scholarly journals Emergence and advancement of basic human capacities

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
Mikhail Ilyin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Epistemic Principle ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Chemical Catalysis ◽  
Signal Systems ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Productive Factor ◽  
Moebius Strip

Abstract The article departs from the Teilhardean opposition of the inside (le dedans) and the outside (le dehors), notions of reflection and self-enclosure (enroulement sur lui-même), and an experimental law of recurrence (une loi expérimentale de recurrence). The author supplements them with his own apparatus of simplex-complex transformations as an epistemic principle and a set of related practices. The article starts with quantum emergence, forging its inside and outside by an interface and an alternative way to represent it as Diracean membrane, branes of the string theory, and the eigenform. The interface instrumentality for operating the inside and outside of the quantum allows their structured totality to enact agency potential. Simplex-complex transformations allow to represent an evolutionary series of agency transformations as modules of a single model up to a developed human self. The article discusses the recurrence, enclosure, and other trickeries of emergence as well as their representation with the help of cognitive metaphors likme Ouroboros or mathematical formalisms like the Moebius strip. It proceeds to chemical catalysis and autocatalysis, further to emergence of autopoiesis, and finally to biogenesis. Forms of life internalize environmental productive factor (Umwelt) by duplication, recursion, enclosing, folding, etc. to evolve a series of codes, making up integral genetic agency and genome as its key vehicle. The article considers organismic symbiosis and respective autocatalytic recursions, addresses the emergence of signal systems and cognition, which is parallel to and duplicating neural processes. It discusses primary cognitive abilities and their further autocatalytic transformations into a range of more advanced capabilities, along with the emergence of higher levelhigher-level signal systems. Finally, it ends up by discussing anthropogenesis and stepwise emergence and advancement of human language and thought in a series of internalizations of communicative contexts (frames, typical communicative settings, mementoes and typical remembrances, etc.) into codes of the first, second, and further orders.

Language as a cognitive technology

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Dascal
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Cognitive Technology ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Computer Interfaces ◽  
Human Computer Interfaces ◽  
Definition Of

Ever since Descartes singled out the ability to use natural language appropriately in any given circumstance as the proof that humans — unlike animals and machines — have minds, an idea that Turing transformed into his well-known test to determine whether machines have intelligence, the close connection between language and cognition has been widely acknowledged, although it was accounted for in quite different ways. Recent advances in natural language processing, as well as attempts to create “embodied conversational agents” which couple language processing with that of its natural bodily correlates (gestures, facial expression and gaze direction), in the hope of developing human-computer interfaces based on natural — rather than formal — language, have again brought to the fore the question of how far we can hope machines to be able to master the cognitive abilities required for language use. In this paper, I approach this issue from a different angle, inquiring whether language can be viewed as a “cognitive technology”, employed by humans as a tool for the performance of certain cognitive tasks. I propose a definition of “cognitive technology” that encompasses both external (or “prosthetic”) and internal cognitive devices. A number of parameters in terms of which a typology of cognitive technologies of both kinds can be sketched is also set forth. It is then argued that inquiring about language’s role in cognition allows us to re-frame the traditional debate about the relationship between language and thought, by examining how specific aspects of language actually influence cognition — as an environment, a resource, or a tool. This perspective helps bring together the contributions of the philosophical “linguistic turn” in epistemology and the incipient “epistemology of cognitive technology” It also permits a more precise and fruitful discussion of the question whether, to what extent, and which of the language-based cognitive technologies we naturally use can be emulated by the kinds of technologies presently or in the foreseeable future available.

scholarly journals Why Are No Animal Communication Systems Simple Languages?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Bird Song ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Simple Language ◽  
High Level

Individuals of some animal species have been taught simple versions of human language despite their natural communication systems failing to rise to the level of a simple language. How is it, then, that some animals can master a version of language, yet none of them deploy this capacity in their own communication system? I first examine the key design features that are often used to evaluate language-like properties of natural animal communication systems. I then consider one candidate animal system, bird song, because it has several of the key design features or their precursors, including social learning and cultural transmission of their vocal signals. I conclude that although bird song communication is nuanced and complex, and has the acoustic potential for productivity, it is not productive – it cannot be used to say many different things. Finally, I discuss the debate over whether animal communication should be viewed as a cooperative information transmission process, as we typically view human language, or as a competitive process where signaler and receiver vie for control. The debate points to a necessary condition for the evolution of a simple language that has generally been overlooked: the degree of to which the interests of the signaler and receiver align. While strong cognitive and signal production mechanisms are necessary pre-adaptations for a simple language, they are not sufficient. Also necessary is the existence of identical or near-identical interests of signaler and receiver and a socio-ecology that requires high-level cooperation across a range of contexts. In the case of our hominid ancestors, these contexts included hunting, gathering, child care and, perhaps, warfare. I argue that the key condition for the evolution of human language was the extreme interdependency that existed among unrelated individuals in the hunter-gatherer societies of our hominid ancestors. This extreme interdependency produced multiple prosocial adaptations for effective intragroup cooperation, which in partnership with advanced cognitive abilities, set the stage for the evolution of language.

scholarly journals Arthropod spatial cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1049
Author(s):  
Sarah Pfeffer ◽  
Harald Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Model Species ◽  
Arthropod Species ◽  
Ample Opportunity ◽  
And Robotics

