Short Notes from:
Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex
George Bush, Phan Luu and Michael I. Posner
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a part of the brain’s limbic system. Classically, this region has been related to affect, on the basis of lesion studies in humans and in animals.
...
ACC might be the brain’s error detection and correction device.
...
ACC is a part of a circuit involved in a form of attention that serves to regulate both cognitive and emotional processing. Neuroimaging studies showing that separate areas of ACC are involved in cognition and emotion.
...
(1) Cingulate cortex includes specific processing modules for sensory, motor, cognitive and emotional information.
(2) As a whole, cingulate cortex integrates input from various sources (including motivation, evaluation of error, and representations from cognitive and emotional networks).
(3) Cingulate cortex acts by influencing activity in other brain regions and modulating cognitive, motor, endocrine and visceral responses.
...
cingulate cortex encompasses numerous specialized subdivisions that subserve a vast array of cognitive, emotional, motor, nociceptive and visuospatial functions.
...
Its two major subdivisions subserve distinct functions. These include a dorsal cognitive division (ACcd; areas 24b9-c9 and 329) and a rostral–ventral affective division (ACad; rostral areas 24a–c and 32, and ventral areas 25 and 33).
...
The cognitive subdivision is part of a distributed attentional network. It maintains strong reciprocal interconnections with lateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46/9), parietal cortex (BA 7), and premotor and supplementary motor areas6. Various functions have been ascribed to the ACcd, including modulation of attention or executive functions by influencing sensory or response selection (or both); monitoring competition, complex motor control, motivation, novelty, error detection and working memory; and anticipation of cognitively demanding tasks (see Refs 1,3,5,6,14–17 for reviews).
The affective subdivision, by contrast, is connected to the amygdala, periaqueductal gray, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, anterior insula, hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex6, and has outflow to autonomic, visceromotor and endocrine systems. The ACad is primarily involved in assessing the salience of emotional and motivational information and the regulation of emotional responses5,6,15,18.
...
The cognitive division (ACcd) has been activated (Fig. 2a) by cognitively demanding tasks that involve stimulus– response selection in the face of competing streams of information, including Color Stroop and Stroop-like tasks, divided- attention tasks, verbal- and motor-response selection tasks and many working-memory tasks. The affective division (ACad) has been activated (Fig. 2a) by affect-related tasks, including studies of emotional processing in normal healthy volunteers and symptom provocation studies in a number of psychiatric disorders (anxiety, simple phobia and obsessive–compulsive disorder). It has also been activated repeatedly by induced sadness in normal subjects
and in individuals with major depression.
...
Combining functional imaging, anatomical and behavioral methods will be important for understanding the interaction between cognition and emotion.
...
These studies suggest that both dorsal ACC and areas of the lateral prefrontal cortex operate together during tasks that involve high levels of mental effort.
...
According to this hypothesis, the cognitive division of the ACC serves to monitor crosstalk or conflict
between brain areas, and this computation signals the need for control processes. Lateral areas of the cortex are then activated to provide control operations, which might include increasing or inhibiting neural activity within distinct brain areas so as to eliminate the confusion between modules.
21 Ocak 2012 Cumartesi
2 Ocak 2012 Pazartesi
Short Notes from Conflict and Cogntive Control in the Brain
Short Notes for Interested People from
Conflict and Cogntive Control in the brain
Vincent van Veen1 and Cameron S. Carter2
1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, and 2Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of California, Davis
ABSTRACT—Recent research from cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience has suggested that the control mechanisms by which people are able to regulate task performance can be dissociated into evaluative and executive components. One process, implemented in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, monitors the amount of conflict that occurs during information processing; another process, implemented in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is involved with maintaining the requirements of the task at hand and with biasing information processing in favor of appropriate responses.
...
Whenever one performs a task, one has to make sure that one selects the relevant information (stimuli, actions) and not get distracted by stimuli or thoughts that are irrelevant to the task. Such distraction might lead to inappropriate actions, such as errors. How the brain manages to do this is the central question in this paper: specifically, how people manage to pay more attention after they have either made an error or almost made an error.
One of the key aspects of cognitive control is how flexible it is. The issue of how people monitor and correct for errors has become a popular topic of inquiry in cognitive research;
...
ATTENTIONAL CONTROL AND THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX
Many phenomena from cognitive and social psychology are thought to depend on automatic processes. Processes can be automatic when they are innate or highly practiced, because they are part of a strongly activated schema, or because they are imposed by a powerful social context or a strong motivational or emotional state, among other reasons.
Of all the stimuli that one encounters, only a limited set is relevant to what one is trying to accomplish; nevertheless, both relevant and irrelevant stimuli compete for access to the response system. Such competition can be difficult to overcome when the processing of irrelevant information is relatively automatic. When the irrelevant information is associated with a response, reliance on automatic processing might facilitate the task if this response is desirable. However, when the irrelevant, automatically processed information is associated with an inappropriate response, the resulting conflict between appropriate and inappropriate responses might be difficult to overcome.
...
This is thought to occur because word reading is relatively more automatic than color naming; therefore the word is hard to ignore, and it activates the associated response. During incongruent trials, the responses associated with the color compete with those associated with the word. When conflicts occur, attentional control is needed to overcome the conflict by selecting the relevant information and suppressing the processing of irrelevant information. Control is often conceptualized as the ability to represent and maintain the task requirements, to support the processing of information relevant to the goals of the current task, and to suppress irrelevant information. Many neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that an important brain structure that supports this ability is the prefrontal cortex (PFC ).
...
The PFC is also involved in the control of other forms of higher-order cognition. For instance, many neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies have shown that this region is able to maintain task-relevant information for brief periods of time, which has supported the notion that this region constitutes a neural basis for working memory. Also, the PFC is involved in task preparation and switching between different tasks. Therefore, it is thought to be involved in many aspects of the executive control over our thoughts and actions.
...
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
The notion that control regulates other types of information processing begs the question, how is control itself regulated? Without a clear answer to this question, the notion of attentional control becomes homuncular, posing the same questions as it is supposed to answer. Therefore, an answer to this question is fundamental to understanding the flexible nature of attentional control.
We and other researchers have argued that the amount of conflict occurring in the information-processing system plays a central role in regulating how much control is exerted and when control is withdrawn. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the brain, located on the medial surface of the frontal lobe, has (possibly among other functions) the role of detecting situations in which there are conflicts within the information-processing stream and which therefore require attention to be resolved
...
