harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Stevan Harnad) (10/17/90)
PSYCOLOQUY Tue, 16 Oct 90 Volume 1 : Issue 14
Assistant Professor, Georgetown University (line 17)
Assistant Professor, Michigan Technological University (line 38)
Assistant Professor: Behavioral Neuroscience, NDSU (line 68)
Assistant Professor: Cognitive science at UCSD (line 94)
Open Position, Cognitive Psychology, McGill University (line 125)
Post Docs: NICHHD, Bethesda, Md (line 164)
Visiting Position: Social/Personality Program, U of Washington (line 209)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: D N ROBINSON <GU31%GUVM@pucc>
Subject: Assistant Professor, Georgetown University
THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, IS ACCEPTING
APPLICATIONS FOR A TENURE-ELIGIBLE ASSISTANT PROFESSORSHIP COMMENCING
FALL 1992. THE DEPARTMENT IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN APPLICANTS WHOSE
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH/SCHOLARLY COMMITMENTS ARE IN ONE OR MORE OF THE
FOLLOWING: (A) PERCEPTION, INCLUDING PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACHES, (B)
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, PARTICULARLY INFANT DEVELOPMENT, (C) THE
NEUROCOGNITIVE AREA WITH EMPHASIS ON MODELS AND THEORIES. E-MAIL
INQUIRIES MAY BE ADDRESSED TO DANIEL N. ROBINSON VIA GU31@GUVM.BITNET.
FORMAL APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO PROF D N ROBINSON, DEPARTMENT OF
PSYCHOLOGY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON DC 20057. APPLICANTS
SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE VERY STRONG EMPHASIS GIVEN TO THE QUALITY OF
UNDERGRADUATE INSTRUCTION AT GEORGETOWN AND THUS TO THE DEPARTMENT'S
INTEREST IN THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND ASSESSMENTS THEREOF OF THOSE
APPLYING. APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY LETTERS ADDRESSING THIS
MATTER AS WELL AS LONG-TERM RESEARCH PLANS.
------------------------------
From: "Eric G. Freedman" <FREEDMAN%MTUS5@pucc>
Subject: Assistant Professor, Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University
Faculty Position
EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST, Assistant Professor, tenure-track.
Research specialty open; preference given to candidates with interests
in cognitive psychology, specifically in scientific reasoning, group
decision making, or discourse processing. Ph.D. required. Ideal
candidate should be able to work in interdisciplinary Humanities
Department including colleagues in psychology, rhetoric, communication,
linguistics, composition, and philosophy. Courses include Introductory
Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and the opportunity to develop
undergraduate and graduate offerings, the latter in support of a new
Ph.D. program in Rhetoric and Technical Communication. Research
facilities include a cognitive laboratory consisting of Macintosh
computers connected in a local-area network, tachistoscopic and
statistical programs, and a communication laboratory. Salary and
benefits are competitive. Applications received before Dec. 1 will be
given first consideration. Send vita, one-page research statement,
reprints and preprints, and three letters of reference to: Eric G.
Freedman, Chair, Psychology Search Committee, Department of Humanities,
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931. E-mail address
is: FREEDMAN@MTUS5. M.T.U. is an Equal Opportunity Educational
Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Acknowledge-To: <FREEDMAN@MTUS5>
------------------------------
From: Jim Council <NU106435%NDSUVM1@pucc>
Subject: Assistant Professor: Behavioral Neuroscience, NDSU
Behavioral Neuroscientist. Psychology department nationally ranked in
research productivity seeks beginning to advanced assistant professor
for tenure track position. Candidate should have Ph.D. in Psychology
or related area, and exhibit potential to establish nationally
recognized research program. Excellent human research facilities;
start-up funds available. Our small (11 full-time faculty) department
emphasizes quality instruction at undergraduate, M.S. level; teaching
load (four courses/yr. on quarter system) is conducive to research
productivity. Teaching needs include Psychobiology and some
combination of Neuropsychology, Introductory Psychology, Drugs and
Behavior, Research Methods. The metropolitan area of over 110,000 with
three major hospitals, VA, med school and neurosciences research
institute offers extensive opportunities for collaboration. Closing
date January 15 or until position filled. Send CV with names and
addresses of four references, statement of research and teaching
interests, and representative recent publications. Direct applications
to James R. Council, Chair, Search Committee, Department of Psychology,
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105. Telephone: (701)
237-7065; BITNET: NU106435@NDSUVM1. NDSU is an equal opportunity
employer.
------------------------------
From: dnorman%ucsd.edu%Sdsc.BITnet@pucc (Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept)
Subject: Assistant Professor: Cognitive science at UCSD
Assistant Professor
Cognitive Science
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
The Department of Cognitive Science at UCSD expects to receive permission
to hire one person at the assistant professor level (tenure-track). We seek
someone whose interests cut across conventional disciplines. The
Department takes a broadly based approach covering experimental,
theoretical, and computational investigations of the biological basis of
cognition, cognition in individuals and social groups, and machine
intelligence.
Candidates should send a vita, reprints, a short letter describing their
background and interests, and names and addresses of at least three references
to:
UCSD
Search Committee/Cognitive Science 0515e
9500 Gilman Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92093-0515
Applications must be received prior to January 15, 1991. Salary will be
commensurate with experience and qualifications, and will be based upon UC
pay schedules. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply.
The University of California, San Diego is an Affirmative Action/Equal
Opportunity Employer.
------------------------------
From: Albert Bregman <IN09%MUSICB.MCGILL.CA@VM.TCS.Tulane.EDU>
Subject: Open Position, Cognitive Psychology, McGill University
The Department of Psychology at McGill University plans to make a
tenure-track appointment of an assistant or associate professor
in COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY. The appointment will begin in September
1991, subject to the availability of funding.
The department has a strong tradition in cognitive psychology and
is affiliated with the Cognitive Science Centre at the
university. It is strongly supportive of younger staff and tends
to promote from within the department. We are looking for an
outstanding researcher. Nevertheless, we place a great stress on
our teaching program and are looking for a candidate that could
make a special contribution to it.
The applicant's research could be concerned with any aspect of
cognitive psychology, broadly interpreted. The major criterion
will be the excellence of the applicant.
Please bring this letter to the attention of any individuals you
think might be qualified to apply or to persons who might know of
such individuals. Selection will begin in mid-January, 1991.
Applicants should arrange for at least three confidential letters
of support to be sent to the address below. They should also
send a curriculum vitae, copies of research publications and a
brief statement describing their teaching and research to:
A.S. Bregman, Telephone: (514) 398-6103
Cognitive Search Committee FAX: (514) 398-4896
Department of Psychology,
McGill University, E-mail: in09@musicb.mcgill.ca
1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, or: in09@mcgillb.bitnet
Montreal, Quebec,
CANADA H3A lBl
------------------------------
From: BR2@CU.NIH.GOV
Subject: Post Docs: NICHHD, Bethesda, Md
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
BETHESDA, MD USA
Post-doctoral fellowships are available in the Child and Family
Research Section (CFRS) of the National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD) in Bethesda, MD. These fellowships are of
two kinds: (1) NIH-sponsored positions for U.S. citizens and (2)
International Visiting Fellowships for non-U.S. citizens. The positions
carry competitive stipends, health benefits, and the like; each may
extend to three years; and appointments may be made at any time of the
year. Nominees must have completed the Ph.D. before appointment.
