Cognitive Anthropology

Generative Oscillation - A Cognitive Model for the Emergence of Language

by Thorold (Thor) May

Research Material for a discontinued PhD

DRAFT COPY ONLY

NOT READY FOR PRINT PUBLICATION

The GO model proposes a co-generative view of the emergence of language. Most conventional linguistics models conceive... more The GO model proposes a co-generative view of the emergence of language. Most conventional linguistics models conceive of language as a representational system of symbols which refer to events, either mental or external to the organism. This representational function is said to motivate the linguistic system and (depending upon the linguistic model) largely control its form. The GO (Generative Oscillation) model proposed here recognizes the representational role of language. However it notes that as the mental linguistic system itself becomes efficiently organized, it creates an internal logic and drive of its own. To some extent this internally motivated linguistic system is conceived to override the external motivation to represent another reality. Since the internal linguistic system is dynamic and generative, it may give rise to linguistic output which seems strange in an inter-human communicative context (or even within the reflective mind of the creator). Thus while the external communicative context can become a constraint on unmotivated non-representational "internal language", it might not eliminate it. The Generative Oscillation model proposes that actual language production is an oscillating compromise between the representational function of language and the mental "language bot" itself (i.e. an internal self-organizing system) which is generating language strings just because that is what language language bots do. As far as I know, the Generative Oscillation Model, or anything like it, had not been suggested before in linguistics at the time of writing. Some conventional linguists may find it a bit "off the wall".

In Defense of the Extraordinary in Religious Belief

by Gary Williams

draft only

(MA Thesis) Religion as Representations

by John McGraw

M.A. Thesis, UCSD Department of Anthropology

Cognitive Anthropology has developed some powerful tools in the refinement of schema theory and cultural models.... more Cognitive Anthropology has developed some powerful tools in the refinement of schema theory and cultural models. Unfortunately, the discipline has not utilized these tools to investigate religion. The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) has employed cognitive and evolutionary psychology towards better understanding how
the mind selects and internalizes religious representations but has not taken up schema theory as one of its techniques. This paper analyzes schema theory and the Cognitive Science of Religion with an eye towards reconciling these two methodologies in order to more comprehensively study religion. Bateson’s notions of the “ecology of mind,” Sperber’s ideas about the epidemiology of representations, and Sørensen’s concept of an immunology of cultural systems are highlighted as ways to envelop CSR methodologies into a systems-level approach. Part I reviews the development of schema theory and considers the influence of psychodynamic processes on the internalization of schemas. Part II looks at the major contributions of the Cognitive Science of Religion and points out potential criticisms of the field. Part III takes up systems-level analyses as a way to reconcile schema theory and CSR.

2009 ARQUEOASTRONOMÍA, ANTROPOLOGÍA Y PAISAJE

by Marco García Quintela

Con A. César González García
“Arqueoastronomía, Antropología y Paisaje”, Complutum, 20(2), 2009, págs. 39-54.

The present paper pretends to show the close connections between space archaeology and archaeoastronomy. We indicate... more The present paper pretends to show the close connections between space archaeology and archaeoastronomy. We indicate the fundaments and possibilities of both disciplines and their methodologies in order to not restrict ourselves to a wishful list of propositions, bearing in mind that both areas are diverse in their trajectories. We propose that historic anthropology can be a useful guide to counterbalance the increasing rise of complex analytic technologies (e.g. the use of complex celestial models) to avoid the creation of a separate and disconnected area of knowledge, without further interesting contributions to the study of past cultures. We will thus show that these diverse disciplines must be viewed as tools to help in a better understanding of different aspects of ancient societies’ everyday life which otherwise would remain unknown to us.
Keywords: Archaeoastronomy; Space Archaeology; Landscape Archaeology; Historic Anthropology; Cognitive Anthropology; Methodology

Examining the structure and role of emotion: Contributions of neurobiology to the study of embodied religious experience

by Rebecca Sachs Norris

In Zygon: The Journal of Science and Religion, 40:1, March 2005.

Certain properties of the body and emotions facilitate the transmission of religious knowledge and the development of... more Certain properties of the body and emotions facilitate the transmission of religious knowledge and the development of religious states through particular qualities of perception and memory. The body, which is the ground of religious experience, can be understood as transformative: the characteristic that recalled emotion is “refelt” in the present enables emotion to be cultivated or developed. Emotions and the stimuli that evoke them are necessarily culturally specific, but the automatic nature of this process is universal. Religious traditions have made use of these processes to educate the feeling toward certain qualities and to develop religious experience, through the use of sacred images, ritual posture and gesture, and repetition of ritual acts. Neuroscience contributes to our understanding of the emotional processes that take place when emotions are evoked, refelt, and developed; the neurobiological processing of emotion parallels experience. Keeping experience central makes it possible to bring religion and neuroscience together in a nonreductive examination of spiritual experience.