This activation of the incorrect response is followed by activation of the correct response. If the initial incorrect activation does not manage to reach response threshold and the correct response manages to override the incorrect response, the response to the trial ends up being correct. Errors in speeded-response tasks are typically fast, impulsive responses based on incomplete stimulus evaluation. The timing of response activation during error trials does not differ much from that during correct trials, the main exception being that during error trials the initial activation of the incorrect response does reach response threshold. The subsequent activation of the correct response is manifested as the tendency to ‘‘correct’’ the error
...
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Many studies, including subliminal-priming studies, have suggested that conflict can occur in the absence of awareness; however, studies have not been conclusive as to whether this conflict also engages the ACC or whether such conflict is associated with a subsequent increase in attention.
...
Similarly, these areas have also been suggested to play a role in cognitive dissonance; Harmon-Jones (2004) has hypothesized that the ACC detects conflicts (dissonance) between actions and attitudes and alerts the PFC to reduce this dissonance.
Conflict and Cogntive Control in the brain
Vincent van Veen1 and Cameron S. Carter2
1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, and 2Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of California, Davis
ABSTRACT—Recent research from cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience has suggested that the control mechanisms by which people are able to regulate task performance can be dissociated into evaluative and executive components. One process, implemented in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, monitors the amount of conflict that occurs during information processing; another process, implemented in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is involved with maintaining the requirements of the task at hand and with biasing information processing in favor of appropriate responses.
...
Whenever one performs a task, one has to make sure that one selects the relevant information (stimuli, actions) and not get distracted by stimuli or thoughts that are irrelevant to the task. Such distraction might lead to inappropriate actions, such as errors. How the brain manages to do this is the central question in this paper: specifically, how people manage to pay more attention after they have either made an error or almost made an error.
One of the key aspects of cognitive control is how flexible it is. The issue of how people monitor and correct for errors has become a popular topic of inquiry in cognitive research;
...
ATTENTIONAL CONTROL AND THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX
Many phenomena from cognitive and social psychology are thought to depend on automatic processes. Processes can be automatic when they are innate or highly practiced, because they are part of a strongly activated schema, or because they are imposed by a powerful social context or a strong motivational or emotional state, among other reasons.
Of all the stimuli that one encounters, only a limited set is relevant to what one is trying to accomplish; nevertheless, both relevant and irrelevant stimuli compete for access to the response system. Such competition can be difficult to overcome when the processing of irrelevant information is relatively automatic. When the irrelevant information is associated with a response, reliance on automatic processing might facilitate the task if this response is desirable. However, when the irrelevant, automatically processed information is associated with an inappropriate response, the resulting conflict between appropriate and inappropriate responses might be difficult to overcome.
...
This is thought to occur because word reading is relatively more automatic than color naming; therefore the word is hard to ignore, and it activates the associated response. During incongruent trials, the responses associated with the color compete with those associated with the word. When conflicts occur, attentional control is needed to overcome the conflict by selecting the relevant information and suppressing the processing of irrelevant information. Control is often conceptualized as the ability to represent and maintain the task requirements, to support the processing of information relevant to the goals of the current task, and to suppress irrelevant information. Many neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that an important brain structure that supports this ability is the prefrontal cortex (PFC ).
...
The PFC is also involved in the control of other forms of higher-order cognition. For instance, many neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies have shown that this region is able to maintain task-relevant information for brief periods of time, which has supported the notion that this region constitutes a neural basis for working memory. Also, the PFC is involved in task preparation and switching between different tasks. Therefore, it is thought to be involved in many aspects of the executive control over our thoughts and actions.
...
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
The notion that control regulates other types of information processing begs the question, how is control itself regulated? Without a clear answer to this question, the notion of attentional control becomes homuncular, posing the same questions as it is supposed to answer. Therefore, an answer to this question is fundamental to understanding the flexible nature of attentional control.
We and other researchers have argued that the amount of conflict occurring in the information-processing system plays a central role in regulating how much control is exerted and when control is withdrawn. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the brain, located on the medial surface of the frontal lobe, has (possibly among other functions) the role of detecting situations in which there are conflicts within the information-processing stream and which therefore require attention to be resolved
...
This activation of the incorrect response is followed by activation of the correct response. If the initial incorrect activation does not manage to reach response threshold and the correct response manages to override the incorrect response, the response to the trial ends up being correct. Errors in speeded-response tasks are typically fast, impulsive responses based on incomplete stimulus evaluation. The timing of response activation during error trials does not differ much from that during correct trials, the main exception being that during error trials the initial activation of the incorrect response does reach response threshold. The subsequent activation of the correct response is manifested as the tendency to ‘‘correct’’ the error
...
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Many studies, including subliminal-priming studies, have suggested that conflict can occur in the absence of awareness; however, studies have not been conclusive as to whether this conflict also engages the ACC or whether such conflict is associated with a subsequent increase in attention.
...
Similarly, these areas have also been suggested to play a role in cognitive dissonance; Harmon-Jones (2004) has hypothesized that the ACC detects conflicts (dissonance) between actions and attitudes and alerts the PFC to reduce this dissonance.
13 Aralık 2011 Salı
The Singularity of Mind
“Mein Sohn! Tue das, was in (deinem) Herzen (ist)”
“My son! Do what in your heart is.”
Cognition exists as the processes of division or unision. The difficulty of the unknown is divided to its parts and a solution turns out to knowledge when united with the existing solutions.
Mind exists abstractly as a complex system of functional abilities of the brain. When the brain is faced with a difficulty it divides itself to different compartments. Infact, in the beginning of self, when a two year old child is faced with the difficulty of speaking, he/she chooses inevitably to identify self. Speaking forces the use of ‘I’ hence dividing the world as others and ‘self’. Camın Ötesine Geçmek(http://alirizasaral.blogspot.com/2008/12/camin-tesine-gemek.html)
The child mind’s skill of dividing self to face difficulties continues in the rest of the life. We develop many subpersonalities to handle the difficulties of various contexts that we live in our daily life, father/mother, family relations, job relations, neighbors, friend circles, professional expertises etc.
Through all the divisions that mind undergoes, one thing remains constant, self-consciousness. Individual percieves self as a single person that he knows as. Sometimes we feel ashamed or we can not associate what we do with what we feel ourselves as but still the reference to the self remains constant. OR sometimes we do things that we accept we do not expect to achive by ourselves.