Research ongoing in the CFRS concerns perceptual, cognitive,
communicative, emotional, and social development in infancy and early
childhood, parenting, cross-cultural perspectives on these, and
children's health and hospitalization.
Interested individuals should send a Curriculum Vitae,
brief statement of research interests, copies of papers,
and three letters of recommendation to:
Dr. Marc H. Bornstein
Head, Child and Family Research
National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development
Building 31 -- Room B2B15
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda MD, 20892
USA
TEL: 301-496-6832
FAX: 301-496-2766
E-MAIL: BR2@NIHCU
Thanks much.
Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Marc
------------------------------
From: psynews@milton.u.washington.edu (Michael Burdett)
Subject: Visiting Position: Social/Personality Program, U of Washington
The Social/Personality Program at the University of Washington
has a visiting position availble for Winter and/or Spring quarter 1991.
A two quarter visiting position is also available for the 1991-1992
academic year. We are looking for someone to interact with faculty and
students in a collegial atmosphere; teaching expectations are modest.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested, contact
any member of our program:
Jonathon Brown JBD@UWAVM.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Rich Gonzales GONZO@MILTON.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Tony Greenwald AGG@MAX.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Barbara Sarason
Irwin Sarason ISARASON@MAX.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Ron Smith RSMITH@MILTON.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Leigh Thompson LTHOMPSON@MAX.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Irwin, Leigh, Rich, and Tony will be at this week's SESP meeting in Buffalo.
------------------------------
PSYCOLOQUY
is sponsored by
the Science Directorate of
the American Psychological Association
(202) 955-7653
Co-Editors:
(scientific discussion) (professional/clinical discussion)
Stevan Harnad Perry London, Dean, Cary Cherniss (Assoc Ed.)
Psychology Department Graduate School of Applied Graduate School of Applied
Princeton University and Professional Psychology and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University Rutgers University
Assistant Editors:
Malcolm Bauer John Pizutelli
Psychology Department Psychology Department
Princeton University Rutgers University
End of PSYCOLOQUY Digest
******************************harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Stevan Harnad) (10/17/90)
PSYCOLOQUY Tues, 16 Oct 90 Volume 1 : Issue 14
BU Conference on Language Development (line 17)
Call for papers: ACIT Annual Conference (line 79)
Convening XV of Crisis Intervention Personnel (line 140)
IXth International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology (line 160)
ML91 deadline extended (line 202)
International Conference on the Learning Sciences (line 248)
CALL for PAPERS for the JOURNAL of IDEAS (line 290)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: langconf@louis-xiv.bu.edu (BU Conference on Language Development)
Subject: BU Conference on Language Development
REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER
*** FIFTEENTH ANNUAL BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ***
October 19 - 21, 1990
For a preliminary program and registration materials, contact:
Conference on Language Development
Boston University
138 Mountfort St.
Boston, MA 02215
phone: (617) 353-3085
e-mail: langconf@louis-xiv.bu.edu
* * * * * * * * Deadline for pre-registration: October 10, 1990 * * * * * * * *
Sessions will include:
Functional Categories Parent-Child Interaction
Past Tense Verb Forms Exceptional Language & Language Disorders
Parameter Setting Tutorial on Language & Aging
Wh-Movement Research Tools & Methods
Nouns, Pronouns & Expletives Narrative
Lexical Acquisition: Language in Specific Contexts
Syntax & Semantics Discourse Practices within
Phonology Multiple Learning Contexts
Spatial Language & Cognition Units in Prosody & Discourse
Modularity & Modality Discourses in Conflict
Discourses of Literacy
** KEYNOTE: URSULA BELLUGI "SPATIAL LANGUAGE AND SPATIAL COGNITION" **
** PLENARY LUNCH: JANE GRIMSHAW "LEARNING FROM LANGUAGE ACQUISITION" **
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Reduced rates on accommodations are guaranteed for Conference participants
at the following hotels if reservations are made by September 18:
Howard Johnson, Kenmore Square (617) 267-3100
Best Western Hotel (The Inn at Children's) (617) 731-4700
The Eliot Hotel (617) 267-1607
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Pre-registration (postmarked by October 10):
3-day $40 ($20 for students)
Plenary lunch $12 (limited number of places - reserve early)
On-site registration:
3-day $50 ($25 for students)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
------------------------------
From: Bob Stearns <IS%UGA.CC.UGA.EDU@pucc>
Subject: Call for papers: ACIT Annual Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS, PANELS, WORKSHOPS
2nd Annual Conference
Advanced Computing and Information Technologies
for the
Social Sciences
When: 8-10 April 1991
Where: Georgia Center, The University of Georgia
Proposal Deadline: 18 January 1991
Audience: Social Scientists (university, government, consultant)
Computer Center Personnel
National/State/Local Government Officials & Librarians
Sample Topics: 1990 Census and the 21st Century Census Project
Transportation and Communication Networks
Data Archives, Data Bases, Supercomputing
GIS/Legislative Redistricting
Complex Sampling
CATI, Simulations, Artificial Intelligence
Advanced Microcomputing, Remote Sensing
Economic Models, Scientific Visualization
Optical/Magnetic data recording
Statistical package support and use
Teaching methods
Submit: 300-700 Word Abstract and Outline via
E-Mail, US Mail or FAX to:
Keith R. Billingsley
University of Georgia
Dept of Political Science
Baldwin Hall
Athens, GA 30602 U.S.A.
or
ssac91@uga - BITNET
ssac91@uga.cc.uga.edu - Internet
(404) 542-4421 - FAX
Sponsors: The University of Georgia
Bureau of the Census
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Social Science Computing Association
Costs: Registration: Approximately $235 (incl 6 meals)
Workshops: free-$100
Housing: $51 single/$55 double per night
Transportation: Conference discount through Delta
Note: Requests for information should include Postal address,
and, where available, FAX number and E-mail address.
------------------------------
From: "Barry Greenwald " <U09318%UICVM@pucc>
Subject: Convening XV of Crisis Intervention Personnel
The FIFTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENING OF CRISIS INTERVENTION PERSONNEL (sponsored by
the IN TOUCH HOTLINE of the University of Illinois at Chicago) will be held
April 26, 27, 28, 1991 in Chicago, Illinois. Presentations on topic related
to crisis intervention and the delivery of mental health services are now be-
ing requested. Mental health professionals and volunteers who work on crisis
phone lines and drop-in centers are encouraged to submit presentations. All
that is required is a 5 or 6 line abstract that gives some idea of what the
presentation will cover.
Those interested in presenting or simply learning more about the CONVENING are
encouraged to write to Convening XV, Counseling Center (m/c 333), University
of Illinois at Chicago, Box 4348, Chicago, IL 60680. Complete information
will be forwarded including appropriate forms. Inquiries are also invited
through this bitnet address: U09318@UICVM.
