The Journal of Mind and Behavior

Volume 2, Number 2, Summer

Metatheoretical Issues in Cognitive Science
John A. Teske, The Pennsylvania State University, and Roy D. Pea, Clark University
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 123-178, ISSN 0271-0137
This paper is a “framing device” for cognitive science as a program, including critical discussions of issues at the heart of the field. The paper first lays out the basic assumptions and points to the roots of using a computer programming context for generating hypotheses about cognition and to the use of simulations of thinking in order to pursue theoretical work. Secondly, the paper addresses the parallel problems of level of analysis and the mind/body distinction, asserting the possibility if studying a symbol system apart from its embodiment. Third, the paper discusses the necessity of internal models for dealing with intentional symbol systems of this sort. Fourth, the issue of knowledge representations is addressed, particularly with regard to the importance of knowledge structure-process integration. Finally, possible limits of the approach are examined, setting aside some misconceptions, and voicing some warnings.

Requests for reprints should be sent to John A. Teske, W-135, The Pennsylvania State University, The Capitol Campus, Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057.

Theory-Tales and Paradigms
H.L. Nieburg, State University of New York at Binghamton
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 179-194, ISSN 0271-0137
Dramatic forms are universal in all art and experience. They provide structures which embed emotional bonds in the symbolic repertoire of a culture, internalizing them in the psyches of individuals, endowing language and acts with meaning, transforming symbolic artifacts into living presences. Collective dramas (the founding of states and nations, wars and civil wars, economic crises and internal conflicts, natural disasters and accidents, the growth of children, of crops in the fields, the building and decay of cities) provide political and social bonds, aggregates, and purposes.

Requests for reprints should be sent to H.L. Nieburg, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York 13901.

On Animal Analogies to Human Behavior and The Biological Bases of Value Systems
R.E. Lubow, Tel Aviv University
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 195-208, ISSN 0271-0137
The recent recurrence of interest in demonstrating the biological bases of human value systems is discussed. A number of examples are cited. This trend is placed within the context of a broader human biological process – the need to explain. Given this need, there are a variety of ways to gratify it. However, it is demonstrated that such gratification does not guarantee the validity of an explanation. The ease of generating analogies which may serve as satisfying explanations within the context of a biological conceptual framework is presented as supporting the need for increased caution in drawing conclusions about human behavior from animal behavior.

Requests for reprints should be sent to R.E. Lubow, Psychology Department, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel.

States of Consciousness: A Study of Soundtracks
Felicitas D. Goodman, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics, Denison University
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 209-220, ISSN 0271-0137
A number of different altered states of consciousness (ASC) are accompanied by vocalization. Such vocalizations exhibit an intonation pattern that has the same structure within an ASC but varies significantly between ASCs. As indicated by level-recorder tracings, the uniqueness of intonation appears both in ASCs induced biologically (infant brain activity, sleep, orgasm) and in those instituted upon cultural cues (hypnosis, religious ASC). It is hypothesized that the ASC-specific impulse elicits a brain response which then acts as a generating deep structure for a fixed modal action pattern in the form of a particular intonation. By studying the intonation, therefore, it is possible to discriminate between various ASCs, and to arrive at some conjectures concerning the generating systems.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Felicitas D. Goodman, Cuyamungue Institute, 114 East Duncan Street, Columbus, Ohio 43202.

Book Review: The First Fifty Years at the Jackson Laboratory
Jean Holstein. Bar Harbor: The Jackson Laboratory, 1979
Reviewed by A. Douglas Glanville, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 221-222, ISSN 0271-0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract available.] In compiling the history of the Jackson Laboratory from 1929 to 1979 Jean Holstein has provided a readable and reasonably comprehensive account of the founding and development of the laboratory and of the many individuals who have played important roles in the funding, administration, and research at the center “where mouse is king.” She has provided a record which will be of special interest to those who have been associated with or closely acquainted with the laboratory or who will be in the future. For others the book provides a written record, at times inspiring, of an important chapter in the history of biological and medical science with particular reference to genetics and to an understanding of the development of cancer.

Book Reviews

Data Analysis Strategies and Designs for Substance Abuse Research: Research Issues 13
Editors: P.M. Bentler, D.J. Lettieri, and G.A. Austin. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Drug Abuse, DHEW Publication No. (ADM) 77-389, 1977
Reviewed by Dwight Hines, University of North Florida, Department of Psychology, Jacksonville, Florida
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 223, ISSN 0271-0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract available.] This book is a steal. Buy it. Data Analysis… is only nominally about drugs. Drugs and related variables are used in concrete examples, yet, with minimal transfer of learning, the methods and strategies discussed are the basic fabric of statistical research being conducted by most behavioral and, increasingly, chemical, biological, and physical scientists.

Writing Scientific Papers in English
Book Authors: M. O’Connor and F.P. Wadford. ELSE-Ciba Foundation Guide for Authors. Turnbridge Wells, Kent, England: Pitman Medical, 1977
Reviewed by Dwight Hines, Ph.D., University of North Florida, Department of Psychology, Jacksonville, Florida
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 223-224, ISSN 0271-0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract available.] The book being reviewed is a “core” manual developed by the European Association of Editors of Biological Periodicals. The group is also known as ELSE (European Life Science Editors). ELSE acknowledges that English has replaced Latin as the language of knowledge. Specific problems inherent in writing in English for Russian or Scandinavian authors are not treated in this manual: booklets addressing specific problems for special groups will be published as supplements to the “core” manual. The ELSE manual being reviewed is similar to many style manuals but is more encompassing in scope. After all, it is concerned with the clarity of international information.

Fourier Analysis of Time Series: An Introduction
Book Author: Peter Bloomfield. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1976
Reviewed by Dwight Hines, Ph.D., University of North Florida, Department of Psychology, Jacksonville, Florida
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 224-226, ISSN 0271-0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract available.] According to the title, the book is an introduction to Fourier Analysis. It is not. According to the overview on the back cover, only mathematics up to the level of calculus is required. Not so. After a brief introductory chapter, the author delves into the least squares amplitude and phase estimation using partial differentiation (p. 11). The text as a whole attempts to explain the theory of frequency and time series analyses at an introductory level but, to me, falls short because of poor organization, stilted writing, and the bane of all introductory texts — too few graphical representations of the major points of the different steps of the analyses. The figures that are used tend to be restricted to only a few examples where many different concrete examples are needed.

Introduction to Bivariate and Multivariate Analysis
Book Authors: R.H. Lindeman, P.F. Merenda, and R.Z. Gold. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1980
Reviewed by Dwight Hines, Ph.D., University of North Florida, Department of Psychology, Jacksonville, Florida
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2, Pages 226-227, ISSN 0271-0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract available.] Multivariate analyses have become the rising star in psychological and sociological research. Multivariate courses are now being required as part of graduate training. Computer programs, simple and complex, have been developed specifically to meet, or perhaps encourage, the increased use of multivariate analyses.

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