Humean dispositionalism

Humean metaphysics is characterized by a rejection of necessary connections between distinct existences. Dispositionalists claim that there are basic causal powers. The existence of such properties is widely held to be incompatible with the Humean rejection of necessary connections. In this paper I present a novel theory of causal powers that vindicates the dispositionalist claim that causal powers are basic, without embracing brute necessary connections. The key assumptions of the theory are that there are natural types of causal processes, and that manifestations of powers are identified with certain kinds of causal processes. From these assumptions, the modal features of powers are explained in terms of internal relations between powers themselves and the process-types in which powers are manifested.     

Relevant Restricted Quantification

The paper reviews a number of approaches for handling restricted quantification in relevant logic, and proposes a novel one. This proceeds by introducing a novel kind of enthymematic conditional.     

The development of coordination

My concern in this paper is to provide a framework for analyzing the development of coordinated action systems. By emphasizing the general theme of pattern formation in coordinated action, attention is drawn to dual problems of establishing separable dimensions of action that are in turn combined into higher-order configurations. During development processes of differentiation and integration are combined to make coordinated action possible. The rules by which this is accomplished, however, are still poorly understood. The perspective offered here is that to understand the development of coordinated action it is valuable to seek relative degrees of continuity-discontinuity and change-stability from several complementary perspectives. This avoids unnecessarily simple "unit" concepts of coordinated action, and thereby provides the flexibility necessary to clarify underlying developmental pathways.     

Food caching in captive coyotes: stereotypy of action sequence and spatial distribution of cache sites

This paper describes some aspects of the food caching behaviour of four captive coyotes. Detailed observations of the actions used by coyotes to cache food revealed them to be strikingly similar to those previously described for timber wolves. The similarities included the identity of the movements used, their temporal sequencing, and their susceptibility to interruption. This suggests that there exists a stereotypy across canids in the action sequences used in caching. Second, an examination of the distribution of cache sites revealed that each coyote scattered cache sites widely within a wooded region of their enclosure and preferentially in terrains close to exposed tree roots.     

Streams and patterns in behavior as challenges for future technologies

How we divide and recombine processes that underlie integrated patterns of behavior represents one of the most fundamental problems in all behavioral science. Avenues of insight range from naturalistic observations to the most advanced technological advances in the recording and analysis of behavioral sequences. Members of the symposium on “Streams and Patterns in Behavior,” Maastricht Conference on Measuring Behavior, offered important complementary approaches to issues that are common in all analyses of behavioral patterns, across time scales and levels of organization. Rodent grooming was emphasized as one model system, but contributors also offered insights on a range of issues relevant to our deeper understanding of exploration, emotions, consciousness, and human neurological disorders.