------------------------------
From: "JAMES C. MANCUSO, PSYCHOLOGY AND DEAN'S OFFICE, UATALBANY"
Subject: IXth International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology
IXth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY
The organizing committee charged with arranging the IXth
International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology has
announced that the IXth Congress will be held at The College of
Saint Rose, Albany, New York; under partial sponsorship by The
University At Albany. The dates during which the IXth Congress
will take place are Tuesday, August 6, 1991 to Sunday, August 11,
1991.
The organizing committee invites participation in the IXth
International Congress with the confident conviction that the
conclave will significantly accelerate an appreciation of
constructivist approaches to the human sciences and services.
The subtheme of IXth Congress, Personal Constructs in
Constructivism: The broader horizon, reflects this assessment of
the status of Personal Construct Psychology.
The organizing committee also proceeds from the conviction
that those who attend the IXth Congress will thoroughly enjoy a
visit to the region of Albany, New York -- the site one of the
first European settlements in the United States. Visitors to the
capital of the State of New York find, often to their surprise,
that Albany is a hub within a circle of very significant
historical, geographical, and cultural locations.
Those who might attend the IXth Congress, would want to
consider the possibilities of also making arrangements to attend
the meetings of the American Psychological Association. APA will
hold its 1991 annual meeting in San Francisco, CA, running
through August 14 to 18.
Anyone wishing to obtain further information about the IXth
Congress should write promptly to
Dr. James C. Mancuso
IXth International Congress on P. C. P.
Department of Psychology -- SS369
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
------------------------------
From: Lawrence Birnbaum <birnbaum%fido.ils.nwu.edu@pucc>
Subject: ML91 deadline extended
ML91 -- THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON MACHINE LEARNING
DEADLINE FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS EXTENDED
To make life a little easier, the deadline for workshop proposals for ML91
has been extended by a few days. The new deadline is MONDAY, OCTOBER 15.
Please send proposals by email to:
ml91@ils.nwu.edu
or by hardcopy to the following address:
ML91
Northwestern University
The Institute for the Learning Sciences
1890 Maple Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201 USA
fax (708) 491-5258
Please include the following information:
1. Workshop topic
2. Names, addresses, and positions of workshop committee members
3. Brief description of topic
4. Workshop format
5. Justification for workshop, including assessment of breadth of
appeal
On behalf of the organizing committee,
Larry Birnbaum
Gregg Collins
Program co-chairs, ML91
------------------------------
From: Christopher Chen <cjc%aristotle.ils.nwu.edu@pucc>
Subject: International Conference on the Learning Sciences
CALL FOR PAPERS / CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
The International Conference on the Learning Sciences
(formerly The International Conference on Artificial
Intelligence and Education)
will be held August 4 - 7, 1991 at Northwestern University
Leading authorities will present keynote addresses exploring new ideas and
tools to improve teaching and learning in all settings (schools, corporate
training programs, etc.). In addition, scholars in cognitive science,
artificial intelligence (AI), education, and psychology are invited to
submit proposals for papers. Areas of interest include, but are not
limited to, the following: cognitive development, theories of teaching,
applications of AI to educational software, computational models of human
learning, user models and student models, innovative educational software,
simulation as a teaching tool, and evaluation of teaching strategies.
All presentations will be 20 minutes long and followed by a 10-minute
discussion. Persons wishing to present a paper should submit (in English)
3 copies of a 300-word abstract accompanied by a cover letter. Cover
letters should include paper title, author(s), postal and e-mail addresses,
and telephone number and should be sent to the following address:
Professor Roger C. Schank
The Institute for the Learning Sciences
Northwestern University
1890 Maple Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201-3142 USA
Important dates: Deadline for submission: January 1, 1991
Notification of acceptance: April 1, 1991
For further information, contact the Conference Director at the above
address, or call (708) 491-3500.
------------------------------
Date: 15 Oct 90 20:32:44 EDT
From: Elan Moritz <71620.3203@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: CALL for PAPERS for the JOURNAL of IDEAS
[Although this description of a new journal is rather too lengthy and
commercial to be appropriate for Psycoloquy, it is has been accepted
now, when space is still available. Future journal notices should be
briefer and should focus on scholarly rather than financial
information. -- Ed.]
ANNOUNCEMENT and CALL for PAPERS for VOLUME 2 of the JOURNAL of IDEAS
The first issue of the Journal of Ideas was recently published. Below
are the introduction to the Journal and abstracts of papers in the
first issue. The Journal of Ideas is aiming at publishing papers in its
relevant areas within 3-6 months of receipt of papers. Regular papers
and proposals for invited papers are welcome and should be addressed
to:
Dr. Elan Moritz, Editor
Journal of Ideas,
The Institute for Memetic Research, Inc.
P. O. Box 16327
Panama City, Florida 32406- 1327
moritz@well.bitnet
moritz@well.sf.ca.us.bitnet
moritz@well.sf.ca.us
71620.3203@compuserve.com
personal subscriptions (in the U.S) are available at $46 year (includes
Volume 1 #1 described below and 4 issues of Volume 2 to appear in
1991). limited copies of the first issue described below are available
for $20.
Journal of Ideas
The Journal of Ideas is an archival forum for discussion of existing
and original ideas and concepts. Its purpose is to circulate and
nurture inquiry that focuses attention on the evolution and spread of
ideas, on the process of discovery as well as the creative process, and
on biological and electronic implementations of idea/knowledge
generation and processing.
Elan Moritz Editor
Patricia S. Smith Managing Editor
Editorial Advisory Board
R. Wilburn Clouse
Department of Educational Leadership, Vanderbilt University
Peter A. Kiss
Sentar, Inc., Hunstville, Alabama
Matthew Witten
Center for High Performance Computing, University of Texas at Austin
The Journal of Ideas, ISSN 1049-6335, is published quarterly by the
Institute for Memetic Research, Inc. P. O. Box 16327, Panama City
Florida 32406-1327. Copyright [(c)] 1990 by the Institute for Memetic
Research, Inc.
In 1608 Hans Lippershey (aka Lippersheim) placed one spectacle lens in
front of another and pointed this configuration at a distant building.
To his amazement he noticed that the building top appeared much closer
and larger than he could see before; furthermore, he could see the
details of the building top quite clearly. On October 2, 1608 he
offered this device (which he called 'looker') to the Estates of
Holland for 900 florins. Lippershey's looker is known nowadays as a
telescope. Through Jacques Bovedere of Paris, the telescope was made
known to Galileo Galilei. Galileo, in turn, constructed his own
telescope and pointed it towards the moon, Jupiter, and other celestial
objects. Galileo's discoveries of the irregular surface of the moon,
sunspots on the sun, moons of Jupiter, and a host of other unexpected
astronomical phenomena, challenged the Ptolmeic astronomical theories
and the official views of man's position in the universe. Galileo's
observations ultimately led to what we now recognize as modern science
while Galileo himself was subjected to continuing house arrest.