One reason that causes the sense of constant self-perception is the basic education and the cultural tendency of the society at that period of time. I believe, the Turkish society is still living a predominantly romantic period and this is effecting the child rear up and the self-perception of the grownups.
Singularity of the human-mind is a wrong perception taught by the society, child bring up, basic education, religion and so on. Infact, research in the last 20 years have physically proved that, for various functions of mind, different sections of brain gets activated.
The below quotation is taken from the sum up section of:
PREFRONTAL AND ANTERIOR CINGULATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO VOLITION IN DEPRESSION
Jack B. Nitschke and Kristen L. Mackiewicz
Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Wisconsin
It explains how the human volition is implemented by the brain. Two specific and distinct regions interact to achieve the volition function.
“In this chapter, we have outlined two constituent components in the neural circuitry of volition: the DLPFC and the ACC. These structures have distinct roles that contribute to the selection and implementation of action plans.”
DLPFC and ACC’s functions:
“Subserving cognitive control, the DLPFC is involved in the representation and selection of goals and in the implementation of action plans and behavioral change.”
“The ACC has been implicated in monitoring conflict among external and internal cues, with the dorsal ACC modulating cognitive aspects and the ventral ACC more involved in affect.”
Interaction between ACC and DLPFC:
“It plays a central role in signaling and recruiting additional brain regions, particularly the DLPFC, to resolve the conflict and initiate the appropriate action. “
Collective function of both:
“Working in concert, these two key regions form the cornerstones of the neural signature of volition, especially with regard to the implementation of volitional action plans. “
“The cascade of events that occurs allows for the eventual selection of new goal‐directed behaviors that override previously established behavior patterns.”
Our brain is formed of many centers and works like a dynamic complex multiprocessor system. But human mind percieves self as a single unity. Infact, there are some cultural hints that point out to some possibilities of making use of the multiplicity of the brain.
Daisuke YOSHIDA’s book “Die Syntax des althethitischen substantivischen Genitivs” page 5 alludes to
An Anatolian Hittite King’s thousands of years old advise:
“Mein Sohn! Tue das, was in (deinem) Herzen (ist)”
My son! Do what in your heart is.
The seperation of decision processing between two seperate centers, brain and heart clearly resembles the DLPFC and ACC processing...
If throughly studied one can find similar cultural elements in relation to the thinking-processing speed. The brain uses different types of processing for different tasks. For example, things related to safety requires a “clear and unhesitating, calm mind”. This may be related to not only the character of the situation processed but also the specific processing center(s) being used for that task.
An notorious other multiplicity is the emotions and cognition split. When carefully studied one can easily find the strong affects of romantism in the Turkish culture in this area. The tendency to bring up children with a singular mind is reflected in the feel-think duality and the importance of feelings etc...
I believe, in a century with increasing complexity of systems that we use, we are faced with the necessity of changing our education and child bring up systems. We should stop bringing up people who concentrate uncontrollably when faced with emergencies or difficulties. We should stop creating human triggers who can not change what they do once they are trigged. We should train flexible people who can react to big emergencies but return to normal function afterwards in a short while.
We should bring up controllers who can control may be 2-3 times more air traffic using more complex and sophisticated systems.
This is a task much further than that can be achieved with current computer games or action movies.
We are faced with an immense task of changing our education and child bring up system in order to create the modern individual who can percieve his own depths of multiplicity and use the hidden advantages against the terrible risks.
5 Ekim 2011 Çarşamba
Volition at James’s Principles of Psychology
“Will is a Relation Between the Mind and its 'Ideas’ (James, W).”
This is a one page quick reference to ‘volition’ at James’s book “The Principles of Psychology”, 1890. James’s approach to the matter of the subject at the section ‘Will’ is dispalyed with allusions. A three pages relatively extensive reference that I have extracted follows for the interested.
The term ‘mind’[1] is the name used to express the functional abilities of our organ ‘brain’[2]. Mind’s functional abilities can be grouped as ‘cognition[3]’, ‘affection[4]’, ‘conation[5] (volition[6])’.
Cognition deals with logical mathematical and other sorts of knowledge processing including the gathering, storing and handling of it. Affection is about emotions and how we percieve them as feelings.
Volition is the scientific word used for ‘will’. Volition is the power of choosing. The word ‘volition’ has much more implications than its daily counterpart ‘will’. Besides its functional meaning in the mind volition may be mapped to certain parts of the human brain such as PFC-Pre Frontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate.
Every action is preceded by a stimulus or an idea. Feelings may change to a desire to do something and hence form a stimulus. ‘but if we believe that the end is in our power’ namely we have a chance to achieve our goal, ‘we will that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real;’ we execute our will and reach our aim as a result.
When the will is not healthy: ‘. The action may follow the stimulus or idea too rapidly, leaving no time for the arousal of restraining associates - we then have a precipitate will . Or, although the associates may come, the ratio which the impulsive and inhibitive forces normally bear to each other may be distorted, and we then have a will which is perverse’. ... Briefly, we may call them respectively the obstructed and the explosive will .
The Explosive Will.
‘There is a normal type of character, for example, in which impulses seem to discharge so promptly into movements that inhibitions get no time to arise.’
‘Exhaustion of nervous energy always lessens the inhibitory power.’
‘'Irritability' is one manifestation of this. Many persons have so small a stock of reserve brain-power - that most valuable of all brain-qualities - that it is soon used up, and you see at once that they lose their power of self-control very soon.’
...
The Obstructed Will.
‘In striking contrast with the cases in which inhibition is insufficient or impulsion in excess are those in which impulsion is insufficient or inhibition of in excess.’
Will is a Relation Between the Mind and its 'Ideas.'
‘... consider the conditions which make ideas prevail in the mind.’
With the prevalence, once there as a fact, of the motive idea the psychology of volition properly stops.’
‘... The willing terminates with the prevalence of the idea; and whether the act then follows or not is a matter quite immaterial, so far as the willing itself goes. I will to write, and the act follows.’
‘We have now brought things to a point at which we see that attention with effort is all that any case of volition implies. The essential achievement of the will, in short, when it is most 'voluntary,' is to ATTEND to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind . The so-doing is the fiat ; and it is a mere physiological incident that when the object is thus attended to, immediate motor consequences should ensue.’
The Feeling of Effort.
‘... consciousness ... is in its nature impulsive ...(but-ARS) it must be sufficiently intense... ‘
Effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will...