The Paradox of Healing Pain

by Rebecca Sachs Norris

In Religion, 39(1), 22-33, 2009.

Pain may be seen as a problem to be healed or as a means for healing. The secular biomedical view of pain is that it... more Pain may be seen as a problem to be healed or as a means for healing. The secular biomedical view of pain is that it is to be avoided and alleviated; its only meaning is as a symptom of underlying disease. In contrast, there have been throughout history other views of suffering—as redemptive or as transformative, for example. This paper considers the disparity between these perspectives, examining the role of the emotions and the underlying neurobiological processes though which pain and suffering come to be experienced as meaningful, then analyzes interview material exploring how religion and religious beliefs help people cope with suffering or with pain. The experience of pain is subjective, enculturated experience; the meaning that pain or suffering holds within a given cultural context affects the experience of pain and suffering. In a context where pain and suffering are understood to be valuable, those experiences can be used for spiritual transformation and integrated within a meaningful identity. In contrast, in a context where pain and suffering are not understood to have value, that attitude can create more suffering, even in conditions meant to alleviate suffering, such as in biomedical situations.

Miduri, M.C., (2009), "Regole senza senso o senso regolato". Rileggere la critica di Staal alle Scienze umane in una nuova prospettiva antropologica"

by Maria Chiara Miduri

Honors MA Essay in Indian Philosophies and Religions, Miduri, M.C., (2009), "Regole senza senso o senso regolato". Rileggere la critica di Staal alle Scienze umane in una nuova prospettiva antropologica", Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Torino, A.A. 2008-2009.

Of Consciousness Changes and Fortified Faith

by Deana Weibel

Implementing a “Fast and Frugal” Cognitive Model within a Computational Social Simulation

by Bill Kennedy

Co-authored with Jeffrey K. Bassett. Presented Oct 10th and to be published officially in the Society's proceedings (in press).

Large-scale social simulations require a cognitively credible but computationally efficient cognitive architecture to... more Large-scale social simulations require a cognitively credible but computationally efficient cognitive architecture to support simulations with thousands to tens of thousands agents. In previous work developing and experimenting with a large-scale social simulation, we successfully employed an ad hoc cognitive model, a formula-based decision function. We explain why we now believe that a “fast and frugal” cognitive architecture to be superior based on its indistinguishable computational efficiency and much better cognitive plausibility.

The Origin of Cognition: Introduction

by Christopher Holvenstot

draft only

Introduction chapter to a book-length version of a paper of the same name presented at the 2011 TSC conference in... more Introduction chapter to a book-length version of a paper of the same name presented at the 2011 TSC conference in Stockholm. The Origin of Cognition: The evolution of sentience mapped in incremental adaptations, from the boundary awareness of single-celled organisms, to the cognitive complexity of human brains.

Pursuing the Fruits of Knowledge: Cognitive Ethnobotany in Missouri's Little Dixie

by Justin Nolan

Oliver Kress - A new approach to cognitive development: ontogenesis and the process of initiation

by Oliver Kress

Evolution and Cognition (1993) 2:319 - 332. Springer Verlag

In the current models of cognitive development some phenomena cannot be categorized: self-actualizing people (Maslow),... more In the current models of cognitive development some phenomena cannot be categorized: self-actualizing people (Maslow), Buddhism and Taoism. Using Piaget´s genetic epistemology we can argue that the human cognitive system is not flexible enough to cope with the fundamental changes in structure of the need-satisfying actions (infant/adult) without adaption delays. In this article the process of cognitive new-adaptation with all related effects is described as the initiation process. Four thought-forms are introduced and derived from the hypothesis, with which it is possible to categorize the phenomena mentioned above. The initiation process is an independent side effect of onotgenesis and therefore requires a new definition for intelligence.

The Burning Saints: Cognition and Culture in the Fire-walking Rituals of the Anastenaria

by Dimitris Xygalatas

forthcoming by Equinox Press, London.

The Burning Saints is an anthropological account of the fascinating tradition of fire-walking rituals performed by the... more The Burning Saints is an anthropological account of the fascinating tradition of fire-walking rituals performed by the communities of the Anastenaria in Northern Greece in honour of Saints Constantine and Helen.