On reviewing the fascinating sequence of events leading to Galileo's
discoveries, one immediately recognizes the simple two lens experiment,
conducted by Lippershey, as the singular most important event for
modern astronomy, and perhaps for modern science. This is so because it
is the one event that provided a simple tool which generated
uncontestable direct evidence about nature and the universe. It was the
telescope that provided data supporting or refuting systems of beliefs
held for many centuries.
A number of natural questions arise. Why did Lippershey place the one
lens in front of the other at the time that he did? Where did that idea
come from? If we reflect upon these questions and bring into the
foreground the fact that spectacle lenses were known for over three
centuries (before Lippershey) and that the magnifying effects of glass
and water-filled glass spheres were known for over 1300 years, another
question comes to mind. Why did it take as long as it did to think of
and do Lippershey's experiment?
Events such as Lippershey's invention of the telescope, and Galileo's
use of the telescope to discover craters on the moon, point to a class
of underlying phenomena that we all participate in continuously, namely
the awareness, development, use and propagation of ideas. Until very
recently, attempts to understand the mechanics and dynamics of 'ideas'
(as entities by themselves) have been limited to philosophical,
sociological and perhaps psychological speculations. Almost all
discussions of 'ideas' revolve about truth values (i.e. true/false) of
particular ideas, their meaning and their impact (i.e., how many people
subscribe to an idea or a collection of ideas and what did they do as
result of believing that particular idea). To date, little discussion
has taken place on objective, quantitative aspects of 'ideas' and
'idea-dynamics'.
This journal, The Journal of Ideas, is being launched to stimulate
thinking about the very nature of 'ideas' as rigorously quantifiable
objects. The Journal aims to provide a forum for disciplined
presentation of formal results in an archival scholarly format.
Basically, it is our view that ideas are discrete objects that can
combine, mutate, spread, and die, much like the many living biological
entities we are familiar with.
In this issue we have assembled a collection of invited papers by
distinguished investigators. J. T. Bonner (Princeton University, author
of "The Evolution of Culture in Animals") presents an analysis of
cultural evolution from a biological point of view. Bonner discusses
cultural evolution in terms of selection of units of behavioral
information, individual memory, and collective memory of the species.
He argues that cultural changes (in short time spans) rival genetically
derived changes that take hundreds of millions of years. D. Brooks
(University of Toronto, co-author of "Evolution as Entropy") and D.
McLennan extend the unified theory of biology which is based on entropy
analysis of biological systems as informational systems. Their unified
theory of biological evolution argues for production of historically
constrained, spontaneously stable, complex structures and hierachies.
S. Salthe (Brooklyn College, author of "Evolving Hierarchical Systems"
and "Complexity and Change in Biology") presents a related
biological-entropy based approach to infodynamics - the study of
uncertainties. Salthe's framework allows discussion of external
(historical) influences on dissipative structures and prediction of the
effects of stored information. H. K. Henson (first president of the L-5
society and an activist in national space policy) and A. Lucas present
a discussion of evolution and creationism in the context of memes (a
particular category of ideas). Their paper explores the question of why
humans have beliefs at all and raises the intriguing hypothesis that
there may exist physical meme receptor sites with subtantial stability.
R. Wiley (author of the book "BioBalance: The Acid/Alkaline Solution To
The Food-Mood-Health Puzzle") presents a rigorous theory for the
metabolic roots of consciousness that tracks metabolic inputs leading
to correlations with metabolic and cognitive functions and
dysfunctions. An interesting, and potentially highly significant aspect
of R. Wiley's theory is the use of the relative acidity/alkalinity of
venous plasma pH as the synoptic indicator of metabolic health and
consequently mental/functional health. General metabolite
reaction-diffusion equations, specializing to hermitian interactions
are presented. E. Moritz introduces a rigorous foundation for memetic
science. Moritz's paper provides a review of the major historical
theories of ideas with attention to contemporary work of quantitative
culture theorists of the past two decades. In addition to a wealth of
key references, Moritz establishes a firm basis for a calculational
science of ideas based on intrinsic and extrinsic properties of memes.
The papers collected in this issue, while initially appearing as a
diverse ensemble, in fact touch on various aspects that we hope to
bring together in the Journal. Ideas and language appear to be present
in a developed form only in humans. They are phenotypic artifacts of
the state of cognitive abilities achieved by humans as a result of a
biologically and culturally adaptive evolution. We hope these papers
serve as a basis for and stimulate principled discussion for a
comprehensive science that includes these diverse aspects.
Since the topic of a science of ideas (as differentiated from
philosophy) is new and uncharted, we expect that a variety of points of
view and approaches will be taken. We anticipate that some topics and
papers will generate heated discussions, as well as provide substantive
advances in areas such as cognitive sciences, psychology, biology,
sociology, artificial intelligence, artificial life, economics,
Computational linguistics, knowledge engineering, and a host of
existing and new interdisciplinary fields.
We stress that the Journal and its publisher will maintain the
principle of scientific objectivity regarding publications.
Accordingly, all views expressed in the Journal are solely those of the
author(s) of individual papers. Correspondence pertaining to individual
author's positions should be addressed to the relevant author.
We encourage individuals who have interests in the topic of the science
of ideas to submit papers for publication in this journal; while no
standards can be set on a new science, it is expected that papers
published in JoI will be of high professional quality. Papers submitted
will be reviewed for content, technical accuracy, and novelty. We
encourage readers to let their acquaintances know about the Journal as
both a source of new information and a forum for discussion.
Judging from correspondence received, and the great interest expressed,
we are confident that many new and useful ideas will be presented here,
and that JoI will act as a catalyst for discovering how ideas interact
with other ideas and how the process of creativity can be made more
fruitful and accessible. In particular, we see an emerging impact of
this area on disciplines that require understanding of knowledge
representation and dynamics, and on electronic based memes (such as
electronic viruses, bacteria and worms), artificial intelligence, and
genetic algorithms. We also see the distinct potential for memetic
science (the science of ideas) to shed light on neural structures and
to call attention to manditory architectures in the human brain (which
would be required to support idea-processing and dynamics). It is
distinctly possible that results obtained here will shed light on
mental functions and dysfunctions such as schizophrenia.
Ultimately, we look forward to being able to explain in detail why it
took 300 years to go from a single spectacle lens to the two lens
telescope, and to use the science of ideas, memetic science, the same
way molecular biologists are able to piece together DNA and RNA
molecules to create new structures. We hope that in the process, we
will learn how to look at ideas that already exist and to piece them
together effectively, so that what would otherwise take centuries, will
be accomplished in years.
Elan Moritz, Editor
Patricia S. Smith, Managing Editor
MEMETIC SCIENCE: I - GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Elan Moritz
The Institute For Memetic Research
P.O. Box 16327, Panama City, Florida 32406
Abstract. Memetic Science is the name of a new field that deals with
the quantitative analysis of cultural transfer. The units of cultural
transfer are entities called "memes". In a nutshell, memes are to
cultural and mental constructs as genes are to biological organisms.
