scholarly journals Embodied cognition, embodied regulation, and the Data Rate Theorem

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace

AbstractThe Data Rate Theorem carries deep implications for theories of embodied cognition, extensions providing a spectrum of necessary conditions dynamic statistical models useful in empirical studies. A large deviations argument, however, implies that the regulation and stabilization of such systems is itself an interpenetrating phenomenon necessarily convoluted with embodied cognition. For humans, the central regulatory role of culture has long been known. Although a ground-state collapse analogous to generalized anxiety appears ubiquitous to such systems, lack of cultural modulation in real-time automatons or distributed cognition man-machine ‘cockpits’ makes them subject to a pathology under which ‘all possible targets are enemies’.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace

The Data Rate Theorem that establishes a formal linkage between linear control theory and information theory carries deep implications for the design of biologically inspired cognitive architectures (BICA), and for the more general study of embodied cognition. For example, modest extensions of the theorem provide a spectrum of necessary conditions dynamic statistical models that will be useful in empirical studies. A large deviations argument, however, suggests that the stabilization of such systems is itself an interpenetrating dynamic process necessarily convoluted with embodied cognition. As our experience with mental disorders and chronic disease implies, evolutionary process has had only modest success in the regulation and control of cognitive biological phenomena. For humans, the central role of culture has long been known. Although a ground-state collapse analogous to generalized anxiety appears ubiquitous to such systems, lack of cultural modulation for real-time automatons or distributed cognition man-machine `cockpits' makes them particularly subject to a canonical pathology under which `all possible targets are enemies'. More general dysfunctions of large-scale topology and connectivity analogous to autism spectrum and schizophenoform disorders also appear likely. A kind of machine psychiatry may become a central engineering discipline as the number of computation cores in real-time critical systems increases exponentially over the next few decades.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace

The Data Rate Theorem that establishes a formal linkage between linear control theory and information theory carries deep implications for the design of biologically inspired cognitive architectures (BICA), and for the more general study of embodied cognition. For example, modest extensions of the theorem provide a spectrum of necessary conditions dynamic statistical models that will be useful in empirical studies. A large deviations argument, however, suggests that the stabilization of such systems is itself an interpenetrating dynamic process necessarily convoluted with embodied cognition. As our experience with mental disorders and chronic disease implies, evolutionary process has had only modest success in the regulation and control of cognitive biological phenomena. For humans, the central role of culture has long been known. Although a ground-state collapse analogous to generalized anxiety appears ubiquitous to such systems, lack of cultural modulation for real-time automatons or distributed cognition man-machine `cockpits' makes them particularly subject to a canonical pathology under which `all possible targets are enemies'. More general dysfunctions of large-scale topology and connectivity analogous to autism spectrum and schizophenoform disorders also appear likely. A kind of machine psychiatry may become a central engineering discipline as the number of computation cores in real-time critical systems increases exponentially over the next few decades.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 124-138
Author(s):  
Alexandra V. Shiller

The article analyzes the role of theories of embodied cognition for the development of emotion research. The role and position of emotions changed as philosophy developed. In classical and modern European philosophy, the idea of the “primacy of reason” prevailed over emotions and physicality, emotions and affective life were described as low-ranking phenomena regarding cognitive processes or were completely eliminated as an unknown quantity. In postmodern philosophy, attention focuses on physicality and sensuality, which are rated higher than rational principle, mind and intelligence. Within the framework of this approach, there is a recently emerged theory of embodied cognition, which allows to take a fresh look at the place of emotions in the architecture of mental processes – thinking, perception, memory, imagination, speech. The article describes and analyzes a number of empirical studies showing the impossibility of excluding emotional processes and the significance of their research for understanding the architecture of embodied cognition. However, the features of the architecture of embodied cognition remain unclear, and some of the discoveries of recent years (mirror neurons or neurons of simulation) rather raise new questions and require further research. The rigorously described and clear architecture of the embodied cognition can grow the theoretical basis that will allow to advance the studies of learning processes, language understanding, psychotherapy techniques, social attitudes and stereotypes, highlight the riddle of consciousness and create new theories of consciousness or even create an anthropomorphic artificial intelligence that is close to “strong artificial intelligence.”


