Can biological quantum networks solve NP-hard problems?

There is a widespread view that the human brain is so complex that it cannot be efficiently simulated by universal Turing machines. During the last decades the question has therefore been raised whether we need to consider quantum effects to explain the imagined cognitive power of a conscious mind. This paper presents a personal view of several fields of philosophy and computational neurobiology in an attempt to suggest a realistic picture of how the brain might work as a basis for perception, consciousness and cognition. The purpose is to be able to identify and evaluate instances where quantum effects might play a significant role in cognitive processes. Not surprisingly, the conclusion is that quantum-enhanced cognition and intelligence are very unlikely to be found in biological brains. Quantum effects may certainly influence the functionality of various components and signalling pathways at the molecular level in the brain network, like ion ports, synapses, sensors, and enzymes. This might evidently influence the functionality of some nodes and perhaps even the overall intelligence of the brain network, but hardly give it any dramatically enhanced functionality. So, the conclusion is that biological quantum networks can only approximately solve small instances of NP-hard problems. On the other hand, artificial intelligence and machine learning implemented in complex dynamical systems based on genuine quantum networks can certainly be expected to show enhanced performance and quantum advantage compared with classical networks. Nevertheless, even quantum networks can only be expected to efficiently solve NP-hard problems approximately. In the end it is a question of precision - Nature is approximate.Comment: 38 page

Computational cognitive modelling of action awareness: prior and retrospective

This paper presents a computational cognitive model for action awareness focusing on action preparation and performance by considering its cognitive effects and affects from both prior and retrospective form relative to the action execution. How action selection and execution contribute to the awareness or vice versa is a research question, and from the findings of brain imaging and recording techniques more information has become available on this. Some evidence leads to a hypothesis that awareness of action selection is not directly causing the action execution (or behaviour) but comes afterwards as an effect of unconscious processes of action preparation. In contrast, another hypothesis claims that both predictive and inferential processes related to the action preparation and execution may contribute to the conscious awareness of the action, and furthermore, this awareness of an action is a dynamic combination of both prior awareness (through predictive motor control processes) and retrospective awareness (through inferential sense-making processes) relative to the action execution. The proposed model integrates the findings of both conscious and unconscious explanations for both action awareness and ownership and acts as a generic computational cognitive model to explain agent behaviour through the interplay between conscious and unconscious processes. Validation of the proposed model is achieved through simulations on suitable scenarios which are covered with actions that are prepared without being conscious at any point in time, and also with the actions that agent develops prior awareness and/or retrospective awareness. Having selected an interrelated set of scenarios, a systematic approach is used to find a suitable but generic parameter value set which is used throughout all the simulations that highlights the strength of the design of this cognitive model

Nonseparability of Shared Intentionality

According to recent studies in developmental psychology and neuroscience, symbolic language is essentially intersubjective. Empathetically relating to others renders possible the acquisition of linguistic constructs. Intersubjectivity develops in early ontogenetic life when interactions between mother and infant mutually shape their relatedness. Empirical findings suggest that the shared attention and intention involved in those interactions is sustained as it becomes internalized and embodied. Symbolic language is derivative and emerges from shared intentionality. In this paper, we present a formalization of shared intentionality based upon a quantum approach. From a phenomenological viewpoint, we investigate the nonseparable, dynamic and sustainable nature of social cognition and evaluate the appropriateness of quantum interaction for modelling intersubjectivity

Quantum Mechanics of 'Conscious Energy'

This paper is aiming to investigate the physical substrate of conscious process. It will attempt to find out: How does conscious process establish relations between their external stimuli and internal stimuli in order to create reality? How does consciousness devoid of new sensory input result to its new quantum effects? And how does conscious process gain mass in brain? This paper will also try to locate the origins of consciousness at the level of neurons along with the quantum effects of conscious process

Critical thinking and systems thinking: towards a critical literacy for systems thinking in practice