Examples of memes are ideas, tunes, fashions, and virtually any
cultural and behavioral unit that gets copied with a certain degree of
fidelity. It is argued that the understanding of memes is of similar
importance and consequence as the understanding of processes involving
DNA and RNA in molecular biology. This paper presents a rigorous
foundation for discussion of memes and approaches to quantifying
relevant aspects of meme genesis, interaction, mutation, growth, death
and spreading processes. It is also argued in this paper that
recombinant memetics is possible in complete analogy to recombinant DNA
/genetic engineering. Special attention is paid to memes in written
modern English. KEYWORDS: meme, replicator, language, culture, copy,
idea, evolution, computer, virus, knowledge, artificial intelligence,
brain, mind.
CULTURAL EVOLUTION: A BIOLOGIST'S VIEW
John Tyler Bonner
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-1003
Abstract. Culture is defined here as information transmitted from one
individual to another by behavioral means. The evolution of culture
is discussed in terms of selection of units of behavioral information
defined as memes. The relationships of genes, memes, behavior and
the role of individual and collective memory in cultural evolution
are explored. Changes obtained via human cultural evolution are
comparable in magnitude to changes resulting from millions of years
of genetical evolution. KEYWORDS: behavior, culture, genes,
evolution, memes, memory.
SEARCHING FOR A GENERAL THEORY OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
Daniel R. Brooks and Deborah A. McLennan
Department of Zoology
University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada
Abstract. One approach to finding a unified theory of biology stems
from perceptions that (1) the direction of time and history are
important aspects of biological systems, (2) biological systems are
highly non-linear, (3) biological systems are far from equilibrium,
and that the historically-constrained nonequilibrium behavior of
biological systems produces (4) hierarchical organization and (5)
steady states that may act as local equilibria to such an extent that
natural selection is expected to play an important role in explaining
much of their short-term (micro-) evolutionary behavior. Internal
production rules in biological systems require outside energy but are
also highly insensitive to the conditions of the external environment
from which the energy comes. This leads to the production of
historically constrained, spontaneously stable, complex structure.
Because the production rules are physically encoded in the structure
of the system, biological systems are physical information systems,
and their expected behavior over time follows a general entropic
dynamic. The autonomy of the production rules leads to an
explanation for the reality of natural selection that does not rely
on analogy with human economic theory. The historical nature of the
elements of diversity at any given time leads to an expectation that
the details of responses to external evolutionary forces (such as
natural selection, competition, geological changes) will be highly
individualized. Hence, evolutionary regularities will tend to be
highly generalized (macroevolutionary) or statistical in nature.
KEYWORDS: evolution, entropy, hierarchical organization, production
rules, intropy, enformation.
THE METABOLIC ROOTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Rudolf A. Wiley
BioBalance Services
P.O. Box 16376, Panama City, Florida 32406
Abstract. Clinical research dealing with metabolic dysfunctions
indicates that the evolution of disorders commonly referred to as
psychogenic, mental, behavioral and stress-related is governed
predominantly by intermediary metabolic activity. These dysfunctions,
characterized by weak or poorly coupled interactions within Kreb's
cycle and the Embden-Meyerhoff pathways, can be nutritionally
countereffected thereby limiting and often eliminating the extent to
which they are cognitively, affectively and behaviorally articulated.
This research suggests that genetic factors and nutritional input are
primary determinants of psychometabolic pathology. The implications of
this research are profound, extend far beyond the domains of clinical
psychology and medicine, and may go on to impact disciplines as diverse
as psycholinguistics, sociobiology, criminology, cultural anthropology
and zoology to mention only a few. The status of clinical research
regarding the role of intermediary metabolism in shaping cognitive
performance is reviewed in this article. A generic mathematical
formalism of metabolic activity is developed, and a metric mapping
metabolic activity into cognitive activity is proposed and discussed.
KEYWORDS: metabolism, zeitgebers, psychopathology, cognitive
function, redundancy, consciousness, nutrition.
SKETCH OF A LOGICAL DEMONSTRATION THAT THE GLOBAL INFORMATION CAPACITY
OF A MACROSCOPIC SYSTEM MUST BEHAVE ENTROPICALLY WHEN VIEWED INTERNALLY
S. N. Salthe
Department of Biology
Brooklyn College, CUNY, Brooklyn, New York 11210
Abstract. This paper attempts to sketch out in what way macroscopic
information must be entropic. If this can be shown, a larger science,
of infodynamics - the study of uncertainties, can subsume
thermodynamics and information theory. It is crucial for these purposes
that a finite observer be stipulated for all informational exchanges,
and, in order to achieve the desired result, that observer must be
located inside the supersystem that contains the object systems it
interprets.
KEYWORDS: dissipative structures, hierarchy, semiotics, uncertainty.
MEMES AND CREATIONISM
H. Keith Henson and Arel Lucas
1794 Cardel Way, San Jose, CA 95124
(hkhenson@CUP.portal.com)
Abstract. This paper discusses the question of creationism and
evolution theory in the context of memes. Several key questions are
raised including the questions of why humans have beliefs at all, and
why does belief in evolution excite substantial opposition. The authors
address the competition of memes in the meme pool and propose the
existence of meme 'receptor sites' responsible for strong maintenance
of religious beliefs. KEYWORDS: memes, creationism, evolution,
learning, games, receptor-sites.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*++*+*+*+*+*
Instructions for Contributors
The key to our era, the Information Age, is knowledge generation and
manipulation. A fundamental aspect of knowledge generation is the
creation and combination of new ideas. In December 1989, The Institute
for Memetic Research Inc. was formed to pursue the study of and
dissemination of knowledge in the area of idea formation and spread.
This journal, the Journal of Ideas, was established for archiving and
disseminating research and knowledge in this area. You and your
organization are invited to participate as authors, readers, referees
and subscribers in this enterprise.
Prospective contributors are urged to read the introductory discussion
of memes in the article "Memetic Science: I - General Introduction,"
[J. of Ideas, Volume 1, pp. 3-23, 1990] wherein one can find the basic
concepts and references that provide a starting context for research in
the science of ideas, and the editorial "Welcome to the Journal of
Ideas," [J. of Ideas, Volume 1, pp 1-2, 1990].
Purpose
It is an intention of the IMR and the Journal to provide a forum for
advancing novel, speculative and perhaps controversial ideas with care
to avoid excessive peer restrictions. Attention to quality, however,
will be given through careful review of technical accuracy, novelty,
and content. This approach intends to stimulate generation and archival
of 'low probability of occurrence' ideas that otherwise might not be
expressed in a public forum. While some may regard this as a means for
'thumb-printing' or establishing precedence to new ideas, the IMR will
strongly encourage relevant papers to be submitted in order that the
Journal constitute a literal 'laboratory for meme evolution'. While
this policy allows for substantial freedoms, prospective authors must
keep in mind that as an archival journal, the Journal of Ideas can
serve to record errors as well as genuine advances.
The target audience of this journal is intended to be as wide as
possible within the lay and scholarly communities and will clearly be
of a multi-disciplinary nature. With this audience in mind, authors are
encouraged to use terminology that is easily accessible, to define
specialized jargon carefully, and to avoid complicated mathematical
derivations.
