- Research Article
2
- 10.56315/pscf9-23barrett
Theopsych: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians
- Sep 01, 2023
- Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
- Justin L Barrett
Theopsych: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians
In the domain of perception and cognition, few scientists have contributed more broadly and profoundly than W. R. Garner. Today, Garner is best known for the eponymous Garner interference, but several equally epoch-making developments are less widely recognized or associated with his name. In this article, we provide an in-depth examination of five areas developed by Garner's pioneering ideas, all precursors of contemporary research. They include hearing psychophysics, methodology (with implications for resolving the replication/credibility crisis), information theory, perceptual independence, and attention. All have been instrumental in shaping and molding current perceptual and cognitive science. This article can also serve the student of cognition and perception as a reference for the origins of contemporary work and findings in psychological science.
Theopsych: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians
Theopsych: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians
No evidence for a common self-bias across cognitive domains
No evidence for a common self-bias across cognitive domains
Half a century of research on Garner interference and the separability-integrality distinction.
Research in the allied domains of selective attention and perceptual independence has made great advances over the past 5 decades ensuing from the foundational ideas and research conceived by Wendell R. Garner. In particular, Garner's speeded classification paradigm has received considerable attention in psychology. The paradigm is widely used to inform research and theory in various domains of cognitive science. It was Garner who provided the consensual definition of the separable-integral partition of stimulus dimensions, delineating a set of converging operations sustaining the distinction. This distinction is a pillar of today's cognitive science. We review the key ideas, definitions, and findings along 2 paths of the evolution of Garnerian research: selective attention, with a focus on Garner interference and its relation to the Stroop effect, and divided attention, with focus on perceptual independence gauged by multivariate models of perception. The review tracks developments in a roughly chronological order. Our review is also integrative as we follow the evolution of a set of nascent ideas into the vast multifaceted enterprise that they comprise today. Finally, the review is also critical as we highlight problems, inconsistencies, and deviations from original intent in the various studies. (PsycINFO Database Record
Read moreOpen Science in Suicide Research Is Open for Business.
Focuses on open science practices in suicide research. Specifically, the authors use examples from their own and others' work to demonstrate the opportunities for future-proofing research by implementing open science practices, and they discuss some of the challenges and their potential solutions. They cover implementing open science practices in new, ongoing, and concluded studies, and discuss practices in order of being 'low' to 'high' threshold to implement (based on Kathawalla et al., 2021). Space constraints preclude an extensive presentation of all open science practices although they briefly describe the strategies of providing preprints, sharing study materials and codes, preregistration of studies and registered reports, and sharing research data. To highlight the open science work of as many researchers as possible, examples are provided in Electronic Supplementary Material 1 (ESM 1) rather than in the text. The authors ask for readers' help in adding to these examples via their 'living' reading list (https://osf.io/v6y3t/).
Read moreThe Growth of Multidisciplinarity in the Cognitive Science Society
In a case study of the growth of cognitive science, we analyzed the activities of the Cognitive Science Society with a particular emphasis on the multidisciplinary nature of the field. Analyses of departmental affiliations, training back‐grounds, research methodology, and paper citations suggest that the journal Cognitive Science and the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society are dominated by cognitive psychology and computer science, rather than being an equal division among the constituent disciplines of cognitive science. However, at many levels, a growing percentage of work was found to involve a conjunction of multiple disciplines, such that approximately 30–50% of recent work in the Cognitive Science Society is multidisciplinary. In a questionnaire study of cognitive scientists involved in collaborative research, multidisciplinarity was found to shape the research process and affect the factors associated with successful research.
Read moreBeyond modular and non-modular states: theoretical considerations, exemplifications, and practical implications.
