Task 6 - Surfing the edge of chaos

Question 1

Dynamic system

Answer 1

A system whose changes over time can be characterized by a set of equations that show how current values of variables depend mathematically on previous values of those variables.

Question 2

State space

Answer 2

The set of states that a dynamic system can be in, determined by the variables that are used to measure it.

Question 3

Attractors

Answer 3

Dynamic systems have attractors (relatively stable states) that they tend to settle to

Question 4

Phase transition

Answer 4

Changes from one attractor state to another

Question 5

Dynamic systems challenge to cognitive science

Answer 5

The mind should be seen as a dynamic system instead from a computational-representational perspective

Question 6

Complex systems theory

Answer 6

Complex systems all have certain principles in common that predict their behavior

Question 7

Basin of attraction

Answer 7

The set of states that are attracted by (i.e. will evolve toward) the attractor. Each attractor has a basin of attraction (what forms the walls basically)

Question 8

What does it mean for a system to be in a deep basin of attraction?

Answer 8

Means its resilient/stable, will not be easily perturbed and pushed out of current state

Question 9

Hysteris

Answer 9

The fact that recovery is not linearly related to the removal of the cause of the shift.

Question 10

Early warning signs (EWS)

Answer 10

Show you that a complex system is about to change:
1. Increases in autocorrelation
2. Increases in variance
3. Flickering

Question 11

Network perspective

Answer 11

• Theorizes that symptoms can also trigger each other and thereby form clusters of cooccurring symptoms in a self-organized (bottom-up) fashion
• Lumping together of some symptoms more often than others can be explained by the fact that a certain mental state (e.g. feeling down) easily triggers another mental state (e.g. worrying), but not so easily another mental state (e.g. the feeling of being watched)

Question 12

Bridge symptoms

Network theory

Answer 12

Symptoms that connect across boundaries

Question 13

Intractable conflict

Answer 13

A conflict that persists because it seems impossible to resolve. It is differentiated from tractable conflicts by its persistence, destructiveness, and resistance to
resolution.

Question 14

Intractable conflict and dynamic systems theory

Answer 14

Intractable conflict could be seem as an attractor, meaning that to produce long-lasting change, one had to change the system is such a way that the equilibrium is changes

Question 15

Catastrophe theory

Answer 15

• A mathematical theory that deals with sudden & unexpected changes in systems.
• Primarily concerned with understanding how small changes in certain parameters of a system can lead to sudden, dramatic and discontinuous changes
• These abrupt changes are referred to as catastrophes

Question 16

Self-organization

Answer 16

The process whereby order emerges because of the interactions among system elements rather than because of the intervention of higher-order agents.

Question 17

The 4 elementary catastrophes

Catastrophe theory

Answer 17

1. The fold catastrophe
2. The cusp catastrophe
3. The swallowtail catastrophe
4. The butterfly catastrophe

Question 18

Cusp catastrophe

Answer 18

The catastrophe that can occur when there are 2 control variables and 1 behavior variable.

Question 19

A-not-B task

Answer 19

Task used by researchers to establish when infants acquire the concept of object permanence:
* Experimenter hides a toy under a lid at location A, repeated several times.
* On a switch trial, the experimenter hides the object at a new location B.
* If there is a short delay between hiding and reaching, 8-10 month infants reach not to where they saw the object disappear, but back to A (A-not-B error)

(Can be explained by dynamic field model)