Length and Charges
Typically, a contributed paper should not exceed eight journal pages.
Invited papers are targeted to be sixteen pages or less. In special
cases discussion to support papers may require a significant amount of
space. In this case, authors are requested to correspond with the
Institute concerning space availability, and publication of a special
issue. To defray costs of publication, payment of $125 per page is
required for contributed papers prior to publication. Payment of page
charges entitles authors to 100 free reprints of their article. Page
charges will be waived for invited papers. Invited authors will receive
25 reprints gratis. To estimate length, use the figure of 6000
characters (including spaces) per journal page.
Manuscript Preparation
The Journal of Ideas will be published with a nominal page size of 8
1/2 " x 11". Manuscripts may be submitted in one of the following
modes:
1. Via e-mail sent to one of the following addresses, INTERNET:
71620.3203@compuserve.com , or moritz@well.sf.ca.us , or via BITNET
(moritz@well.sf.ca.us.bitnet).
2. Via regular mail. If possible, include a copy of the text in ASCII
format on MS-DOS IBM Compatible 360K, 5 1/4" or 1.44M , 3 1/2"
diskettes.
In all cases, please send two paper copies to Patricia S. Smith,
Managing Editor, Journal of Ideas, The Institute for Memetic Research,
P.O. Box 16327, Panama City, Florida 32406-1327. Submitted manuscripts
should be neatly typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper using double spacing. All
unusual symbols should be carefully defined.
References or bibliographies should be prepared and used in a
consistent manner throughout the manuscript. Footnotes will be treated
as references. Authors are encouraged to use standard formats such as
the Chicago Manual of Style, or guidelines of professional society
journals such as those issued by the ACM, the IEEE, the American
Mathematical Society, or the American Institute of Physics.
Figures will be scanned in using an optical scanner, they should be
prepared using high quality, high contrast ink and should not exceed 3
inches in width and 4 inches in height.
Copyright Transfer
Transfer of copyright is required prior to publication. Authors of
accepted papers will receive a Journal of Ideas copyright transfer form
with notification of acceptance.
------------------------------
PSYCOLOQUY
is sponsored by
the Science Directorate of
the American Psychological Association
(202) 955-7653
Co-Editors:
(scientific discussion) (professional/clinical discussion)
Stevan Harnad Perry London, Dean, Cary Cherniss (Assoc Ed.)
Psychology Department Graduate School of Applied Graduate School of Applied
Princeton University and Professional Psychology and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University Rutgers University
Assistant Editors:
Malcolm Bauer John Pizutelli
Psychology Department Psychology Department
Princeton University Rutgers University
End of PSYCOLOQUY Digest
******************************harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Stevan Harnad) (10/17/90)
PSYCOLOQUY Tues, 16 Oct 90 Volume 1 : Issue 14
APS Application
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lee Herring <APSKLH%UMUC@pucc>
Subject: APS Application
American Psychological Society
October 1990
Dear Colleague:
You may already know about the two-year-old American
Psychological Society (APS). If so, I hope you agree that APS is
an organization where issues important to psychology are being
addressed. If you haven't heard of APS, I hope I might convince
you to read on, and see for yourself the compatibility of APS with
your own goals and objectives.
I also want to let you know that APS is now offering
membership at a reduced rate. For a limited time, you may join APS
for 1990 and 1991 for only $90.91 (two years are regularly $150).
You will receive all back issues of "Psychological Science," the
flagship journal of APS.
Here are a few more reasons for joining.
We are now 11,000 members, including researchers, applied
scientists, and academicians from across the country. APS's
roster boasts the nation's most renowned psychologists.
The "APS Observer" and the "APS Employment Bulletin" inform
members monthly of the latest news about the Society and
provide job openings across all areas of psychology.
1990 marked the publication of APS's first journal,
"Psychological Science" (William Estes, Editor). Its
subscription price is included in dues. Take advantage of
the 90/91 $90.91 membership special and get all back issues.
The 2nd Annual APS Convention was a smashing success with a
registration of over 1,300 basking in 27 symposia, 14 invited
addresses, numerous debates and interdisciplinary sessions,
and over 450 posters. All signs point to the June 13-16, 1991
convention in Washington, DC, as being equally exciting.
An APS-convened (NIMH-funded) Summit of over 65 separate
behavioral or psychological organizations began a process to develop a National
Research Agenda for behavioral and psychological science.
The APS office represents psychological science on Capitol
Hill, in federal agencies, and the executive branch. Its
latest success came just this August. Congress is now
considering APS-initiated legislation to establish a separate
structure for behavioral and social science at the National
Science Foundation.
The APS office is successfully bringing positive national
media attention to APS and to psychological science (e.g.,
"Science," the "Washington Post," UPI, "Forbes," "Chronicle of Higher
Education").
APS members are eligible for substantial discounts on journals
and books from other publishers, with more discounts to come.
We offer low-cost professional liability insurance aimed
at academics that also allows for part-time practice, and has
separate categories for industrial psychologists and students.
Below is an electronic form for the $90.91 special for two
years of APS membership (90/91). Print it out, complete it, send
it in, and join a young organization that is rich in heritage and
has great plans for the future. I hope you see your future in APS,
too.
Sincerely,
Alan G. Kraut
Executive Director
American Psychological Society
* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *
* 1990/91 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION +Special Limited Offer+ *
* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *
Name__________________________________ Phone (w)__________________
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YES, SIGN ME UP, AND SEND ME ALL BACK ISSUES OF "PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE".* I understand I am joining for 1990 and 1991 for $90.91
(two years are regularly $150).
___Enclosed is my payment of $90.91. (Check made payable to APS.)
___Please charge $90.91 to my MasterCard or Visa (indicate which):
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___Oh, just make it an even $100. Count the $9.09 as a
contribution to APS.
Send application to: APS, PO Box 90457, Washington, DC 20090-0457
phone: 202-783-2077 fax: 202-783-2083 BITNET: APS2@UMUC
___Students should contact the APS office to request a student
membership application.
This $90.91 membership special is available only while
supplies last. Offer expires when back issues of "Psychological
Science" are gone.
*************************************************************************
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY Tel: 202/783-2077
1511 K Street, NW Fax: 202/783-2083
Suite 345 BITNET: APSKLH@UMUC (Lee Herring)
Washington, DC 20005-1401 APS2@UMUC (APS General)
APS: it's reinforcing psychologists who join.
*************************************************************************
End of PSYCOLOQUY Digest
******************************harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Stevan Harnad) (10/17/90)
PSYCOLOQUY Tues, 16 Oct 90 Volume 1 : Issue 14
Note on Salzinger obituary for Skinner [1(13)] (line 14)
Catania: Reply to Norman on Skinner (line 30)
Dane: Electronic Journals: Alternative to Pickering (line 164)
Jansen: Thoughts on Electronic Journals (line 248)
Query: HP display monitor (line 324)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kurt Salzinger <KSALZING%POLYVM@pucc>
Subject: Skinner obituary 15 Sep 90 Vol 1: Issue 13
Please note that my obituary on B. F. Skinner will appear in the
American Psychological Society Observer and has a copyright 1990,
American Psychological Society. It appeared here with the permission
of the APS.