‘ The difficulty is mental; it is that of getting the idea of the wise action to stay before our mind at all.
The strong-willed man, however, is the man who hears the still small voice unflinchingly, and who, when the death-bringing consideration comes, looks at its face, consents to its presence, clings to it, affirms it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of exciting mental images which rise in revolt against it and would expel it from the mind.’
[1] mind n. 1. The human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and imagination(Free Dictionary).
[2] brain n.1. a. The portion of the vertebrate central nervous system that is enclosed within the cranium, continuous with the spinal cord, and composed of gray matter and white matter. It is the primary center for the regulation and control of bodily activities, receiving and interpreting sensory impulses, and transmitting information to the muscles and body organs. It is also the seat of consciousness, thought, memory, and emotion.
[3] cog•ni•tion n. 1. The mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment. 2. That which comes to be known, as through perception, reasoning, or intuition; knowledge.
[4] af•fec•tion n.1. A tender feeling toward another; fondness. See Synonyms at love.
2. Feeling or emotion. Often used in the plural: an unbalanced state of affections. 3. A disposition to feel, do, or say; a propensity.
[5] co•na•tion n. Psychology The aspect of mental processes or behavior directed toward action or change and including impulse, desire, volition, and striving.
[6] vo•li•tion n. 1. The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision. 2. A conscious choice or decision. 3. The power or faculty of choosing; the will.
James, W, “The Principles of Psychology”, 1890
The Principles of Psychology, by William James
Chapter 261
Will.
Desire, wish, will, are states of mind which everyone knows, and which no definition can make plainer. We desire to feel, to have, to do, all sorts of things which at the moment are not felt, had, or done. If with the desire there goes a sense that attainment is not possible, we simply wish ; but if we believe that the end is in our power, we will that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real; and real it presently becomes, either immediately upon the willing or after certain preliminaries have been fulfilled.
The Feeling of Effort.
... consciousness ... is in its nature impulsive ...(but-ARS) it must be sufficiently intense . Now there are remarkable differences in the power of different sorts of consciousness to excite movement. The intensity of some feelings is practically apt to be below the discharging point, whilst that of others is apt to be above it. By practically apt, I mean apt under ordinary circumstances.
...
Healthiness of will moreover requires a certain amount of complication in the process which precedes the fiat or the act. Each stimulus or idea, at the same time that it wakens its own impulse, must arouse other ideas (associated and consequential) with their impulses, and action must follow, neither too slowly nor too rapidly, as the resultant of all the forces thus engaged. Even when the decision is very prompt, there is thus a sort of preliminary survey of the field and a vision of which course is best before the fiat comes. And where the will is healthy, the vision must be right (i.e., the motives must be on the whole in a normal or not too unusual ratio to each other), and the action must obey the vision's lead .
Unhealthiness of will may thus come about in many ways . The action may follow the stimulus or idea too rapidly, leaving no time for the arousal of restraining associates - we then have a precipitate will . Or, although the associates may come, the ratio which the impulsive and inhibitive forces normally bear to each other may be distorted, and we then have a will which is perverse . The perversity, in turn, may be due to either of many causes - too much intensity, or too little, here; too much or too little inertia there; or elsewhere too much or too little inhibitory power. If we compare the outward symptoms of perversity together, they fall into two groups , in one of which normal actions are impossible, and in the other abnormal ones are irrepressible. Briefly, we may call them respectively the obstructed and the explosive will .
It must be kept in mind, however, that since the resultant action is always due to the ratio between the obstructive and the explosive forces which are present, we never can tell by the mere outward symptoms to what elementary cause the perversion of a man's will may be due, whether to an increase of one component or a diminution of the other. One may grow explosive as readily by losing the usual brakes as by getting up more of the impulsive steam; and one may find things impossible as well through the enfeeblement of the original desire as through the advent of new lions in the path. As Dr. Clouston says, "the driver may be so weak that he cannot control well-broken horses, or the horses may be so hard-mouthed that no driver can pull them up." In some concrete cases (whether of explosive or of obstructed will) it is difficult to tell whether the trouble is due to inhibitory or to impulsive change. Generally, however, we can make a plausible guess at the truth.
...
The Explosive Will.
There is a normal type of character, for example, in which impulses seem to discharge so promptly into movements that inhibitions get no time to arise. These are the 'dare-devil' and 'mercurial' temperaments, overflowing with animation, and fizzling with talk, which are so common in the Latin and Celtic races, and with which the cold-blooded and long-headed English character forms so marked a contrast. Monkeys these people seem to us, whilst we seem to them reptilian.
...
But the judicious fellow all the while may have all these possibilities and more besides, ready to break out in the same or even a more violent way, if only the brakes were taken off. It is the absence of scruples, of consequences, of considerations, the extraordinary simplification of each moment's mental outlook, that gives to the explosive individual such motor energy and ease; it need not be the greater intensity of any of his passions, motives, or thoughts.
...
Exhaustion of nervous energy always lessens the inhibitory power.
'Irritability' is one manifestation of this. Many persons have so small a stock of reserve brain-power - that most valuable of all brain-qualities - that it is soon used up, and you see at once that they lose their power of self-control very soon.
...
The Obstructed Will.
In striking contrast with the cases in which inhibition is insufficient or impulsion in excess are those in which impulsion is insufficient or inhibition of in excess.
...
Will is a Relation Between the Mind and its 'Ideas.'
... consider the conditions which make ideas prevail in the mind.
With the prevalence, once there as a fact, of the motive idea the psychology of volition properly stops. ... The willing terminates with the prevalence of the idea; and whether the act then follows or not is a matter quite immaterial, so far as the willing itself goes. I will to write, and the act follows.
We have now brought things to a point at which we see that attention with effort is all that any case of volition implies. The essential achievement of the will, in short, when it is most 'voluntary,' is to ATTEND to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind . The so-doing is the fiat ; and it is a mere physiological incident that when the object is thus attended to, immediate motor consequences should ensue.
Effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will...
The difficulty is mental; it is that of getting the idea of the wise action to stay before our mind at all.
The strong-willed man, however, is the man who hears the still small voice unflinchingly, and who, when the death-bringing consideration comes, looks at its face, consents to its presence, clings to it, affirms it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of exciting mental images which rise in revolt against it and would expel it from the mind.