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and insights from various disciplines across the humanities and the natural sciences, this book offers a multi-level approach of the Anastenaria. It examines the historical development and sociocultural context of the Greek fire-walking tradition, while at the same time placing it within a wider framework of highly arousing rituals, discussing possible social, psychological and neurobiological factors that may be involved in their performance. Of particular interest is the role of emotional and physiological arousal involved in the performance of such rituals in motivating participation, mediating experience and providing meaning for it.

Cognitive Semiotics and On-Line Reading of Religious Texts: A Hermeneutic Model of Sacred Literature and Everyday Revelation

by Vito Evola

Published in the Journal of Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Vol. 6 (N. 2) 2005.

- See also Hogan, Patrick Colm (2005) “Introduction to Special Issue on Literary Universals” Journal of Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Vol. 6 (N. 2) 2005.
(http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/users/dmeyerdinkgrafe/archive/universalsintro.html)

In this essay a hermeneutic model of the higher level understanding during on-line ritual reading by devotees of their... more In this essay a hermeneutic model of the higher level understanding during on-line ritual reading by devotees of their respective sacred literatures is proposed, using the instruments provided by cognitive sciences. The way a devotee reads a sacred text differs from the way he or she would read a common piece of literature or how a lay person might read the same sacred text. After providing an overview of metaphor, anthropomorphism, and the “religious brain”, it is suggested how devotee-readers might make sense of a religious text and why it should be so important for their own personal everyday life. Universals are implicated in this genre of literature and the way it is interpreted.

The Acquisition of Cultural Knowledge of Hierarchy by Samoan Children

by Harold L. Odden

Doctoral Dissertation (2007)

This doctoral dissertation examines the processes of cultural learning by which Samoan children (0-12 years of age)... more This doctoral dissertation examines the processes of cultural learning by which Samoan children (0-12 years of age) come to understand local concepts of hierarchy, social rank, and respectful behavior. This is a particularly important domain of cultural knowledge in contemporary Samoa as titular chiefs exercise wide-ranging social, political and economic powers in their families and villages, and concerns with relative rank organize social interactions between all members of society. Consequently being able to understand local models of hierarchy is an essential component of children's developing social and cultural competence.

This dissertation documents how children are socialized to use observational, imitative, and participatory learning as primary modes of social learning, as they adapt to familial demands and practices, prevailing ethnotheories of child development, and other aspects of their developmental niche. The ways in which social learning is structured in this context in which children develop to more adequately understand the nature and full range of variation in developmental processes.

Samoan patterns of social learning have an important influence on the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and practice. Research findings suggest that rather than a simple replication of existing systems of inequality (i.e. with children of higher-ranking households attaining greater cultural competence than lower-ranking ones), an emphasis on observational learning means that endogenous factors such as the child's motivation to learn, and social factors such as positive social relationships with one's elders moderate the importance of family rank. These findings fit a Samoan cultural emphasis on gaining competence in the chief system through long-term service to chiefs, parents and descent group elders. The research also points to a number of different "leveling mechanisms", including the village primary school, that serve to widely disseminate opportunities to learn one's culture that undercut more restrictive forms of intergenerational transmission. The implications of the study's findings to our understanding of the complex interactions of cultural practices, social organization, and processes of human development over ontogeny are discussed.

Geste Individuel, Mémoire Collective: Le Jeu Du Pan Dans Les Steelbands De Trinidad & Tobago

by Aurélie Helmlinger

Les Steelbands De Trinidad Et Tobago: Ethnomusicologie Cognitive D'Une Mémoire D'Orchestre

by Aurélie Helmlinger

Testing the Influence of the Group for the Memorisation of Repertoire In Trinidad and Tobago Steelbands

by Aurélie Helmlinger

Mémoriser à plusieurs / Memorizing together.

by Aurélie Helmlinger

Homo Effectivus: toward a unified model of human cognition for the study of social-ecological systems (Working Paper)

by Jordan Levine

For presentation at the 13th IASC International Conference, Hyderabad, India, 10-14 January 2011

Institutional economics and related fields are struggling to reconcile their inherited assumptions about human... more Institutional economics and related fields are struggling to reconcile their inherited assumptions about human rationality with the heterogeneous behaviours that are observed in both experimental and real-world conditions. This begs the question: what set of assumptions should we bring to the study of our own species’ role in complex systems? In response, we propose HOMO EFFECTIVUS: a model of human cognition, synthesized from various literatures, in which our propensity for mental efficiency, achieved mainly through analogical—or case-based—reasoning, is the primary assumption. This assumption can, in turn, directly inform how we select future objects of analysis.