[Ed. Note: In parallel with the series of critical evaluations of the
contributions of BF Skinner in Psycoloquy, triggered by D. Norman's
obituary, there has been a series of interchanges in the British Press,
triggered by an obituary by NS Sutherland of Sussex. A synopsis of the
British discussion would be welcome in Psycoloquy. -- Ed.]
-----------------------------
From: <catania@umbc1.umbc.edu> AC Catania
Subject: Reply to Norman on Skinner
The environment matters: A reply to Donald A. Norman
A. Charles Catania
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Donald A. Norman has written a curious personal note in
response to the remarks that B. F. Skinner made to the American
Psychological Association shortly before his death. His piece is
entitled "The mind exists," and it is more a statement of faith
than a statement of facts. The little that Norman says about
Skinner is at best misleading and at worst incorrect. His claim
to authority is that at one time he was a "very junior faculty
member" at Harvard, "where Skinner was a very senior faculty
member." Though it is to be hoped that colleagues within a
department will be students of each other's work, the evidence
implies that Norman learned little if anything from or about
Skinner.
How else are we to interpret Norman's claims about Skinner's
blind spot: "he denied that mental activity plays any major role
in human behavior" and "thought that the difficulty of studying
mental phenomena proved their non-existence"? Such arguments can
easily be made about John B. Watson, but Skinner had explicitly
rejected them as long ago as in his 1945 Psychological Review
paper, "The operational analysis of psychological terms" (which,
by the way, was a renunciation of operationism and not a defense
of it).
Norman is mixed up about Skinner's uses of the words
"mental" and "private." Skinner did not like the word "mental,"
because it suggested that such events were not part of the
physical world; in other words, he did not want to speak as a
dualist. In referring to phenomena like thinking, remembering,
imagining, or even doing mental (sic) arithmetic, Skinner
preferred the term "private" and used the distinction between
public and private to discuss the problems that a verbal
community with access only to public events has in establishing a
language of private events. To suggest on the grounds of this
vocabulary preference that Skinner denied the existence of such
phenomena is simply to demonstrate a totally inadequate
familiarity with Skinner's work.
If Norman objects to the public-private distinction in spite
of his claim that his field "cannot afford to be dogmatic, to
have a closed mind," I can only assume that he does so because he
really does think of mind as something other than part of the
natural world or, in other words, that he is some sort of mind-
body dualist. I had not understood the concepts of information,
knowledge and computation to imply dualism, but if this is indeed
the implication of Norman's position we must now await from him
an account of psychophysical interactionism that will tell us how
mental events can affect physical events and vice versa. On the
other hand, if he really is not a dualist he should try to
overcome his antipathy to things Skinnerian long enough to read
the relevant literature, so that he will not characterize
Skinner's work inaccurately the next time he decides to write
about it.
Now, Norman does concede that we are "influenced by the
environment," and that "some of B. F. Skinner's methods are part
of the scientific basis for our understanding of cognition." But
the environments that have concerned Skinner do not consist
merely of contemporary stimuli. They include the organism's past
environments, by way of their effects on a nervous system that
has been changed by them; that nervous system in turn is the
product of selection by the environments within which the species
has evolved. Taken in this context, Norman's acknowledgment of
the role of the environment seems to be minimal lip service.
The remarks about cognitive psychology by Skinner that
Norman addressed were critical ones, and probably we should not
be surprised that Norman has responded in kind. But Norman's
reply does not address Skinner's central criticism, which is the
argument that cognitive psychology has rejected the role of
environmental determinants. That rejection began decades ago,
when cognitive psychology began to separate itself from
psychology; the separation continues to widen, as psychology and
cognitive science even come to be represented by different
departments at some campuses (Norman's included). The separation
is sometimes used as an excuse for excluding some parts of the
science of behavior from curricula, but that exclusion cannot
serve as an excuse for misrepresenting those parts in scholarly
discourse (and, knowingly or not, Norman misrepresents it when he
suggests that Skinner's account of behavior is "a simple story").
Cognitive psychology has been making promises for many
years, and Skinner has not been alone in raising questions about
it. For example, the New York Times Book Review recently carried
a review by Fred Hapgood of Norman's own book, "The psychology of
everyday things." In discussing the application of cognitive
psychology to design, the reviewer states that "there is nothing
here that suggests any contact at all, derisory or not, with the
life and work of the professionals Mr. Norman purports to advise:
no interviews, no references to their history, nothing that gives
a person any feeling for who does this work or how they do it, or
the constraints under which they operate. Mr. Norman's approach
is to pick up some object and meditate on it from his desk,
pointing out how its operations might have been made simpler and
more transparent if the designer had paid more attention to this
principle or that." The reviewer then deals with how some
industries have studied the interactions between customers and
products, and goes on to say that "Almost certainly the present
versions of the designs that now make the most sense to us . . .
represent the steady accumulation of the detailed experiences of
specific users." The reviewer's argument has much in common with
Skinner's argument that cognitive science too often fails to pay
attention to behavior.
It is easy to see that the issues involve interactions
between organisms and environments, but it is hard to see why
cognitive scientists are so uninterested in them. Whatever the
nature of cognitive phenomena, they can only be studied at the
point at which they become manifested as behavior, whether that
manifestation is verbal or nonverbal and whether it is immediate
or delayed. It might even be worthwhile to entertain the
possibility that some of those phenomena are themselves instances
of behavior. There is no need to assume that all behavior must
involve muscles. If we are willing to agree that visualizing or
imagining are things we do, then we may treat them as examples of
behavior worthy of study.
Skinner did not claim that he had provided the last word on
behavior, but he has given us much on which to build. The
experimental analysis of behavior has taught us a good deal about
how selection by environmental consequences can create classes of
behavior, about the way in which response classes can combine
into higher-order behavioral units, and about some of the unique
properties of verbal behavior and its interactions with nonverbal
behavior, to mention just a few recent developments. Many of
these findings have led to successful applications, including the
saving of lives. Topics such as these are covered in readily
accessible journals, and it is therefore disappointing that so
much of the commentary by cognitive psychologists about Skinner
and about the field of behavior analysis is based upon
superficial and out-dated views about its foundations, its
substance, and its contributions.
--------------------------------
From: Frank Dane <FDANE%UGA@pucc>
Subject: Electronic Journals: An Alternative to Pickering
An Alternative Proposal for an Electronic Journal
Francis C. Dane
Mercer University
The "abstract" journal proposed by Pickering (1990) already
exists in a variety of forms. What was proposed is essentially
that which is offered in the form of PsycScan, PsycInfo,
SocSciSearch, and other electronically available versions of
print media abstract services. The difference is that Pickering
proposes material be sent to and from reviewers electronically;
this, too, is accomplished by some print journals (e.g., _Law and
Human Behavior_ encourages reviewers to submit reviews electroni-
cally).