The concept of modularity in neuropsychology remains a topic of significant debate, especially when considering complex, non-innate, hyper-learned, and adaptable modular systems. This paper critically examines the evolution of cognitive modularity, addressing the challenges of integrating foundational theories with recent empirical and theoretical developments. We begin by analyzing the contributions of Sternberg and Fodor, whose foundational work established the concept of specialized, encapsulated modules within cognitive processes, particularly in the domains of perception and language. Building on this, we explore Carruthers' theory of massive modularity, which extends the modular framework to broader cognitive functions, though we reject its application to central amodal systems, which are overarching and resistant to modularization. We also evaluate recent discoveries, such as mirror neurons and the neural reuse hypothesis, and their implications for traditional modularity models. Furthermore, we investigate the dynamic interactions between the Default Mode Network (DMN), Central Executive Network (CEN), and Salience Network (SN), highlighting their roles in shifting between automatic and controlled states. This exploration refines existing theoretical models, distinguishing innate systems, genetically predisposed ones, and those hyper-learned through working memory, as exemplified by the three-level model of Moscovitch and Umiltà. We address the blurred boundary between domain-specific and domain-general systems, proposing modular versus non-modular states-indexed by automaticity and mandatoriness-as key discriminators. This systematization, supported by empirical literature and our own research, provides a more stable framework for understanding modular systems, avoiding interpretive confusion across varying levels of complexity. These insights advance both theoretical understanding and practical applications in cognitive science.
Read moreIntroduction to topiCS Volume 15, Issue 4.
Does the language you speak affect the way you think? According to the Principle of Linguistic Relativity, it does. Whether, however, the principle holds, has for several decades been one of the most controversial issues in cognitive science (for overviews, see Lucy, 1997; Wolff & Holmes, 2011). At the risk of oversimplifying its history, ideas linked to linguistic relativity can be traced back to philosophical writings in the German Romanticism of the 19th century (such as by Wilhelm von Humboldt) and became more widely known when ethno-linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf elaborated on them in their scientific work in the first half of the 20th century. While popular in the humanities, the proposition that speakers of different languages might perceive the world differently was untenable in early cognitive science. It was regarded as incommensurate with the assumption of a unified mind operating on a universal language of thought and hence simply inconceivable. When linguistic relativity eventually was put on the agenda in the 1990s (Gumperz & Levinson, 1991; Lucy, 1992), it was still met with substantial dissent (e.g., Pinker, 1994; overview in Gleitman & Papafragou, 2005); and although the antagonism of the early days has since given way to a more constructive exchange in which both opponents and supporters are increasingly seeking the middle ground and are even beginning to collaborate (e.g., Malt & Majid, 2013; Regier & Kay, 2009), the topic remains hotly debated. The current issue of Topics in Cognitive Science aims to make a productive contribution to this debate, both in format and content. In terms of format, this topic is one of only two that the journal has published featuring a target article, followed by a range of commentaries and a response to those commentaries by the author of the target article. This setup, known from Current Anthropology and Behavioral and Brain Sciences, is ideal for assembling multiple perspectives on controversial topics of broad interest across disciplines. The target article around which the current issue is structured (Kemmerer, 2023), is authored by linguist David Kemmerer (Purdue University, US). He develops a theoretical argument in support of linguistic relativity as deriving from the Grounded Cognition Model, a theory on conceptual knowledge that is highly influential within cognitive science. The argument entails a novel prediction that has the potential to inspire new experimental work across a range of academic communities that work on topics as diverse as perception, action, memory, emotion, language, culture, development, and evolution. For bringing together responses across such a wide field, Topics in Cognitive Science is the optimal forum. And, indeed, the eight commentaries accompanying this target article do reflect a wide variety of perspectives, authored by scholars who represent research communities on four continents and from across the social sciences, information sciences, and cognitive sciences, including linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. Credit for this topic goes to Asifa Majid (Oxford University, UK), a member of the Senior Editorial Board of Topics in Cognitive Science, who herself is a pioneer and leading figure in this subfield of cognitive science. She has been a strong voice for taking (linguistic) diversity and its consequences for cognition seriously (Majid, Bowerman, Kita, Haun, & Levinson, 2004), and yet she is also respected across camps for placing empirical evidence higher than theoretical ideology and for remaining open to a middle ground (e.g., Majid, 2021; Malt, Gennari, Imai, Ameel, Tsuda, & Majid, 2008). It was she who recruited the target article from David Kemmerer for Topics in Cognitive Science, suggested the format, handled the reviewing process, invited the commentaries with a clear objective for diversity, and monitored the compilation of the entire topic. topiCS encourages letters and commentaries on all topics, as well as proposals for new topics. Letters are not longer than two published pages (ca. 400–1000 words). Commentaries (between 1000 and 2000 words) are often solicited by Topic Editors prior to the publication of their topic, but they may also be considered after publication. Letters and commentaries typically come without abstract and with few references, if any. The Executive Editor and the Senior Editorial Board (SEB) are constantly searching for new and exciting topics for topiCS. Feel free to open communications with a short note to the Executive Editor ([email protected]) or a member of the SEB (for a list, see the publisher's homepage for topiCS: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1756-8765/homepage/EditorialBoard.html).