AbstractThe feats of arthropods, and of the well-studied insects and crustaceans in particular, have fascinated scientists and laymen alike for centuries. Arthropods show a diverse repertoire of cognitive feats, of often unexpected sophistication. Despite their smaller brains and resulting lower neuronal capacity, the cognitive abilities of arthropods are comparable to, or may even exceed, those of vertebrates, depending on the species compared. Miniature brains often provide parsimonious but smart solutions for complex behaviours or ecologically relevant problems. This makes arthropods inspiring subjects for basic research, bionics, and robotics. Investigations of arthropod spatial cognition have originally concentrated on the honeybee, an animal domesticated for several thousand years. Bees are easy to keep and handle, making this species amenable to experimental study. However, there are an estimated 5–10 million arthropod species worldwide, with a broad diversity of lifestyles, ecology, and cognitive abilities. This high diversity provides ample opportunity for comparative analyses. Comparative study, rather than focusing on single model species, is well suited to scrutinise the link between ecological niche, lifestyle, and cognitive competence. It also allows the discovery of general concepts that are transferable between distantly related groups of organisms. With species diversity and a comparative approach in mind, this special issue compiles four review articles and ten original research reports from a spectrum of arthropod species. These contributions range from the well-studied hymenopterans, and ants in particular, to chelicerates and crustaceans. They thus present a broad spectrum of glimpses into current research on arthropod spatial cognition, and together they cogently emphasise the merits of research into arthropod cognitive achievements.

A Cognitive Corpus-based Study of Spatial and Temporal Metaphors in Chinese

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Keyword(s):  
One Dimension ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Temporal Term ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Spatial Terms

Conceptual metaphors are believed to be ubiquitous in human language and thought which may vary with different socio-cultural contexts. This corpus-based study attempts to investigate the metaphorical extensions of space and time in Chinese, taking three pairs of spatial terms shang(up)/xia(down), qian(front)/hou(back), zuo(left)/you(right) and one temporal term shijian(time) as searching words for space and time respectively. The results showed that in spatial metaphors, metaphorical extensions mainly include TIME, STATE, QUANTITY, SCOPE and SOCIAL STATUS which sometimes overlap among these three spatial dimensions, but with one sense being more prominent in one dimension or with some of the senses missing in certain dimensions. In temporal metaphors, three main metaphorical extensions are found, i.e., A MOVING ENTITY, VALUABLES and ANIMATE OR INANIMATE CREATURE. The findings indicate that conceptual metaphor, although rooted into embodied experience, needs to be examined in combination with specific socio-cultural backgrounds.

The Oxford Handbook of Reference

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Speaker Intentions ◽  
The Brain

Reference, the ability to refer to and pick out entities, is essential to human language and thought/cognition. The chapters in this volume attempt to provide a state of the art overview of this ability. The book is divided into two sections. The chapters in Part I, Foundations, are concerned with basic questions related to different types of referring expression and their interpretation. They address questions about the role of the speaker (including speaker intentions) and of the addressee, as well as the contribution of (the semantics of) the linguistic forms themselves, in establishing reference. They are also concerned with the nature of such concepts as definite and indefinite reference and specificity and the conditions under which reference may fail. The chapters in Part II, Implications and Applications, address questions about the acquisition of reference by children, and the processing of reference in the brain (neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics) as well as by machines, including robots (computational linguistics).

Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

Ultrastructural study on the development of rat amygdaloid body

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-433
Author(s):  
A. Manolova ◽  
S. Manolov
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Cells ◽  
Amygdaloid Complex ◽  
Amygdaloid Body ◽  
Thin Ring ◽  
Morphological Criteria ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Abundant Cytoplasm ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Few Data ◽  
Oval Shape

Relatively few data on the development of the amygdaloid complex are available only at the light microscopic level (1-3). The existence of just general morphological criteria requires the performance of other investigations in particular ultrastructural in order to obtain new and more detailed information about the changes in the amygdaloid complex during development.The prenatal and postnatal development of rat amygdaloid complex beginning from the 12th embrionic day (ED) till the 33rd postnatal day (PD) has been studied. During the early stages of neurogenesis (12ED), the nerve cells were observed to be closely packed, small-sized, with oval shape. A thin ring of cytoplasm surrounded their large nuclei, their nucleoli being very active with various size and form (Fig.1). Some cells possessed more abundant cytoplasm. The perikarya were extremely rich in free ribosomes. Single sacs of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria were observed among them. The mitochondria were with light matrix and possessed few cristae. Neural processes were viewed to sprout from some nerve cells (Fig.2). Later the nuclei were still comparatively large and with various shape.

Psychosocial Risks and Management for Children and Adolescents With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Canice E. Crerand ◽  
Ari N. Rabkin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
22Q11.2 Deletion Syndrome ◽  
Deletion Syndrome ◽  
22Q11.2 Deletion ◽  
Psychosocial Risks ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Specific Education

Purpose This article reviews the psychosocial risks associated with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a relatively common genetic condition associated with a range of physical and psychiatric problems. Risks associated with developmental stages from infancy through adolescence and early adulthood are described, including developmental, learning, and intellectual disabilities as well as psychiatric disorders including anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders. Other risks related to coping with health problems and related treatments are also detailed for both affected individuals and their families. Conclusion The article ends with strategies for addressing psychosocial risks including provision of condition-specific education, enhancement of social support, routine assessment of cognitive abilities, regular mental health screening, and referrals for empirically supported psychiatric and psychological treatments.

A Case Study: Unique Challenges of an Adolescent Female With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 314-325
Author(s):  
Kimberly F. Frazier ◽  
Jessica Collier ◽  
Rachel Glade
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Adolescent Female ◽  
Social Thinking

Background The aim of this study was to determine the clinical efficacy of combining self-management strategies and a social thinking approach to address the social performance and executive function of an adolescent female with autism spectrum disorder. Method This research examined the effects of a social knowledge training program, “Think Social,” as well as strategies to improve higher order cognitive abilities. Results and Conclusion Although quantitative improvement was not found, several qualitative gains in behavior were noted for the participants of this study, suggesting a benefit from using structured environmental cues of self-management strategies, as well as improved social understanding through social cognitive training.

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