The idea to be consented to must be kept from flickering and going out. It must be held steadily before the mind until it fills the mind. Such filling of the mind by an idea, with its congruous associates, is consent to the idea and to the fact which the idea represents.
...
To sum it all up in a word, the terminus of the psychological process in volition, the point to which the will is directly applied, is always an idea . There are at all times some ideas from which we shy away like frightened horses the moment we get a glimpse of their forbidding profile upon the threshold of our thought. The only resistance which our will can possibly experience is the resistance which such an idea offers to being attended to at all . To attend to it is the volitional act, and the only inward volitional act which we ever perform.
This is a one page quick reference to ‘volition’ at James’s book “The Principles of Psychology”, 1890. James’s approach to the matter of the subject at the section ‘Will’ is dispalyed with allusions. A three pages relatively extensive reference that I have extracted follows for the interested.
The term ‘mind’[1] is the name used to express the functional abilities of our organ ‘brain’[2]. Mind’s functional abilities can be grouped as ‘cognition[3]’, ‘affection[4]’, ‘conation[5] (volition[6])’.
Cognition deals with logical mathematical and other sorts of knowledge processing including the gathering, storing and handling of it. Affection is about emotions and how we percieve them as feelings.
Volition is the scientific word used for ‘will’. Volition is the power of choosing. The word ‘volition’ has much more implications than its daily counterpart ‘will’. Besides its functional meaning in the mind volition may be mapped to certain parts of the human brain such as PFC-Pre Frontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate.
Every action is preceded by a stimulus or an idea. Feelings may change to a desire to do something and hence form a stimulus. ‘but if we believe that the end is in our power’ namely we have a chance to achieve our goal, ‘we will that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real;’ we execute our will and reach our aim as a result.
When the will is not healthy: ‘. The action may follow the stimulus or idea too rapidly, leaving no time for the arousal of restraining associates - we then have a precipitate will . Or, although the associates may come, the ratio which the impulsive and inhibitive forces normally bear to each other may be distorted, and we then have a will which is perverse’. ... Briefly, we may call them respectively the obstructed and the explosive will .
The Explosive Will.
‘There is a normal type of character, for example, in which impulses seem to discharge so promptly into movements that inhibitions get no time to arise.’
‘Exhaustion of nervous energy always lessens the inhibitory power.’
‘'Irritability' is one manifestation of this. Many persons have so small a stock of reserve brain-power - that most valuable of all brain-qualities - that it is soon used up, and you see at once that they lose their power of self-control very soon.’
...
The Obstructed Will.
‘In striking contrast with the cases in which inhibition is insufficient or impulsion in excess are those in which impulsion is insufficient or inhibition of in excess.’
Will is a Relation Between the Mind and its 'Ideas.'
‘... consider the conditions which make ideas prevail in the mind.’
With the prevalence, once there as a fact, of the motive idea the psychology of volition properly stops.’
‘... The willing terminates with the prevalence of the idea; and whether the act then follows or not is a matter quite immaterial, so far as the willing itself goes. I will to write, and the act follows.’
‘We have now brought things to a point at which we see that attention with effort is all that any case of volition implies. The essential achievement of the will, in short, when it is most 'voluntary,' is to ATTEND to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind . The so-doing is the fiat ; and it is a mere physiological incident that when the object is thus attended to, immediate motor consequences should ensue.’
The Feeling of Effort.
‘... consciousness ... is in its nature impulsive ...(but-ARS) it must be sufficiently intense... ‘
Effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will...
‘ The difficulty is mental; it is that of getting the idea of the wise action to stay before our mind at all.
The strong-willed man, however, is the man who hears the still small voice unflinchingly, and who, when the death-bringing consideration comes, looks at its face, consents to its presence, clings to it, affirms it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of exciting mental images which rise in revolt against it and would expel it from the mind.’
[1] mind n. 1. The human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and imagination(Free Dictionary).
[2] brain n.1. a. The portion of the vertebrate central nervous system that is enclosed within the cranium, continuous with the spinal cord, and composed of gray matter and white matter. It is the primary center for the regulation and control of bodily activities, receiving and interpreting sensory impulses, and transmitting information to the muscles and body organs. It is also the seat of consciousness, thought, memory, and emotion.
[3] cog•ni•tion n. 1. The mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment. 2. That which comes to be known, as through perception, reasoning, or intuition; knowledge.
[4] af•fec•tion n.1. A tender feeling toward another; fondness. See Synonyms at love.
2. Feeling or emotion. Often used in the plural: an unbalanced state of affections. 3. A disposition to feel, do, or say; a propensity.
[5] co•na•tion n. Psychology The aspect of mental processes or behavior directed toward action or change and including impulse, desire, volition, and striving.
[6] vo•li•tion n. 1. The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision. 2. A conscious choice or decision. 3. The power or faculty of choosing; the will.
James, W, “The Principles of Psychology”, 1890
The Principles of Psychology, by William James
Chapter 261
Will.
Desire, wish, will, are states of mind which everyone knows, and which no definition can make plainer. We desire to feel, to have, to do, all sorts of things which at the moment are not felt, had, or done. If with the desire there goes a sense that attainment is not possible, we simply wish ; but if we believe that the end is in our power, we will that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real; and real it presently becomes, either immediately upon the willing or after certain preliminaries have been fulfilled.
The Feeling of Effort.
... consciousness ... is in its nature impulsive ...(but-ARS) it must be sufficiently intense . Now there are remarkable differences in the power of different sorts of consciousness to excite movement. The intensity of some feelings is practically apt to be below the discharging point, whilst that of others is apt to be above it. By practically apt, I mean apt under ordinary circumstances.
...
Healthiness of will moreover requires a certain amount of complication in the process which precedes the fiat or the act. Each stimulus or idea, at the same time that it wakens its own impulse, must arouse other ideas (associated and consequential) with their impulses, and action must follow, neither too slowly nor too rapidly, as the resultant of all the forces thus engaged. Even when the decision is very prompt, there is thus a sort of preliminary survey of the field and a vision of which course is best before the fiat comes. And where the will is healthy, the vision must be right (i.e., the motives must be on the whole in a normal or not too unusual ratio to each other), and the action must obey the vision's lead .