Read moreRealism as the Methodological Strategy in the Cognitive Science
The author discusses philosophical and methodological presuppositions of investigations in Cognitive Science. In this context a traditional philosophical and psychological idea of consciousness as the only certainty is critically analyzed, and the understanding of mental content in psychology and earlier cognitive science is studied. A special attention is given to a popular idea of situated, embodied and inacted Cognitive Science and to discussions about its philosophical interpretation. The idea of “the methodological solipsism as a strategy of Cognitive Science” by J. Fodor is criticized, as well as the interpretation of the situated Cognitive Science as going beyond the dichotomy of Realism-Idealism (A. Varela and others). The thesis about Activity Realism as an adequate interpretation of the idea of situated Cognition is argued. In this context the author analyzes the notion of “affordances” by J. Gibson, the idea of an interconnection between the Real World and an epistemic agent (the idea of “many worlds”), the role of actions and operations of a cognitive being in forming contacts with real objects. The problem of illusion and reality is analyzed, as well as relations between Naive and Scientific Realism. A special attention is given to artificial objects as a special kind of existence.
Read moreSpecial Issue on Cybernetics and Cognitive Informatics
The three greatest theories in science and engineering developed in the 1940s are cybernetics, information theory, and systems theory. Cybernetics is the science of communication and control in humans, machines, organizations, and societies across the reductive hierarchy of neural, cognitive, functional, and logical levels. A contemporary form of cybernetics, known as cognitive informatics (CI), is a transdisciplinary inquiry of cognitive and information sciences that investigates into the internal information processing mechanisms and processes of the brain and natural intelligence and their engineering applications via an interdisciplinary approach. This special issue on and CI focuses on the theme of convergence of CI and cybernetics which investigates the shared foundations of and CI and their impacts on cybernetic and cognitive systems. This editorial demonstrates that the investigation into CI and may encouragingly result in fundamental discoveries toward the development of next-generation intelligent systems and cognitive computing technologies.