Author(s):  
Shaun Gallagher

An enactivist approach to understanding the mind, in its fullest sense, is not just a matter of action-oriented processes; enactivism is about more than action and sensory–motor contingencies. To understand cognition as richly embodied this chapter considers factors involving affectivity and intersubjectivity. Empirical studies show that affectivity, in a wide sense that includes hunger, fatigue, pain, respiration, as well as emotion, has an effect on perception, attention, and judgment. Likewise, intersubjective factors, including the role of bodily postures, movements, gestures, gaze and facial expressions, and dynamical aspects of interaction, have similar effects. This richer conception of embodied cognition also holds implications for understanding how the brain works.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace

We explore environmentally-induced tumors in the context of the ongoing conflict between long-evolved cancer control mechanisms and the central flaw of multicellularity, using a number of convergent necessary conditions statistical models based on the Data Rate Theorem linking control and information theories. Multicellular cancer suppression is an inherently unstable dynamic process that can fail through sufficient environmental insult, in particular for humans, involving the synergism of chemical exposures with the chronic inflammation of 'social' exposures that may be seen as accelerated aging.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace

We explore environmentally-induced tumors in the context of the ongoing conflict between long-evolved cancer control mechanisms and the central flaw of multicellularity, using a number of convergent necessary conditions statistical models based on the Data Rate Theorem linking control and information theories. Multicellular cancer suppression is an inherently unstable dynamic process that can fail through sufficient environmental insult, in particular for humans, involving the synergism of chemical exposures with the chronic inflammation of 'social' exposures that may be seen as accelerated aging.


Author(s):  
Dubravka Glasnović Gracin

AbstractA mathematics textbook can be described as an officially authorized and pedagogically designed mathematics book written to provide mathematical knowledge to students. This description suggests the authority of the textbook - because it has been authorized by an administrative source and because it deals with authorized knowledge. This paper provides an overview of research on mathematics textbooks. The emphasis is on questions concerning the extent to which and how textbooks are used in mathematics education in Croatia and in the world.Research results show that mathematics textbooks are widely used in mathematics education worldwide. This finding points to the need for research on the content and structure of textbooks. Such studies are combined with the associated results on how textbooks are used in the classroom and which methods teachers apply in using textbooks in mathematics education. The results of the empirical studies show that teachers use textbooks for lesson preparation and pupils use mathematics textbooks for exercises to a great extent. These results imply that such an important role of textbooks in mathematics education deserves additional attention, with the goal of understanding and improving mathematics education.Key words: mathematics education; overview; research on textbook---SažetakMatematički udžbenik može se opisati kao službeno autorizirana i pedagoki osmiljena matematička knjiga napisana s ciljem da učenicima ponudi matematičke sadržaje. Taj opis sugerira autoritet udžbenika jer ga je autorizirao administrativni izvor i jer sadrži autorizirano znanje. Ovaj članak daje pregled istraživanja matematičkih udžbenika, a naglasak je na pitanjima u kojoj mjeri i kako se udžbenici koriste u nastavi matematike u Hrvatskoj i u svijetu.Rezultati raznih istraživanja pokazuju da se udžbenici u velikoj mjeri koriste u nastavi matematike irom svijeta. Taj nalaz ukazuje na potrebu za istraživanjem sadržaja i strukture matematičkih udžbenika. Uz to, prikazani su rezultati istraživanja o tome na koji se način udžbenici koriste u razredu i koje metode nastavnici prakticiraju prilikom upotrebe udžbenika na nastavi. Rezultati empirijskih studija pokazuju da nastavnici udžbenike većinom koriste za pripremu nastavnog sata, a učenici udžbenike koriste u najvećoj mjeri za vježbanje. Ti rezultati ukazuju na to da tako važna uloga udžbenika u matematičkom obrazovanju zaslužuje dodatnu pažnju s ciljem razumijevanja i poboljanja nastave matematike.Ključne riječi: istraživanje udžbenika; nastava matematike; pregled.


