from the vertical line when wielding with the head than wielding with the hand. It is possible that differences between the tasks and the relative costs of a collision influenced the locomotory behavior in each condition.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory and symptoms of personality disorder: Specificity of the BIS in Cluster C and BAS in Cluster B

Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory, consisting of the behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS), is frequently used to represent basic dimensions of psychopathology. However, notably few investigations have examined the link between the BIS/BAS and symptoms of personality disorder (PD). Although the Fight-Flight-Freeze System has emerged in the revised model as an important aspect of motivation, the BIS (linked to anxiety) and BAS (linked to impulsivity) have been the primary foci. The current investigation uses a dimensional measure of PD, the schedule for nonadaptive and adaptive personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993) applied to two independent samples of English-speaking participants: undergraduates (n = 276) and clinical patients (n = 47). Results were consistent across both samples, demonstrating that symptoms of Cluster B PDs are indicative of high BAS levels whereas symptoms of Cluster C PDs are characterized by high BIS levels.     

Evolutionary Pluralism: A New System of Systems Philosophy

When Darwin wrote his ‘On the origin of species…” (1859) he focused on evolution as a property of living organisms in interaction with abiotic and biotic elements in the world. This viewpoint is still dominant amongst biologists. For particle physicists and cosmologists evolution refers to a larger scale, ranging from quarks and atoms to galaxies, stars and planets (i.e. Pagels 1985, Hawking 1988). To close the gap between such different viewpoints, a wide range of perspectives on an interdisciplinary understanding of system development has been published (i.e. Teilhard de Chardin 1966, von Bertalanffy 1968, Varela 1979, Prigogine and Stengers 1984, Laszlo 1996). As an integrative concept, the construction of nature from a hierarchy of system layers forms a central tenet in general system research and the stepwise construction of this layered hierarchy can be regarded as an interdisciplinary evolution theory. Surprisingly, the literature offers no unequivocal rules to recognise a multilayer hierarchy in nature. This presents an obstacle for interdisciplinary approaches to evolution.

Searching a solution to part of the above hierarchy problem, the present paper is dedicated to the analysis of a special kind of layering in natural systems, which is based on transitions between ‘building block’ systems. To identify these building blocks, and the transitions from building block x at level A, to building block y at level B, the focus of this study is further limited to ‘hypercydic dynamics’ and ‘containment’. On the basis of these criteria, a hierarchy is created which shows no possibilities for ‘bypasses’. It connects hadrons to atoms, atoms to cells, and cells to neural networks. Implications of this hierarchy for system studies and evolution are discussed.