Approaches to Perceptual Learning

This special issue is focused on how perceptual learning is understood from a post-cognitivist approach to cognition. The process of perceptual learning is key in our cognitive life and development: we can learn to discriminate environmental aspects and hence adapt ourselves to it, using our resources intelligently. Perceptual learning, according to the classic cognitivist view, is based on the enrichment of passively received stimuli, a linear operation on sensations that results in a representation of the original information. This representation can be useful for other processes that generate an output, like a motor command, for example. On the contrary, alternative approaches to perceptual learning, different from the one depicted in the classic cognitivist theory, share the ideas that perception and action are intrinsically tied and that cognitive processes rely on embodiment and situatedness. These approaches usually claim that mental representations are not useful concepts, at least when portraying a process of perceptual learning. Approaches within post-cognitivism are not a unified theory, but a diversity of perspectives that need to establish a dialogue among their different methodologies. In particular, this special issue is focused on ecological psychology and enactivism as key traditions within the post-cognitivist constellation.2019-2

Exploration styles modulate length perception through dynamic touch

Una de las habilidades más sorprendentes del sistema háptico es su capacidad de realizar estimaciones de algunas propiedades de los objetos, como el peso o el tamaño, utilizando invariantes de la mecánica rotacional que son accesibles por medio del subsistema propioceptivo; este campo de investigación se denomina tacto dinámico. En un ejemplo clásico de este paradigma experimental, el participante sujeta una varilla en su mano, sin estar ésta a la vista, y trata de igualar el tamaño percibido usando otra varilla que puede ver pero no blandir. En este experimento analizamos el papel del comportamiento exploratorio en esta situación, restringiendo el balanceo de la varilla en seis condiciones que varían la frecuencia y amplitud de los movimientos. Los resultados muestran que con una mayor velocidad en los movimientos se incrementa el ajuste de las estimaciones hápticas. Por ello, se argumenta que el momento de inercia es el mejor candidato informacional al realizar la tarea, ya que es una propiedad invariante que emerge únicamente cuando se aplica fuerza y se realizan movimientos rotacionales con el objeto. Se descartan otros candidatos informacionales, como el momento estático, o la masa, dado que no dependen de movimientos diferencialesExploration styles modulate length perception through dynamic touch. One of the most surprising capacities of the haptic system is the ability to estimate different properties of objects, like weight or length, through invariants of rotational mechanics that are accessible via the proprioceptive system. This field of research is called Dynamic Touch. In its classical experimental paradigm, the participant firmly grasps a rod that can be wielded but not seen, and he or she tries to match the hand-held rod’s length using another rod that can be seen but not wielded. In the experiment reported here, we focus on the role of the exploratory behavior, restricting the wielding in six conditions that vary both the amplitude and the frequency of movements. Increments in the speed of the movement are shown to increase the accuracy in the haptic estimation. It is argued that these results support the moment of inertia as the best informational candidate, given that it is an invariant property that only emerges when rotational torques are applied. Alternative candidates such as static moment or mass are discarded because they do not depend on differential movementsEste trabajo ha sido financiado por el proyecto FFI2009-13416-C02-02 del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de Españ

From passive perception to affordances: the trip of sensory substitution technologies

Sensory substitution is a multidisciplinary approach with insights from psychology, philosophy, engineering, and computer science. The main idea of sensory substitution is that we can create technologies that substitute one sense with another, e.g., vision with touch or vision with audition. Although some steps were made in the 19th Century, the discipline as such was established during the second time of the 20th Century thanks to the work of authors such as Bach-y-Rita. The construction of these devices for substituting sensory modalities is inspired by a certain view on human cognition: in this sense, the way in which we conceive the functioning of a device is clearly determined by how we conceive perception and action. Different authors think that sensory substitution devices should adjust to the classic cognitivist picture of the mind, so they must support its main claims: the passivity of perception, the divorce of perception and action, the endorsement of representations, etc. However, this is neither the only way to build sensory substitution devices nor the only way to conceive the nature of mind. Non-cognitivist approaches such as ecological psychology postulated the centrality of affordances (or possibilities for action) as a key aspect of our everyday lives. This view challenges widely-assumed claims in the cognitivist view, such as the perception and action divide. And, as such, the endorsement of the main claims of ecological psychology (or any other non-cognitivist approach) has a direct impact in our way of designing sensory substitution devices. In this talk, I show how recent experimental research on sensory substitution from a post-cognitivist approach shows that some claims of the cognitivist approach to sensory substitution are unjustified.2022-2

An ecological approach to sensory substitution

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicología Básica. Fecha de lectura: 15-09-2017Esta tesis tiene embargado el acceso al texto completo hasta el 15-03-201

