From an enactive approach, some previous studies have demonstrated that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of neural and behavioral complexity of embodied agents. In particular, it has been sh...
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(纸本)9781728125473
From an enactive approach, some previous studies have demonstrated that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of neural and behavioral complexity of embodied agents. In particular, it has been shown that agents with a limited internal structure (2-neuron brains) that evolve in interaction can overcome this limitation and exhibit chaotic neural activity, typically associated with more complex dynamical systems (al least 3-dimensional). In the present paper we make two contributions to this line of work. First, we propose a conceptual distinction in levels of coupling between agents that could have an effect on neural and behavioral complexity. Second, we test the generalizability of previous results by testing agents with richer internal structure and evolving them in a richer, yet non-social, environment. We demonstrate that such agents can achieve levels of complexity comparable to agents that evolve in interactive settings. We discuss the significance of this result for the study of interaction.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a new core hypothesis on laughter. It has been built by putting together ideas from several disciplines: neurodynamics, evolutionary neurobiology, social networks, and...
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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a new core hypothesis on laughter. It has been built by putting together ideas from several disciplines: neurodynamics, evolutionary neurobiology, social networks, and communication studies. The hypothesis focusses on the social nature of laughter and contributes to ascertain its evolutionary origins in connection with the cognitive and social-emotional functions it performs. Design/methodology/approach - An in-depth examination of laughter in the social communication context and along the life cycle of the individual is performed. This instinctive behaviour that appears as a "virtual", non-physical form of "grooming" would serve as a bond-making instrument in human groups. Further, the neurodynamic events underlying laughter production - and particularly the form of the neural entropy gradients - are congruent with a sentic hypothesis about the different emotional contents of laughter and their specific effects on bonding dynamics. Findings - The new behavioural and neurodynamic tenets introduced about this unusual sound feature of our species justify the ubiquitous presence it has in social interactions at large and along the life cycle of the individual. Laughter, far from being a curious evolutionary relic or a rather inconsequential innate behaviour, should be considered as a highly efficient tool for inter-individual problem solving and for maintenance of social bonds. Originality/value - Laughter, the authors would conclude, has been evolutionarily kept and augmented as an optimized tool for unconscious cognitive-emotional problem solving, and at the same time as a useful way to preserve the essential fabric of social bonds in close-knit groups and within human societies at large.
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