Expression unleashed: The evolutionary & cognitive foundations of human communication

Human expression is open-ended, versatile and diverse, ranging from ordinary language use to painting, from exaggerated displays of affection to micro-movements that aid coordination. Here we present and defend the claim that this expressive diversity is united by an interrelated suite of cognitive capacities, the evolved functions of which are the expression and recognition of informative intentions. We describe how evolutionary dynamics normally leash communication to narrow domains of statistical mutual benefit, and how they are unleashed in humans. The relevant cognitive capacities are cognitive adaptations to living in a partner choice social ecology; and they are, correspondingly, part of the ordinarily developing human cognitive phenotype, emerging early and reliably in ontogeny. In other words, we identify distinctive features of our species’ social ecology to explain how and why humans, and only humans, evolved the cognitive capacities that, in turn, lead to massive diversity and open-endedness in means and modes of expression. Language use is but one of these modes of expression, albeit one of manifestly high importance. We make cross-species comparisons, describe how the relevant cognitive capacities can evolve in a gradual manner, and survey how unleashed expression facilitates not only language use but novel behaviour in many other domains too, focusing on the examples of joint action, teaching, punishment and art, all of which are ubiquitous in human societies but relatively rare in other species. Much of this diversity derives from graded aspects of human expression, which can be used to satisfy informative intentions in creative and new ways. We aim to help reorient cognitive pragmatics, as a phenomenon that is not a supplement to linguistic communication and on the periphery of language science, but rather the foundation of the many of the most distinctive features of human behaviour, society and culture.

The Nature of Learning the Constructivist Learning Model in Teaching

The current research includes the constructivist learning model, in which the two researchers discussed what this model is in teaching. In their current research, the researchers dealt with its inception, the cognitive foundations of the constructivist learning model, the main foundations upon which the constructivist learning model is based, its objectives, advantages, and the problems encountering its use in Teaching, and its stages when teaching the subject’s teachers in its steps, and then the researchers review a model for a teaching plan according to the constructivist learning model, and the researchers will present the important conclusions from this model, as well as some recommendations and references that were employed in this research.

Dual processes, dual virtues

I argue that virtue reliabilism and virtue responsibilism are complementary. They do not give competing accounts of epistemic virtue. Rather they explain the excellent functioning of different parts of our cognitive apparatus. Reliabilist virtue designates the excellent functioning of fast and context-specific Type 1 cognitive processes, while responsibilist virtue means an excellent functioning of effortful and reflective Type 2 cognitive processes. This account unifies reliabilist and responsibilist virtue theory. But the virtues are not unified by designating some epistemic norm that both aim at. Instead, I unify them through their cognitive foundations. Because Type 1 and Type 2 cognition are complementary, reliabilist and responsibilist virtues are complementary. Thereby, this dual-process theory of epistemic virtue gives a naturalised account of virtues as well as an explanation of how reliabilism and responsibilism relate. This approach offers a solution for both the generality problem and the situationist challenge to virtue epistemology; additionally it preserves the epistemological autonomy of each virtue type.

Эвфемизмы семантического поля секс в русском и польском языках с точки зрения их прямых значений

The aim of this article is to compare the basic meanings of Russian and Polish euphemisms from the semantic field of sex. Eight areas of this field were examined: the terms for the sexual act, the male sex organ, testicles, the female sex organ, buttocks, breasts, and prostitutes. Along with the area of the sexual act, a separate meaning for ‘engaging in a sexual activity’ has been differentiated. The analysis showed that the basic meanings are divided into the same groups in both languages, which allows us to conclude that euphemisms from the semantic field of sex in Russian and Polish are created based on similar cognitive foundations.

To Heaven through Hell: Are There Cognitive Foundations for Purgatory? Evidence from Islamic Cultures

The purgatory doctrine, which has played a vital role in Christian culture, states that most believers must experience afterlife punishment in order to be cleansed of their sins before entering Heaven. Traditional Islamic theology rejects the notion of purgatory (Al-Motahher) through the Balance doctrine (Mizan), which states that if the good deeds performed during a Muslim’s life outweigh their bad deeds, the person will enter heaven without suffering or punishment. This study hypothesizes that folk intuitions and cognitive biases (tendency to proportionality) explain, in part, the emergence and spread of the purgatory doctrine in the Islamic world. Drawing on a cognitive science of religion lens, the current study examines this hypothesis in an Islamic cultural context. Quantitative surveys (three studies) conducted in Jordan (n = 605, and n = 239) and Malaysia (n = 303) indicate that the doctrine of purgatory is prevalent (36% in Jordan and 69% in Malaysia) despite its contradiction with the Balance doctrine as defined by Islamic theology. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting the phenomenon of theological incorrectness in Muslim afterlife beliefs by using empirical research. Implementation of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Semantic Structure of Color Terms in Arabic: A Cognitive Approach

The acquisition of the ability of perceiving and naming colors through language is an important topic in which languages vary and differ. The construction of color concepts and naming them are directly influenced by the culture and environment of each society. This can be noted by observing two aspects: Cognitive Semantics and its effect on the collective mind. This study focuses on the cognitive foundations of color terms in Arabic, and the semantic relation between the color concepts and terms in selected examples from both old and new usage of these color terms in Arabic. The study aims to cover the most dominant semantic components for color terms in the Arabic language, using the cognitive linguistic approach and the descriptive analytics method to determine the structure of cognitive perception of color terms in a language. Furthermore, the study stands on two pillars; the first reveals the way the conceptualization pattern of color terms occurs in Arab mindset displayed through selected examples of theoretical data on cognitive semantics, whereas the second addresses the semantic principle of color classification in Arabic. Finally, the conclusion, confirming the results about the notion that color naming in Arabic is based on the visual images associated with the colors in Arab environment, related to night and day. Hence, the color term becomes connected in the Arab mindset with the visual image, and under each color are colors similar to it in hue.

Referencias de orientación espacial en las App de anatomía 3D

En el presente trabajo de investigación se evaluó la percepción de aplicaciones de anatomía 3D en relación a una estrategia de enseñanza basada en fundamentos cognitivos de la manipulación de imágenes digitales. Dos grupos de estudiantes ingresantes a la carrera de medicina recibieron entrenamiento en el uso de aplicaciones de software de anatomía en 3D, sólo uno de los grupos recibió información adicional sobre las limitaciones de la memoria en la retención de imágenes tridimensionales y estrategias para el uso apropiado de los controles de rotación que evitan la sobrecarga cognitiva. La percepción se evaluó con un modelo de aceptación de tecnología (TAM) y se constató una diferencia significativa entre ambos grupos a favor del grupo entrenado. Interpretamos Inferimos que la incorporación de aplicaciones de anatomía 3D en dispositivos tradicionales de pantalla 2D, tendrá mayor aceptación (es decir, probabilidad de uso futuro) cuando está acompañada de una estrategia de autoregulación para evitar los efectos de desorientación que producen las rotaciones no controladas características del uso autodidacta. In this research work the perception of 3D anatomy applications was evaluated in relation to a teaching strategy based on cognitive foundations of digital image manipulation. Two groups of students entering the medical career received training in the use of 3D anatomy software applications, only one of the groups received additional information on memory limitations in the retention of three-dimensional images and strategies for appropriate use of rotation controls that avoid cognitive overload. Perception was evaluated with a technology acceptance model (TAM) and a significant difference was found between both groups in favor of the trained group. We interpret We infer that the incorporation of 3D anatomy applications in traditional 2D screen devices will have greater acceptance (that is, probability of future use) when it is accompanied by a self-regulation strategy to avoid the disorientation effects produced by the characteristic uncontrolled rotations in self-taught use.