harnad@mind.UUCP (Stevan Harnad) (11/02/87)
Below are the abstracts of seven forthcoming articles on which BBS --
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, an international, interdisciplinary Journal
of Open Peer Commentary, published by Cambridge University Press --
invites self-nominations from potential commentators. The procedure is
explained after the abstracts. The seven articles are:
(1) The Intentional Stance (Dan Dennett) [multiple book review]
(2) The Ethological Basis of Learning (A. Gardner & B. Gardner)
(3) Tactical deception in Primates (A. Whiten & R.W. Byrne)
(4) Event-Related Potentials and Memory: A Critique of the Context
Updating Hypothesis (Rolf Verleger)
(5) Is the P300 Component a Manifestation of Context Updating?
(E. Donchin & M. Coles) [article-length precommentary on (4)]
(6) Real and Depicted Spaces: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (J.B. Deregowski)
(7) Research on Self Control: An Integrating Framework (A.W. Logue)
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1. The Intentional Stance
Dan Dennett
Philosophy Department
Tufts university
The intentional stance is the strategy of prediction and
explanation that attributes beliefs, desires and other
"intentional" states to organisms and devices and predicts
future behavior from what it would be rational for an agent
to do, given those beliefs and desires. Any device or
organism that regularly uses this strategy is an
"intentional system," whatever its innards might be. The
strategy of treating parts of the world as intentional
systems is the foundation of "folk psychology," but it is
also exploited (and is virtually unavoidable) in artificial
intelligence and cognitive science in general, as well as in
evolutionary theory. An analysis of the role of the
intentional stance and its presuppositions supports a
naturalistic theory of mental states and events, their
"content" or "intentionality," and the relation between
"mentalistic" levels of explanation and neurophysiological
or mechanistic levels of explanation. As such, the analysis
of the intentional stance grounds a theory of the mind and
its relation to the body.
2. The Ethological Basis of Learning
A. Gardner & B. Gardner
Psychology Department
University of Nevada
One view of the basic nature of the learning process has
dominated theory and application throughout the century. It
is the view that the behavior of organisms is governed by
its positive and negative consequences. Anyone who has
attempted to use this principle to teach relatively complex
skills to free-living, well-fed subjects -- as we have done
in our sign language studies of chimpanzees -- is apt to
have been disappointed.
Meanwhile, recent ethological findings plainly contradict
the argument that most, or even much, of the learning that
takes place in the operant conditioning laboratory is based
on the "law of effect." The residue of support for the law
of effect that might be derived from operant conditioning
experiments depends entirely on the logic of a particular
experimental design. There is, however, a logical defect in
this design that cannot be repaired by any conceivable
improvement in procedure or instrumentation. However deeply
ingrained in our cultural traditions, the notion that
behavior is based on its positive consequences cannot be
supported by laboratory evidence. Several key phenomena of
conditioning can be dealt with in a more straightforward
manner by dispensing with hedonism altogether,
An impressive amount of human behavior persists, and
persists in spite of its negative consequences. The popular
notion that persistent maladaptive behavior is rare in other
animals is easily refuted by those who have observed other
animals closely in their natural habitats. We offer an
analysis of adaptive and maladaptive behavior in aversive
conditioning and of the design of experiments on the effect
of predictive contingencies in Pavlovian conditioning. The
latter attempt to demonstrate an effect of contingency fails
because it violates basic principles of experimental design.
We conclude that there is a fundamental logical defect in
all notions of contingency.
This reconsideration of the traditional behavioristic and
cognitive versions of the law of effect was originally
suggested by problems in teaching new and challenging
patterns of behavior to free-living subjects such as
children and chimpanzees, which we briefly describe in
closing.
3. Tactical Deception in Primates
A. Whiten & R.W. Byrne
Psychological Laboratories
University of St. Andrews, Scotland
Tactical deception occurs when an individual's is able to
use an "honest" act from his normal repertoire in a
different context to mislead familiar individuals. Although
primates have a reputation for social skill, most primate
groups are so intimate that any deception is likely to be
subtle and infrequent. Records are often anecdotal and not
widely known in the formal literature of behavioral science.
We have tackled this problem by drawing together records
from many primates and primatologists in order to look for
repeating patterns. This has revealed a many forms of
deceptive tactics, which we classify in terms of the
function they perform. For each class, we sketch the
features of another individual's state of mind that a
deceiver must be able to represent, acting as a "natural
psychologist." Our analysis clarifies and perhaps explains
certain taxonomic differences. Before these findings can be
generalized, however, behavioral scientists must agree on
some fundamental methodological and theoretical questions in
the study of the evolution of social cognition.
4. Event-Related Potentials and Memory:
A Critique of the Context Updating Hypothesis
Rolf Verleger
Mannheim, West Germany
P3 is the most prominent of the electrical potentials of the
human electroencephalogram that are sensitive to
psychological variables. According to the most influential
current hypothesis about its psychological significance [E.
Donchin's], the "context updating" hypothesis, P3 reflects
the updating of working memory. This hypothesis cannot
account for relevant portions of the available evidence and
it entails some basic contradictions. A more general
formulation of this hypothesis is that P3 reflects the
updating of expectancies. This version implies that P3-
evoking stimuli are initially unexpected but later become
expected. This contradiction cannot be resolved within this
formulation.