The history and philosophy of ecological psychology

Ecological Psychology is an embodied, situated, and non-representational approach pioneered by J. J. Gibson and E. J. Gibson. This theory aims to offer a third way beyond cognitivism and behaviorism for understanding cognition. The theory started with the rejection of the premise of the poverty of the stimulus, the physicalist conception of the stimulus, and the passive character of the perceiver of mainstream theories of perception. On the contrary, the main principles of ecological psychology are the continuity of perception and action, the organism-environment system as unit of analysis, the study of affordances as the objects of perception, combined with an emphasis on perceptual learning and development. In this paper, first, we analyze the philosophical and psychological influences of ecological psychology: pragmatism, behaviorism, phenomenology, and Gestalt psychology. Second, we summarize the main concepts of the approach and their historical development following the academic biographies of the proponents. Finally, we highlight the most significant developments of this psychological tradition. We conclude that ecological psychology is one of the most innovative approaches in the psychological field, as it is reflected in its current influence in the contemporary embodied and situated cognitive sciences, where the notion of affordance and the work of E. J. Gibson and J. J. Gibson is considered as a historical antecedent.This study was supported by a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators, BBVA Foundation (the foundation accepts no responsibility for the opinions, statements and contents included in the project, and/or the results thereof, which are entirely the responsibility of the authors), the Projects PSI2013-43742 and FFI2016-80088-P funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and the FiloLab Group of Excellence, Spain funded by the Universidad de Granada, Spain.2018-1

On the ecological approach to Information and control for roboticists

The ongoing and increasingly important trend in robotics to conceive designs that decentralize control is paralleled by currently active research paradigms in the study of perception and action. James Gibson’s ecological approach is one of these paradigms. Gibson’s approach emerged in part as a reaction to representationalist and computationalist approaches, which devote the bulk of their resources to the study of internal processes. The ecological approach instead focuses on constraints and ambient energy patterns in the animal‐environment coalition. The present article reviews how the emphasis on the environment by ecological psychologists has given rise to the concepts of direct perception, higher order information, active information pick up, informationbased control laws, prospective control, and direct learning. Examples are included to illustrate these concepts and to show how they can be applied to the construction of robots. Action is described as emergent and self‐organized. It is argued that knowledge about perception, action, and learning as it occurs in living organisms may facilitate the construction of robots, more obviously so if the aim is to construct (to some extent) biologically plausible robots.This material is based upon work supported by grant FFI2009‐13416‐C02‐02 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

A violência obstétrica vivenciada por mulheres de um centro educacional no município de São José - SC

Objective: To identify the prevalence and the main types of Obstetric Violence suffered by a group of women; in addition to investigating the level of knowledge of these women on the subject and instructing them. Methods: In this study, qualitative, observational and cross-sectional analytical research was used, through interviews and surveys conducted with women linked to the Centro de Educação Alegria e Cia. Results: Through the analysis and reading of the questionnaires answered by women, 65 , 9% confirmed having suffered obstetric violence, even though 87.2% of them stated that they had knowledge about the topic. Most of these women (70%) report having higher education and age between 20- and 29-years during pregnancies. The most frequent obstetric violence was routine serum, direction of pulls, vaginal examination, and routine cesarean delivery. Conclusion: According to the research, despite the high level of education and knowledge on the subject, many women still suffer obstetric violence, even though it is currently being commented on more. Most women were unaware of Obstetric Violence.Objetivo: Identificar a prevalência e os principais tipos de Violência Obstétrica sofrido por um grupo de mulheres; além de investigar o nível de conhecimento destas mulheres a respeito do tema e instruí-las. Métodos: Neste estudo foi utilizada a pesquisa qualitativa, do tipo analítico observacional e transversal, através de entrevistas e pesquisas realizadas com as mulheres vinculadas ao Centro de Educação Alegria e Cia. Resultados: Por meio da análise e leitura dos questionários respondidos pelas mulheres, 65,9% confirmaram terem sofrido violência  obstétrica, mesmo 87,2% delas terem afirmado que tinham conhecimento sobre o tema. A maioria dessas mulheres (70%) relata ter escolaridade a nível superior e idade entre 20 e 29 anos durante as gestações. As violências obstétricas mais incidentes foram soro de rotina, direcionamento de puxos, exame de toque vaginal e parto cesáreo de rotina. Conclusão: De acordo com a pesquisa, apesar do alto nível de escolaridade e conhecimento acerca do assunto, muitas mulheres ainda sofrem violência obstétrica, mesmo esta sendo mais comentada atualmente. A grande maioria das mulheres se mostrou desconhecedora da Violência Obstétrica. &nbsp

Introduction to the special issue "cognition and technology: A 4E perspective”

In this paper, we present the main contributions that are part of the special issue "Cognition and technology: A 4E perspective" . 4E cognition or the embodied and embedded cognitive sciences aim to make sense of the mind as constituted by bodily and environmental aspects. This approach to the mind offers some challenges to our current understanding of technology, and this special issue includes an analysis of key epistemic, ontological, and methodological aspects of 4E cognition in relation to the use of technology.2020-2