About the book: In reflective problem solving and thoughtful decision making using critical thinking one considers evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making the judgment well, the applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment, and the applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand. In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of critical thinking. Topics discussed include developing critical thinking through probability models; the promotion of critical thinking skills through argument mapping; an instructional model for teacher training in critical thinking; advanced academic literacy and critical thinking and critical thinking and higher education

I Can See Your Aim: Estimating User Attention From Gaze For Handheld Robot Collaboration

This paper explores the estimation of user attention in the setting of a cooperative handheld robot: a robot designed to behave as a handheld tool but that has levels of task knowledge. We use a tool-mounted gaze tracking system, which, after modelling via a pilot study, we use as a proxy for estimating the attention of the user. This information is then used for cooperation with users in a task of selecting and engaging with objects on a dynamic screen. Via a video game setup, we test various degrees of robot autonomy from fully autonomous, where the robot knows what it has to do and acts, to no autonomy where the user is in full control of the task. Our results measure performance and subjective metrics and show how the attention model benefits the interaction and preference of users.Comment: this is a corrected version of the one that was published at IROS 201

Make It Work: How Cognitive & Behavioural Dynamics Shape Job Crafting

One of the most significant current discussions in work and organisational psychology centres on the ways in which employees can face and adapt to growing levels of uncertainty and complexity in the workplace. In this regard, the construct of job crafting has gain momentum, as it designates a set of employees\u2019 proactive behaviours balancing the job characteristics to allow optimal functioning in dynamic work environments. Despite a common agreement on the nature of job crafting as a bottom-up, self-initiated work redesign behaviour, construct clarification is still needed to advance knowledge on its nomological network. Against this background, this dissertation aimed at deepening knowledge on the structure and behavioural features of job crafting, in order to further investigate the role of employees\u2019 psychosocial beliefs in driving such proactive behaviours, and whether and how intervention initiatives can be used to support them. To reach these aims, we present one theoretical chapter and three empirical contributions, conducted with different research designs. Chapter 2 presents a systematic literature review on the scales developed to measure job crafting and three empirical studies (i.e., cross-sectional, three-wave, and weekly diary) aimed at investigating the validity of a four-dimensional, hierarchical conceptualisation of behavioural job crafting. Our conceptualisation integrates the dimension of optimising job demands as a constituting domain of job crafting and accounts for the hierarchical features that reflect or form an overall job crafting construct. Results showed that a four-factor solution fitted the data well at both the within- and between-level of analysis. Also, these dimensions were relatively stable over time. Moreover, our results provide initial evidence suggesting that overall job crafting may be more strongly characterised by effortful actions to expand the work characteristics rather than to reduce them. In Chapter 3, we adopt a dynamic perspective to the theory of planned behaviour as an overarching theoretical framework allowing us to understand how personal and social beliefs drive behavioural job crafting over time. Assuming a bi-directional perspective, we further propose that previous engagement in job crafting serves to shape the drivers of job crafting behaviours. Results suggest that modelling and initiatives providing employees with the tools and techniques to craft their jobs are critical to stimulating virtuous cycles for job crafting to flourish in the work environment. Chapter 4 and 5 present a theoretical contribution and an intervention study on how the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) can serve to design job crafting interventions that are likely to be effective to support job crafting and subsequent flow at work because they target the psychosocial mechanisms underlying behaviour formation. Results from our quasi-experimental study show that the intervention was effective in supporting participants\u2019 higher intentions to engage in job crafting compared to the control group, and in promoting weekly flow at work, which eventually prompted subsequent job crafting. Weekly initial and changing intentions were, in turn, both related to post-measures of job crafting. This dissertation contributes to the literature on job crafting and behaviour formation. In our studies, we explored and provided evidence on the role of different behavioural strategies in defining an overall conceptualisation of job crafting. Moreover, we investigated the psychosocial boundaries and processes that contribute to the formation of such a set of behaviours. The validity of such a framework to explain the roles of the antecedents of job crafting then served us to design and test an intervention initiative, which proved be effective to support employees\u2019 behavioural tendencies towards the development of work environments that are auto-generative of resources