Author(s):  
Mek Wok Mahmud ◽  
Sayed Sikandar Shah Haneef

Reversion to Islam while opening golden opportunities for a revert in terms of divine guidance and spiritual salvation is coming with somewhat insurmountable challenges in terms of Islamization of the self, family and contributions to the overall development of Malaysia as a multi-religious country. This is especially so when Islam as an official religion has made the issue of Islamization of the Malaysian society and its systems amongst the pivotal national agendas in the country.  As to what is the role of Chinese Muslims (reverts) in the process, studies, among others, have purported to present the statistics about their share in socio-economic development. Similarly, empirical studies point to the odds faced by this community at personal, family and community levels in their path for transition to the full Islamic way of life. To the presenters of this paper, however, the macro dimension of what it means to become a Muslim which is essential for adjustment to the Islamic requirements has not been sufficiently highlighted in discourses in the area. Accordingly, this paper presents the position statements on Islamic expectations from Chinese reverts with the purpose of motivating them to achieve greater things in the area of Islamization of their community and the nation to the effect. Keywords: Chinese converts, Islamization, expectations and challenges. Abstrak kembalinya seseorang kepada agama Islam selain dari membuka peluang keemasan dalam mendapat  petunjuk Ilahi dan pengisian rohani turut disertai dengan cabaran yang amat sukar untuk diatasi termasuklah cabaran Islamisasi diri, keluarga serta sumbangan kepada pembangunan keseluruhan Malaysia sebagai negara berbilang agama. Hal ini menjadi satu keutamaan terutamanya apabila Islam memegang status sebagai agama rasmi persekutuan yang menjadikan isu Islamisasi masyarakat Malaysia sebagai satu agenda nasional. Bagi menjayakan agenda ini, peranan umat Islam dari kalangan masyarakat Cina (cina muslim) juga perlu diambil kira. Statistik menunjukkan cina muslim turut mempunyai bahagian dalam menyumbang terhadap pembangunan sosio-ekonomi negara. Dalam pada masa yang sama, kajian empirikal membuktikan adanya bentuk bentuk cabaran yang dihadapi oleh komuniti ini di peringkat peribadi, keluarga dan komuniti dalam perjalanan mereka untuk kembali kepada cara hidup Islam yang sepenuhnya. Bagi kami pengkaji kertas ini, dimensi makro dalam menjadikan dan mengertikan  seseorang itu Muslim terutamanya dalam menyesuaikan diri dengan ajaran  Islam masih belum cukup diberi  penjelasan dan penerangan yang sewajarnya. Oleh itu, makalah ini cuba menerangkan idea dan cadangan yang berguna kepada cina muslim dengan tujuan memotivasikan  mereka bagi  mencapai kejayaan  yang lebih besar dari aspek Islamisasi di kalangan komuniti mereka seterusnya memberi sumbangan kepada negara. Kata kunci:  Cina Muslim, Islamisasi, harapan dan cabaran.


Author(s):  
Freya Bailes

Freya Bailes deals with the topic of musical imagery, and she uses embodied cognition as a framework to argue that musical imagery is a multimodal experience. Existing empirical studies of musical imagery are reviewed and Bailes points to future directions for the study of musical imagery as an embodied-cognition phenomenon. Arguing that musical imagery can never be fully disembodied, Bailes moves beyond the idea of auditory imagery as merely a simulation of auditory experience by “the mind’s ear.” Instead, she outlines how imagining sounds involves kinesthetic imagery and she concludes that sound and music are always connected to sensory motor processing.


Author(s):  
Torun Reite ◽  
Francis Badiang Oloko ◽  
Manuel Armando Guissemo

Inspired by recent epistemological and ontological debates aimed at unsettling and reshaping conceptions of language, this essay discusses how mainstream sociolinguistics offers notions meaningful for studying contexts of the South. Based on empirical studies of youth in two African cities, Yaoundé in Cameroon and Maputo in Mozambique, the essay engages with “fluid modernity” and “enregisterment” to unravel the role that fluid multilingual practices play in the social lives of urban youth. The empirically grounded theoretical discussion shows how recent epistemologies and ontologies offer inroads to more pluriversal knowledge production. The essay foregrounds: i) the role of language in the sociopolitical battles of control over resources, and ii) speakers’ reflexivity and metapragmatic awareness of register formations of fluid multilingual practices. Moreover, it shows how bundles of localized meanings construct belongings and counterhegemonic discourses, as well as demonstrating speakers’ differential valuations and perceptions of boundaries and transgressions across social space.


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