Application for subscription to PRNCYB-L
Name: Hugo Witters
Email address: hugo.witters@ping.be
URL of home page: http://www.ping.be/spr/
Postal address: Melkouwen 46, B-2590 Berlaar, Belgium
Affiliations: none relevant
How did you hear about PCP? Via a hyperlink in a web document. This was some
months ago and I do not remember the actual document.
Please take at least one page to describe your work
and how it might relate to PCP:
I am an electronic engineer with more than 20 years of "communication
systems" research and development, and have done some work in cognitive
science. More details are on my homepage. This homepage contains my
dissertation which presents a cognitive architecture with working principles
embedded in an evolutionary context. My work on this employs an
interdisciplinary approach. With the study of complex biological systems
like human beings, several "levels" of explanation are possible: Bottom-up
with accurate modelling of small sub-systems, top-down with a less accurate
whole-system approach, or intermediate levels situated somewhere between the
former two. Different "systems" of explanation may also be employed: E.g. by
means of circuit diagrams, computer simulations, mathematical equations,
verbal descriptions, etc..., using a biological, psychological,
philosphical, mathematical, engineering, etc... framework. These different
levels and systems of explanation may each have equal dignity, and different
approaches may complement each other. I plead for such a "pluralistic" view
on complex biological systems, in contrast to the fundamentalist view, with
zealous people arguing that their own level or system of explanation is all
that matters. A multidisciplinary approach has its problems though. The
Flemish philosopher Leo Apostel, who spent the latter part of his life
advocating such an interdisciplinary approach, spoke of how he was sometimes
ridiculed for doing so. Patricia Churchland gives an example of the
intolerances between researchers in different disciplines studying brain
functioning: Theoretical approaches originating with neuroscientists are
decried by those in the computer science as "computationally naive" while
neurobiologists deplore the "neurobiological naivete" of computer science
laboratories. Each of the parties sees one's own simplifications as
"allowable provisionally" and someone else's as a fatal flaw.
Some of the subject matters I have done work on (and which are discussed on
my homepage) are:
- Information Generation Patterns in Evolution: These patterns situate
higher mental processes (HMP) and their underlying mechanisms in an
evolutionary context. There is evidence that biological evolution,
instrumental conditioning (which is a major category of learning processes
in animals and man), and higher mental processes in humans, all make use of
the same intrinsic Darwinian information generation process. Different
functional mechanisms develop in some evolutionary lineages, improving the
information generation capabilities of this evolutionary process along the
way by the invention of certain mechanisms, culminating in the creative
power of the human brain.
- Stimulus-Projection-Response (SPR) Architecture and Simulation Processes:
This is a Cognitive Architecture that amends the simple stimulus-response
linkage of S-R theory by including backward projections to the perception
and representation circuits. This gives rise to a projection mechanism with
functional properties such as the production of a mental image, the
facilitation of perception, the generation of motivation, and the initiation
and guidance of action. It also provides the basis for a decision mechanism,
choosing between alternative projections (or courses of action) by using the
strengths of the associated motivations. This is a cognitive architecture of
complex animal behaviour. It is shown how, with simple functional and
hardware changes on this architecture, Simulation Processes become possible.
Such simulation processes form the core of higher mental processes such as
thinking, planning and language.
- Structural Hierarchy: The phenomenon of structural transitions in
evolution, which gives rise to the nested structural hierarchy found in
organisms. Structural Integration, a component of the evolutionary process
is described and discussed. It is shown how this aspect of the evolutionary
process, although manifesting itself relatively seldom, has a profound
influence on the structural hierarchy and complexity of the organisms and
systems in this world.
Key concepts of the above (available on http://www.ping.be/spr/) are:
Patterns in evolution, information generation in evolution, cognitive
architecture, mental images, stimulus-response theory and reinforcement,
higher mental processes, structural hierarchy in evolution. Several of
these key concepts relate to material on the PCP web site. Chapter 8
considers the major structural transitions in evolution and is related to
the metatransition theory. I got the impression that readers find chapters 4
and 8 most interesting and easy to read.