Unhealthiness of will may thus come about in many ways . The action may follow the stimulus or idea too rapidly, leaving no time for the arousal of restraining associates - we then have a precipitate will . Or, although the associates may come, the ratio which the impulsive and inhibitive forces normally bear to each other may be distorted, and we then have a will which is perverse . The perversity, in turn, may be due to either of many causes - too much intensity, or too little, here; too much or too little inertia there; or elsewhere too much or too little inhibitory power. If we compare the outward symptoms of perversity together, they fall into two groups , in one of which normal actions are impossible, and in the other abnormal ones are irrepressible. Briefly, we may call them respectively the obstructed and the explosive will .
It must be kept in mind, however, that since the resultant action is always due to the ratio between the obstructive and the explosive forces which are present, we never can tell by the mere outward symptoms to what elementary cause the perversion of a man's will may be due, whether to an increase of one component or a diminution of the other. One may grow explosive as readily by losing the usual brakes as by getting up more of the impulsive steam; and one may find things impossible as well through the enfeeblement of the original desire as through the advent of new lions in the path. As Dr. Clouston says, "the driver may be so weak that he cannot control well-broken horses, or the horses may be so hard-mouthed that no driver can pull them up." In some concrete cases (whether of explosive or of obstructed will) it is difficult to tell whether the trouble is due to inhibitory or to impulsive change. Generally, however, we can make a plausible guess at the truth.
...
The Explosive Will.
There is a normal type of character, for example, in which impulses seem to discharge so promptly into movements that inhibitions get no time to arise. These are the 'dare-devil' and 'mercurial' temperaments, overflowing with animation, and fizzling with talk, which are so common in the Latin and Celtic races, and with which the cold-blooded and long-headed English character forms so marked a contrast. Monkeys these people seem to us, whilst we seem to them reptilian.
...
But the judicious fellow all the while may have all these possibilities and more besides, ready to break out in the same or even a more violent way, if only the brakes were taken off. It is the absence of scruples, of consequences, of considerations, the extraordinary simplification of each moment's mental outlook, that gives to the explosive individual such motor energy and ease; it need not be the greater intensity of any of his passions, motives, or thoughts.
...
Exhaustion of nervous energy always lessens the inhibitory power.
'Irritability' is one manifestation of this. Many persons have so small a stock of reserve brain-power - that most valuable of all brain-qualities - that it is soon used up, and you see at once that they lose their power of self-control very soon.
...
The Obstructed Will.
In striking contrast with the cases in which inhibition is insufficient or impulsion in excess are those in which impulsion is insufficient or inhibition of in excess.
...
Will is a Relation Between the Mind and its 'Ideas.'
... consider the conditions which make ideas prevail in the mind.
With the prevalence, once there as a fact, of the motive idea the psychology of volition properly stops. ... The willing terminates with the prevalence of the idea; and whether the act then follows or not is a matter quite immaterial, so far as the willing itself goes. I will to write, and the act follows.
We have now brought things to a point at which we see that attention with effort is all that any case of volition implies. The essential achievement of the will, in short, when it is most 'voluntary,' is to ATTEND to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind . The so-doing is the fiat ; and it is a mere physiological incident that when the object is thus attended to, immediate motor consequences should ensue.
Effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will...
The difficulty is mental; it is that of getting the idea of the wise action to stay before our mind at all.
The strong-willed man, however, is the man who hears the still small voice unflinchingly, and who, when the death-bringing consideration comes, looks at its face, consents to its presence, clings to it, affirms it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of exciting mental images which rise in revolt against it and would expel it from the mind.
The idea to be consented to must be kept from flickering and going out. It must be held steadily before the mind until it fills the mind. Such filling of the mind by an idea, with its congruous associates, is consent to the idea and to the fact which the idea represents.
...
To sum it all up in a word, the terminus of the psychological process in volition, the point to which the will is directly applied, is always an idea . There are at all times some ideas from which we shy away like frightened horses the moment we get a glimpse of their forbidding profile upon the threshold of our thought. The only resistance which our will can possibly experience is the resistance which such an idea offers to being attended to at all . To attend to it is the volitional act, and the only inward volitional act which we ever perform.
14 Ağustos 2011 Pazar
When Symbols Fail
When Symbols Fail
"something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance(merriam-webster)".
A symbol is an abstraction of a thing, a system, a concept, an idea or a belief.
Computer icons, mental models, metaphors, analogies and SYMBOLs all simplify the task of handling the thing they abstract.
Symbol is a small figure, a simple picture when absolute. A simplifying or delegating behaviour, concept, idea when abstract. A head carve tha symbolizes the belief of a woman for example.
A symbol must be very simple to percieve and be able to trigger the abstract or complex thing it signifies.
When symbols fail:
1. When the symbol fails to indicate the true thing it signifies.
El Al cargo plane loses its motor but the captain thinks else because the motor symbol shows OK in the terrible accident at Amsterdam in the past.
2. The symbol oversimplifies or makes things look more simple then they are.
Simple rules that may help to indicate whether you belong to this or that religion may help people to conform easily but the average quality falls and the basic human facts that make religions are forgotten by some. Systems should be difficult to use, difficult enough to bring forth the operators who are mature and who have the aptitude to think in depth when flexibility is needed.
3. Symbols increase design complexity.
Every absraction done in the design adds on the implementation and maintenance work. It is not a virtue to want this or that everything you imagine at the requirements phase. Increased complexity means increased difficulty hence increased risk. It has to be worth.
4. Symbols reduce flexibility both from the point of useability and design creativity.
Introduction of uncertainity at the beginning of a large system provides ample space for later introduction of new elements or redefinition of them, maythis system be a religious belief or a modern fly-by-wire aircraft.
Kind regards.
Ali R+ SARAL
Ora et Labora
20 Temmuz 2011 Çarşamba
The Role of Volition in Emergency Response
The response to an emergency situation may be pressing a brake of a vehicle. Or it may be a complex situation that has to be managed via “Cognitive strategies, such as, tolerating uncertainty, managing workload, planning for contingencies, and self-monitoring (Kontogiannis,1999)”. Emergency response may require the collective effort of a team controlling a dynamic complex system such as an electric or nuclear reactor.
The simplest response of an operator is a well memorized schemata, such as pressing the brake. He does not think about how to press it, this reaction to an emergency is an automatic process. Many drivers do not even remember how they managed to stop and escape from danger in serious accident conditions. They reacted with automatic processes which do not run in the working memory (Baars et al., 2007).
“all mental events are initiated and developed unconsciously. Indeed most mental events are probably completely unconscious(see Velmans, 1991). The chief difference between conscious and unconscious events could be the duration of the processes giving rise to them. If the duration is too brief, the event remains unconscious; it only reaches the awareness level if the duration is sufficiently long (Libet, 2006).”
