Integrative psychological & behavioral science
September 1, 2023
Lucia-Elisabeta Faiciuc
Interactionist theories can be closely connected to a nonlinear dynamic approach of psychological and social processes. The mathematical theory of dynamic systems (DST) offers a systematic conceptual and methodological framework for understanding interaction. From a DST perspective, interaction is conceived as an interdependent continuous evolution over time of two or more dynamic variables, which are paradoxically both separated as independent sources of variation and indistinguishable as a new emergent source of variation. This contrasts with the popular view of interaction as a sequence of action and reaction. The key notion of coupling, rarely used in interactionist work, is central to this dynamic systems view. Future studies should specify the link between the dynamic approach of interaction and action theories.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
September 1, 2023
Majid Beshkar
The QBIT theory proposes that the brain generates consciousness by reducing the entropy of its internal representations below a critical threshold. When an observer's information-theoretic certainty about a stimulus surpasses that threshold, the observer becomes conscious of the stimulus. This paper explains how the brain gradually minimizes entropy to produce minimum-entropy representations, also called conscious representations or qualia, and explores the implications of this entropy-minimization process within quantum information theory.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
March 1, 2022
Shuquan Huo
Since Frege, mental content (conscious content) has been separated from the meaning of natural language, with mental content not regarded as the meaning of linguistic expressions. This anti-psychological view severs the connection between linguistic meaning and mental content, leading to failures in solving problems of mind. The author argues that people attach meaning to symbols through communication activities when they have mental contents, thereby forming language—a process that also achieves psychological certainty. The relationship between linguistic meaning and mental content is similar to the interdependent relationship between monetary value and the use value of commodities: without the latter, the former loses its source, and the former also affects the latter. Based on these arguments and previous theories, the paper conceives a general model of the generation of linguistic meaning.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
December 1, 2020
Majid Beshkar
The QBIT theory proposes that consciousness arises from quantum information processes. It defines a quale (a basic unit of conscious experience) as a superdense pack of quantum information encoded in maximally entangled pure states. Qualia are generated when such information is compressed beyond a threshold. They are subjective because information in maximally entangled pure states is private and unshareable. A quale obtains meaning through progressive interpretation by an internal model within a cognitive system. The theory draws on quantum mechanics, biology, information theory, and thermodynamics to address four core questions about the nature, generation, subjectivity, and meaning of qualia.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
March 1, 2014
Tetsuya Kono
The extended mind thesis (EM) holds that the mind includes not just the brain but the whole system of brain, body, and environment. Some philosophers and psychologists have recently extended this idea to social cognition (socially extended mind, or SEM). However, EM/SEM theory struggles to account for interactions involving opposition, antagonism, or conflict, and tends to treat the environment as passive or static, overlooking how non-human elements can direct and regulate human subjects. Actor-network theory (ANT), developed by Latour and Callon, is more persuasive on these points while sharing important ideas with EM/SEM. The author concludes that EM/SEM is best understood as a special case of actor-network—a system controllable by a human agent alone—and that understanding collective behavior requires studying the actor-networks in which individuals are situated.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
December 1, 2010
Tetsuya Kono
The mind is not confined to the brain or body but is realized through the entire system of brain, body, and environment, a concept called the extended mind. This paper argues that psychology should adopt an extended mind approach or ecological approach to humanized environments as a new paradigm, replacing the inadequate machine paradigm and the organic view that focuses only on internal bodily processes. The characteristic of human mind lies in interaction with mediating tools, artifacts, and the humanized environment.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science
June 1, 2008
Luis Manuel Flores-González
Consciousness is not merely a property of a subject but the very condition of being-in-the-world, reinterpreted through dynamic and relational lived experience. Its intentional structure comprises moments and movements that lead to a rethinking of embodiment, temporality, and intersubjectivity. Consciousness does not turn inward as a transcendental, self-centered reason but instead exists as an embodied consciousness immersed in others and the world.