Read moreAn Analysis of Internal Representations for Two Artificial Neural Networks that Classify Musical Chords
Cognitive informatics is a field of research that is primarily concerned with the information processing of intelligent agents; it can be characterised in terms of an evolving notion of information (Wang, 2007). When it originated six decades ago, conventional accounts of information were concerned about using probability theory and statistics to measure the amount of information carried by an external signal. This, in turn, developed into the notion of modern informatics which studied information as “properties or attributes of the natural world that can be generally abstracted, quantitatively represented, and mentally processed” (Wang, 2007, p. iii). The current incarnation of cognitive informatics recognised that both information theory and modern informatics defined information in terms of factors that were external to brains, and has replaced this with an emphasis on exploring information as an internal property. This emphasis on the internal processing of information raises fundamental questions about how such information can be represented. One approach to answering such questions — and for proposing new representational accounts — would be to train a brain-like system to perform an intelligent task, and then to analyse its internal structure to determine the types of representations that the system had developed to perform this intelligent behaviour. The logic behind this approach is that when artificial neural networks Cognitive informatics is a field of research that is primarily concerned with the information processing of intelligent agents; it can be characterised in terms of an evolving notion of information (Wang, 2007). When it originated six decades ago, conventional accounts of information were concerned about using probability theory and statistics to measure the amount of information carried by an external signal. This, in turn, developed into the notion of modern informatics which studied information as “properties or attributes of the natural world that can be generally abstracted, quantitatively represented, and mentally processed” (Wang, 2007, p. iii). The current incarnation of cognitive informatics recognised that both information theory and modern informatics defined information in terms of factors that were external to brains, and has replaced this with an emphasis on exploring information as an internal property. This emphasis on the internal processing of information raises fundamental questions about how such information can be represented. One approach to answering such questions — and for proposing new representational accounts — would be to train a brain-like system to perform an intelligent task, and then to analyse its internal structure to determine the types of representations that the system had developed to perform this intelligent behaviour. The logic behind this approach is that when artificial neural networks
Read moreActive sensing underwater: Modeling tadpole responses to current by a directed random walk
Event Abstract Back to Event Active sensing underwater: Modeling tadpole responses to current by a directed random walk Erika E. Alexander1, Brian P. Schmidt2, Jeffrey M. Knowles3 and Andrea M. Simmons1* 1 Brown University, Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, United States 2 University of Washington, Neurobiology and Behavior, United States 3 Brown University, Neuroscience, United States Although a great deal is known about sensing of flow fields in various species of adult fishes, very little is known about the development and maturation of this sensory capacity. Anurans remain aquatic during their larval (tadpole) stages, during which times they naturally encounter various sources of flow. Flow sensing is mediated by the activity of the lateral line neuromasts, which in tadpoles are exclusively of the superficial type. In a series of behavioral experiments, we have been examining the flow sensing abilities of bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) tadpoles by exposing animals to flow fields with different structure and to a range of flow rates, and by challenging the function of the lateral line system by pharmacological manipulations. Bullfrog tadpoles in early stages of larval development (Gosner stages 25-33, before the appearance of hind limbs) respond to flow by actively swimming downstream, to areas of reduced flow. This downstream movement occurs consistently at a range of flow rates (4 – 10 cm/s), above a threshold of 1-2 cm/s, depending on the particular dynamics of the flow field. Because downstream movements are observed in response to both low (near-threshold) and high flow rates, a process other than passive push by the current is mediating these responses. Whether or not tadpoles orient towards the source of the flow (positive rheotaxis) depends on the dynamics of the flow field. When flow is restricted, no positive rheotaxis is observed at any flow rate tested. In a more distributed flow field, positive rheotaxis is observed at all flow rates tested. Thigmotactic behavior is not sensitive to the dynamics of the flow field. Treatment with cobalt chloride or with gentamicin alters responses to flow fields in a dose-dependent manner. Under conditions of lateral line challenge, animals show less directed movements and are more subjected to the influence of passive push. We developed a statistical model based on a Markov chain random walk process to predict tadpole responses to flow. The model simulates the animal’s movement within the testing environment by iteratively calculating the velocity of a theoretical animal using realistic parameters derived from empirical data. The model animal’s transition from a resting state to a moving, active state is governed by a Markov chain. The lateral line is modeled by a leaky integrator. Using Bayesian hypothesis testing, we directly compared the importance of the lateral line leaky integrator in predicting tadpole behavior. The results of these analyses predict that normal tadpoles should move downstream faster than a random walker biased by flow, while the behavior of tadpoles whose lateral line has been pharmacologically damaged is better described as a random walk. Keywords: Lateral Line, rheotaxis, tadpole Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster (but consider for student poster award) Topic: Sensory: Mechanosensation Citation: Alexander EE, Schmidt BP, Knowles JM and Simmons AM (2012). Active sensing underwater: Modeling tadpole responses to current by a directed random walk. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00006 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Apr 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Prof. Andrea M Simmons, Brown University, Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, United States, Andrea_Simmons@brown.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Erika E Alexander Brian P Schmidt Jeffrey M Knowles Andrea M Simmons Google Erika E Alexander Brian P Schmidt Jeffrey M Knowles Andrea M Simmons Google Scholar Erika E Alexander Brian P Schmidt Jeffrey M Knowles Andrea M Simmons PubMed Erika E Alexander Brian P Schmidt Jeffrey M Knowles Andrea M Simmons Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.