This means, the faster we do things the more automatic processes we use. When we are doing something if an other thing interferes we try to continue the first job automatically. At first we may continue with attention division, doing two tasks with some attention dedicated to both. If the workload of the second task increases we try to continue the first task with automatic processes, namely using resources out of the working memory.
Automatic processes are fast but not flexible as conscious processes. Pressing the brake is simple, fast and does not require elaboration. Things get more complex when the duration and variety of reactions that make up the emergency response increase. For example, the situation of the road, other cars etc. In any case, a series of automatic processes may have to get mixed with conscious decision etc…
My point of this complete notedepends on:
Emergency response not only requires the execution of automatic processes but also their timely triggering, which has to be automatic.
Automatic triggering of events in the mind is done by setting intentions such as : if this happens, do that. There is a condition what to do if that condition is realized. This condition can be anything, time, place, event, feeling… For example, you can teach a child not to cry when she falls down.
Automatic triggering of events in the mind is simple teaching, training in the most general sense. More specificly, it is conditioning. You condition the operator, to react specificly under specific conditions.
The problem is: the training cases have to be limited in content and not too complex, because they have to be responded automatically. It is impossible to cover every and each condition that may happen in an emergency case. Automatic processes can not be flexible and adaptive.
Automatic process triggering can be viewed as a specialized memory process. Remembering something requires cues, keys to retrieve data. An automatic process triggering condition is the key to its action. For example, you set the intention that you will remember to buy bread when you come to the corner of your home’s street, then afterwards, you remember it when you come to the corner(Eysenck et al., 1996), provided that your workload and motivation and mental health enables it.
Last but not the least, It is crucial to foster and underpin an other form of volition in regards to this problem:motivation. Motivation supports and sustains every and each cognitive activity. It supports human creativity, serenity, drive anything that may help the operator in trouble. Cognitive flexibility depends on the availability of sufficient motivation.
A due reference to various religious practices may be: fasting which is supposed to be automatic, begins with setting intention. It is done with the first pronoun ‘I’ and using reflective consciousness. It is interesting that human uses self while promising that self is going to abide by the rule when consciously it will not be there…
The beauty of the human mind.
Ali R+ SARAL
Kontogiannis, T. 1999. Training Effective Human Performance in the Management of Stressful Emergencies . COMPUTER SCIENCE, Cognition, Technology & Work, Volume 1, Number 1, 7-24, DOI: 10.1007/s101110050007.
Baars, B. J., Franklin, S. 2007, An architectural model of conscious and unconscious brain functions: Global Workspace Theory and IDA, Elsevier, Neural Networks Journal, Volume 20 Issue 9, November, 2007
Libet, B. 2006, Reflections on the Interaction of Mind and Brain, Elsevier Progress in Neurobiology 78 (2006) 322 – 326.
Eysenck, M. W., Keane M. T. 1996, Cognitive Psychology
The simplest response of an operator is a well memorized schemata, such as pressing the brake. He does not think about how to press it, this reaction to an emergency is an automatic process. Many drivers do not even remember how they managed to stop and escape from danger in serious accident conditions. They reacted with automatic processes which do not run in the working memory (Baars et al., 2007).
“all mental events are initiated and developed unconsciously. Indeed most mental events are probably completely unconscious(see Velmans, 1991). The chief difference between conscious and unconscious events could be the duration of the processes giving rise to them. If the duration is too brief, the event remains unconscious; it only reaches the awareness level if the duration is sufficiently long (Libet, 2006).”
This means, the faster we do things the more automatic processes we use. When we are doing something if an other thing interferes we try to continue the first job automatically. At first we may continue with attention division, doing two tasks with some attention dedicated to both. If the workload of the second task increases we try to continue the first task with automatic processes, namely using resources out of the working memory.
Automatic processes are fast but not flexible as conscious processes. Pressing the brake is simple, fast and does not require elaboration. Things get more complex when the duration and variety of reactions that make up the emergency response increase. For example, the situation of the road, other cars etc. In any case, a series of automatic processes may have to get mixed with conscious decision etc…
My point of this complete notedepends on:
Emergency response not only requires the execution of automatic processes but also their timely triggering, which has to be automatic.
Automatic triggering of events in the mind is done by setting intentions such as : if this happens, do that. There is a condition what to do if that condition is realized. This condition can be anything, time, place, event, feeling… For example, you can teach a child not to cry when she falls down.
Automatic triggering of events in the mind is simple teaching, training in the most general sense. More specificly, it is conditioning. You condition the operator, to react specificly under specific conditions.
The problem is: the training cases have to be limited in content and not too complex, because they have to be responded automatically. It is impossible to cover every and each condition that may happen in an emergency case. Automatic processes can not be flexible and adaptive.
Automatic process triggering can be viewed as a specialized memory process. Remembering something requires cues, keys to retrieve data. An automatic process triggering condition is the key to its action. For example, you set the intention that you will remember to buy bread when you come to the corner of your home’s street, then afterwards, you remember it when you come to the corner(Eysenck et al., 1996), provided that your workload and motivation and mental health enables it.
Last but not the least, It is crucial to foster and underpin an other form of volition in regards to this problem:motivation. Motivation supports and sustains every and each cognitive activity. It supports human creativity, serenity, drive anything that may help the operator in trouble. Cognitive flexibility depends on the availability of sufficient motivation.
A due reference to various religious practices may be: fasting which is supposed to be automatic, begins with setting intention. It is done with the first pronoun ‘I’ and using reflective consciousness. It is interesting that human uses self while promising that self is going to abide by the rule when consciously it will not be there…
The beauty of the human mind.
Ali R+ SARAL
Kontogiannis, T. 1999. Training Effective Human Performance in the Management of Stressful Emergencies . COMPUTER SCIENCE, Cognition, Technology & Work, Volume 1, Number 1, 7-24, DOI: 10.1007/s101110050007.
Baars, B. J., Franklin, S. 2007, An architectural model of conscious and unconscious brain functions: Global Workspace Theory and IDA, Elsevier, Neural Networks Journal, Volume 20 Issue 9, November, 2007
Libet, B. 2006, Reflections on the Interaction of Mind and Brain, Elsevier Progress in Neurobiology 78 (2006) 322 – 326.