What is new about Pickering's proposal is that only ab-
stracts be reviewed. I believe such restricted review would
seriously undermine the purpose of journals, print or electronic.
That purpose is to communicate empirical and theoretical develop-
ments. Reviewers cannot determine the developmental utility of a
submission from only an abstract. As Pickering notes, there is
the danger of an abstract without a paper. I see a greater
danger in reviewers' inability to consider an entire work before
rendering judgment.
The status of journals is, in part, due to the quality of
the material published in them. The proliferation of journals
is, in part, due to printing costs. A high quality print journal
can publish only so many pages per year, regardless of the
quality of submissions. Additional journals arise due to spe-
cialization, but also due to an abundance of publishable-quality
papers that cannot be published due to page limitations. Therein
lies one potential advantage of electronic journals.
Electronic journals undoubtedly have an advantage vis-a-vis
speed and what Pickering calls "interconnectivity." The greater
advantage of electronic journals may be the potential for greater
length. Electronic archives, though not unlimited, can hold a
considerably greater amount of material than any single print
journal. Thus, an electronic journal could conceivably publish
*all* submissions that met reviewers' standards.
Consider an electronic journal in which abstracts are sent
to subscribers, but the corresponding papers are archived and
available electronically via request (much like the one-line
grant announcements offered by the APA Science Directorate in its
Funding Bulletin). Subscribers could scan the abstracts and read
only the most relevant or intriguing articles, just as they now
do when reading print journals. Complete articles could be
available within 24 hours (or less) via the archive. References
for the abstract alone would contain the usual year and vol-
ume/issue numbers; references for the complete papers could be
similar to the "whole number" citation used for _Psychological
Monographs_.
This suggestion does not necessarily meet Pickering's call
for innovative uses for electronic media, but it may solve at
least one of the shortcomings of print journals--page restric-
tions. Certainly, the size of the archive will eventually become
a problem, but no greater a problem than that which exists for
print archives. Electronic archives, however, can be stored and
sent in compressed versions. The money saved by avoiding print-
ing and postage expenses could be applied to storage media. The
networking potential of electronic media would not require a
single storage location for all archived monographs. As one
storage location achieves saturation, another location on the
network could be implemented. Electronic storage would enable
one to avoid the duplication of archive locations required for
print media. Who among us is willing to choose voluntarily to
obtain our journals only through interlibrary loans sent via
postal service? Who among us would decline the opportunity to
access electronically an archived paper if it meant our library
could use the money it currently spends on archiving print
journals to expand other services?
The development of electronic journals should be such that
increases in the availability of quality material are achieved,
not decreases in the quality of the material itself. Rather than
limit the *number* of abstracts published, or archived papers
available, we should be focussing on ways to increase the number
of quality abstracts and papers available.
Reference
Pickering, J. A. (1990). Some thoughts on electronic journals.
_PSYCOLOQUY_, _1_(13).
------------------------------
From: "Bob.Jansen" <jansen@syd.dit.csiro.au>
Subject: Thoughts on Electronic Journals
Some further thoughts on electronic journals.
J A Pickering states in Psycoloquy Digest #13 that the use of
electronic journals would facilitate the dissemination of information
by providing faster infra-structure support for refereeing and by such
techniques as limiting initial submissions to abstracts of a fixed
size. In addition, he states that the use of electronic journals could
make the information more easily read by a greater majority of people.
Although I agree that electronic journals provide an interesting medium
for the dissemination of information, work carried out in our
laboratory, CSIRO Division of Information Technology in Sydney
Australia, indicates that the translation of information from
traditional paper to electronic form will radically alter the amount of
information submitted and the way it is manipulated. We have found, as
also reported in the many HYpermedia conferences, that by merely
replacing the paper medium with an electronic medium offers nothing
extra to the reader. In fact, conventional technology hinders the
complex access supported by the paper form, due to screen size, lack of
portability, etc. It could be argued that our current method of
publishing and accessing information is a by-product of the available
technology, ie. paper, and if so, an interesting question arises as to
how these aspects will change with the new technology.
Thus in our opinion, the journal must provide functions above and
beyond those supported by the traditional paper form. Hypermedia forms
an interesting technology to researching the types of functions
required. We are building tools to extract the knowledge embedded in
the paper by the author, and enabling the use of this knowledge as
filters to retrieve relevant papers, or sections of papers, depending
on the retrieval request. Another tool enables the use of the papers in
justification facilities supporting knowledge-based systems, where the
paper supplies relevant information justifying particular nodes in the
decision tree, or specific paths through the tree, justification that
are impossible in conventional expert systems. Our methodology hinges
on the conceptual map associated with a section of text or graphic.
This conceptual map may be compared with the conceptual map of the
query, and if a threshold comparison function is passed, then the
section of text is deemed relevant to the query. The threshold function
may be used to rank the relevance of the matching sections. The
conceptual map also acts as a mapping function between nodes and paths
in the decision tree and text sections or graphics.
Another interesting function of the electronic journal is the animation
of the paper. By animation, I mean not some cartoonized figure turning
the page, but making the paper non static. We accomplish this at the
moment by storing the actual data underlying any table or graph,
instead of or as well as, the graphicThis allows the user to access the
unprocessed data underlying the results presented in the paper, and
opens up for scrutiny the processing function(s) applied to the data.
It is hypothsized that granting access to the raw data will make
authors much more carefull about what they publish, thus reducing the
amount of papers, and hence the refereeing load, and in some way
reducing the falsification of results.
We are getting an increasing amount of interest in this approach to
knowledge representation and manipulation from the publishing community
as well as the knowledge-based systems community.
[Editorial Comment: These observations about the relative advantages
of electronic media over print pertain only to static texts,
presumably available in print first. Psycoloquy is an extremely rapid
and global INTERACTIVE medium. The dynamic potential of this
"Skywriting" is a medium unto itself and has possibilities that one
cannot even dream of in the print media. I agree, however, about the
desirability of hypermedia, and as announced earlier, we are planning
to implement this in a collaborative project with Bellcore (Tom
Landauer). -- Stevan Harnad]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bill Wang <wcwang@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: HP scope and PC Query
We are interested in any idea or current using system which
will enable us to connect a HP x-y display monitor model 1340a
(ocilliscope) to an IBM compatible computer. We are trying to
use the scope for some psychological experiments. Any comments or
current settings would be appreciated.
Bill Wang
US Mail = Psychology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
UUCP = {rutgers, att, ames}!iuvax!wcwang
Internet = wcwang@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
------------------------------
PSYCOLOQUY
is sponsored by
the Science Directorate of
the American Psychological Association
(202) 955-7653
Co-Editors:
(scientific discussion) (professional/clinical discussion)
Stevan Harnad Perry London, Dean, Cary Cherniss (Assoc Ed.)
Psychology Department Graduate School of Applied Graduate School of Applied
Princeton University and Professional Psychology and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University Rutgers University
Assistant Editors:
Malcolm Bauer John Pizutelli
Psychology Department Psychology Department
Princeton University Rutgers University
End of PSYCOLOQUY Digest
******************************