The alternative "context closure" hypothesis retains the
concept of "strategic information processing" emphasized by
the context updating hypothesis. P3s are evoked by events
that are awaited when subjects deal with repetitive, highly
structured tasks; P3s arise from subjects' combining
successive stimuli into larger units The tasks in which P3s
are elicited can accordingly be classified in terms of their
respective formal sequences of stimuli. P3 may be a
physiological indicator of excess activation being released
from perceptual control areas.
5. Is the P300 component a manifestation of Context Updating?
Emanuel Donchin and Michael G. H. Coles
Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
[article-length precommentary on Verleger]
To understand the endogenous components of the ERP we must
use from data about the components' antecedent conditions to
form hypotheses about the information processing function of
the underlying brain activity. These hypotheses, in turn,
generate testable predictions about the consequences of the
component. We review the application of this approach to the
analysis of the P300 component, whose amplitude is
controlled multiplicatively by the subjective probability
and the task relevance of the eliciting events and whose
latency depends on the duration of stimulus evaluation.
These and other factors suggest that the P300 is a
manifestation of activity occurring whenever one's model of
the environment must be revised. Tests of three predictions
based on this "context updating" model are reviewed.
Verleger's critique is based on a misconstrual of the model
as well as on a partial and misleading reading of the
relevant literature.
6. Real and Depicted Spaces:
A Cross-Cultural Perspective
J.B. Deregowski
Psychology Department
University of Aberdeen, Scotland
This paper examines the contribution of cross-cultural
studies to our understanding of the perception and
representation of space. A cross-cultural survey of the
basic difficulties in understanding pictures -- from the
failure to recognize a picture as a representation to the
inability to recognise the object represented -- indicates
that similar difficulties occur in pictorial and
nonpictorial cultures. Real and pictorial spaces must be
distinguished. The experimental work on pictorial space
derives from two distinct traditions: the study of picture
perception in "remote" populations and the study of
perceptual illusions. A comparison of the findings on
pictorial space perception with those on real space
perception and perceptual constancies suggests that cross-
cultural differences in the perception of both real and
depicted space involve two different kinds of skills: those
related only to real spaces or only to depicted spaces and
those related to both. Different cultural groups use
different skills to perform the same perceptual task.
7. Research on Self Control: An Integrating Framework
A.W. Logue
Department of Psychology
SUNY - Stony Brook
The tendency to choose a larger, more delayed reinforcer
over a smaller, less delayed one (self-control) depends on
the current physical values of the reinforcers. It also
varies according to a subject's experience and current
factors other than the reinforcers. Two local delay models
(Mischel's social learning theory and Herrnstein's matching
law) as well as molar maximization models have taken into
account these indirect effects on self control by
representing a subject's behavior as a function of a
perceived environment. A general evolutionary analysis of
all this research yields a better and more predictive
description of self control.
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This is an experiment in using the Net to find eligible commentators for
articles in Behavioral & Brain Sciences. BBS publishes important and
controversial interdisciplinary articles in psychology, neuroscience, behavioral
biology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, linguistics and philosophy.
Articles are rigorously refereed and, if accepted, are circulated to a large
number of potential commentators around the world in the various specialties
on which the article impinges. Their 1000-word commentaries are then
co-published with the target article as well as the author's response to each.
The commentaries consist of analyses, elaborations, complementary and
supplementary data and theory, criticisms and cross-specialty syntheses.
Commentators are selected by the following means: (1) BBS maintains a
computerized file of over 3000 BBS Associates; the size of this group is
increased annually as authors, referees, commentators and nominees of current
Associates become eligible to become Associates. Many commentators are selected
from this list. (2) The BBS editorial office does informal as well as formal
computerized literature searches on the topic of the target articles to find
additional potential commentators from across specialties and around the world
who are not yet BBS Associates. (3) The referees recommend potential
commentators. (4) The author recommends potential commentators.
We now propose to add the following source for selecting potential commentators:
The abstract of the target article will be posted in the relevant newsgroups on
the Net. Eligible individuals who judge that they would have a relevant
commentary to contribute should contact me at the e-mail address indicated at
the bottom of this message, or should write by normal mail to:
Stevan Harnad, Editor, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20 Nassau Street, Room 240
Princeton NJ 08542 (phone: 609-921-7771)
"Eligibility" usually means being an academically trained professional
contributor to one of the disciplines mentioned earlier, or to related academic
disciplines. The letter should indicate the candidate's general qualifications
as well as their basis for wishing to serve as commentator for the particular
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(Please note that the editorial office must exercise selectivity among the
nominations received so as to ensure a strong and balanced cross-specialty
spectrum of eligible commentators.)
This self-nomination format may also be used by those who wish to become BBS
Associates, but they must also specify a current Associate who knows their work
and is prepared to nominate them; where no current Associate is known by the
candidate, the editorial office will send the Vita to approporiate Associates
to ask whether they would be prepared to nominate the candidate.
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factor" (ratio of citations to number of articles) in the American Psychologist
[41(3) 1986] reports that already in its fifth year of publication (1982) BBS's
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Citation Index and 50th of all 3900 journals indexed in the Science Citation
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Potential commentators should send their names, addresses, a description of
their general qualifications and their basis for seeking to comment on this
target article in particular to the address indicated earlier or to the
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--
Stevan Harnad harnad@mind.princeton.edu (609)4 H0 B229t