Eysenck, M. W., Keane M. T. 1996, Cognitive Psychology
29 Mayıs 2011 Pazar
The Role of Affections in Decision Making
“many forms of decision making, especially those that involve a high level of risk and uncertainty, involve biases and emotions that act at an implicit level[1].” Experiences and conditioning that has been acquired in critical conditions may contribute to the repetitive triggering of previous correct decisions due to the feelings felt in the body or affections at the same time.
Affections make us select the cognitive processses according to the situation that we are in[2]. “For example, when things go smoothly and we face no hurdles in the pursuit of our goals, we are likely to rely on our pre-existing knowledge structures and routines, which have served us well in the past. Once things go wrong, however, we abandon this reliance on our usual routines and focus on the specifics at hand to determine what went wrong and what can be done about it. Hence, our actions, and the context in which we pursue them, are represented at a greater level of detail when things go wrong than when things go well (see Wegner & Vallacher, 1986).”
“Consistent with these conjectures, being in a negative affective state is associated with a narrowed focus of attention (e.g., Broadbent, 1971; Bruner, Matter, & Papanek, 1955; Easterbrook, 1959) and a higher level of spontaneous causal reasoning (e.g., Bohner, Bless, Schwarz, & Strack, 1988), paralleling the observation that failure to obtain a desired outcome shifts attention to a lower level of abstraction (e.g., Wegner & Vallacher, 1986)[2].”
“Intention is a form of volition. Intention depends on the condition based on time, place, event or other. Intention mechanism can be vitally important to exit or in being unable to exit pre-reflective consciousness in the cases of emrgency or contemplation[3].”
“the attentional blink has been shown to be modulated by emotional stimuli, as subjects are significantly better at detecting T2 when it is an emotion-laden word (e.g., rape) than when it is a neutral word (Anderson, 2005).[4]”
“Emotional content can change the formation and recollection of a memory event, consistent with findings in both human and animal studies. Compared to neutral items, humans remember better emotionally arousing information, including emotionally charged stories, film clips, pictures, and words[4].”
“The French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote, ‘The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.’ This message – that emotion and cognition are separate systems that seldom interact – has a long history in Western philosophy and science. However, the past two decades have seen a remarkable shift in this view as behavioral and neuroscience data have demonstrated that emotion and cognition not only interact, but that their integrative operation is necessary for adaptive functioning[5].”
With my wishes of good will.
Ali R+ SARAL
REFERENCES:
[1] Nasir Naqvi, Baba Shiv, and Antoine Bechara, 2006 Association for Psychological Science , Current Directions in Psychologial Science, “The Role of Emotion in Decision Making, A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective”, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine; Graduate School of Business, Stanford University; and Brain and Creativity Institute, and Department of Psychology, University of SouthernCalifornia
[2] Norbert Schwarz, Situated Cognition and the Wisdom of Feelings: Cognitive Tuning, University of Michigan Manuscript of a chapter in L. Feldman Barrett & P. Salovey (eds.), The wisdom in feeling (pp. 144-166). New York, Guilford Press, 2002
[3] Ali R+ SARAL, The Function of Volition in Providing Consciousness , http://largesystems-atc-en.blogspot.com/2011/04/function-of-volition-in-providing.html
[4] Luiz Pessoa, “Cognition and Emotion”, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN,http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cognition_and_emotion
[5] Kevin N. Ochsner1 and Elizabeth Phelps, “Emerging perspectives on emotion–cognition interactions”, Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
Affections make us select the cognitive processses according to the situation that we are in[2]. “For example, when things go smoothly and we face no hurdles in the pursuit of our goals, we are likely to rely on our pre-existing knowledge structures and routines, which have served us well in the past. Once things go wrong, however, we abandon this reliance on our usual routines and focus on the specifics at hand to determine what went wrong and what can be done about it. Hence, our actions, and the context in which we pursue them, are represented at a greater level of detail when things go wrong than when things go well (see Wegner & Vallacher, 1986).”
“Consistent with these conjectures, being in a negative affective state is associated with a narrowed focus of attention (e.g., Broadbent, 1971; Bruner, Matter, & Papanek, 1955; Easterbrook, 1959) and a higher level of spontaneous causal reasoning (e.g., Bohner, Bless, Schwarz, & Strack, 1988), paralleling the observation that failure to obtain a desired outcome shifts attention to a lower level of abstraction (e.g., Wegner & Vallacher, 1986)[2].”
“Intention is a form of volition. Intention depends on the condition based on time, place, event or other. Intention mechanism can be vitally important to exit or in being unable to exit pre-reflective consciousness in the cases of emrgency or contemplation[3].”
“the attentional blink has been shown to be modulated by emotional stimuli, as subjects are significantly better at detecting T2 when it is an emotion-laden word (e.g., rape) than when it is a neutral word (Anderson, 2005).[4]”
“Emotional content can change the formation and recollection of a memory event, consistent with findings in both human and animal studies. Compared to neutral items, humans remember better emotionally arousing information, including emotionally charged stories, film clips, pictures, and words[4].”
“The French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote, ‘The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.’ This message – that emotion and cognition are separate systems that seldom interact – has a long history in Western philosophy and science. However, the past two decades have seen a remarkable shift in this view as behavioral and neuroscience data have demonstrated that emotion and cognition not only interact, but that their integrative operation is necessary for adaptive functioning[5].”
With my wishes of good will.
Ali R+ SARAL
REFERENCES:
[1] Nasir Naqvi, Baba Shiv, and Antoine Bechara, 2006 Association for Psychological Science , Current Directions in Psychologial Science, “The Role of Emotion in Decision Making, A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective”, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine; Graduate School of Business, Stanford University; and Brain and Creativity Institute, and Department of Psychology, University of SouthernCalifornia
[2] Norbert Schwarz, Situated Cognition and the Wisdom of Feelings: Cognitive Tuning, University of Michigan Manuscript of a chapter in L. Feldman Barrett & P. Salovey (eds.), The wisdom in feeling (pp. 144-166). New York, Guilford Press, 2002
[3] Ali R+ SARAL, The Function of Volition in Providing Consciousness , http://largesystems-atc-en.blogspot.com/2011/04/function-of-volition-in-providing.html
[4] Luiz Pessoa, “Cognition and Emotion”, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN,http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cognition_and_emotion
[5] Kevin N. Ochsner1 and Elizabeth Phelps, “Emerging perspectives on emotion–cognition interactions”, Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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