Read moreConcussion Rehabilitation and the Application of Ten Movement Training Principles
Concussion awareness continues to grow in all aspects of healthcare, including the areas of prevention, acute care, and ongoing rehabilitation. Most of the concussion research to date has focussed on the challenges around screening and diagnosing what can be a complex mix of brain impairments that overlay with additional pre-existing comorbidities. While we expect further progress in concussion diagnosis, progress also continues to be made around proactive rehabilitation, with the emergence of interventions that can enhance the recovery process, maximise function and independence with a return to study, work, and play.Traditionally, optimal multimodal assessments of concussion have treated the physical, cognitive, and psychological domains of brain injury separately, which supports diagnosis, and informs appropriate follow-up care. Due to the complex nature of brain injury, multimodal assessments direct care toward professionals from many different disciplines including medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, neuropsychology, ophthalmology, and exercise physiology. In addition, these professionals may work in different fields such as sports, neurorehabilitation, vestibular, musculoskeletal, community, vocational, and general practice clinical settings. Rehabilitation interventions for concussions employed in practice are also likely to use a blend of theoretical principles from motor control, cognitive, and psychological sciences. This scale of diversity can make information dissemination, collaboration, and innovation challenging. The Ten Movement Training Principles (MTPs) have been proposed as a usable and relevant concept to guide and support clinical reasoning in neurorehabilitation. When applied to concussion rehabilitation, these same 10 principles provide a comprehensive overview of key rehabilitation strategies for current and future practice. Future collaborations can use these training principles to support clinical and research innovations including the rapid rise of technologies in this growing field of rehabilitation practice.
Read moreConsiderations Based on Behavioral Psychology and Cognitive Science
Subconscious processes, which are based on experience and which can be trained, control our behavior and follow an “internal reasoning”. They are shaped—among other things—by linguistic constructs. These subconscious processes form the “fast and intuitive thinking”. The benefits of this efficiency are associated with hazards such as prejudices, bias etc. Intuition is an essential resource of our cognitive system and can be influenced. The subconscious mind acts as an associative machine which works on the basis of pattern recognition. So we form our reality in a three-step process consisting of suppression, distortion and generalization. Associations and analogies are essential characteristics of intelligence. These aspects from behavioral psychology and cognitive science at the personal level can be used to support good decision-making and—in the context of the respective organization—they also can be used in the light of the metaphor of shaping “the subconscious mind of organizations” in order to cope with change, uncertainties and disruption.
Read moreGuess What? Comparing Ad-hoc and Scalar Implicatures in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Frontiers Events is a rapidly growing calendar management system dedicated to the scheduling of academic events. This includes announcements and invitations, participant listings and search functionality, abstract handling and publication, related events and post-event exchanges. Whether an organizer or participant, make your event a Frontiers Event!
Read moreThe Scientific Credibility of Folk Psychology
The examination and evaluation of folk psychology and lay cognition has been carried out predominantly in two domains: personality and social psychology, and the philosophy of psychology. Yet, work in these two areas has largely proceeded independently. The assumption on which this volume is founded is that a proper comparison between scientific cognition and folk ways of thought rests on an adequate study of both science and folk psychology. With this in mind, the author provides an analysis of the intricate, and often hidden, links between these two spheres. In doing so, the book poses two related questions. First, what is the nature of folk psychology and how is it related to scientific psychology? Second, of what should the relationship between folk psychology and scientific psychology consist? In answering these two questions, the author draws extensively from research and arguments in social psychology and social cognition, cognitive science, and the philosophy of science.The interdisciplinary approach gives the book a unique perspective that will be of interest to scholars working in social psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy of science. Written in a concise and accessible style, this volume is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students as well as a general psychological audience.
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