Existential Neuropsychology: A Science of Making Values

In neurorehabilitation and restoration of motor functions, there are Vygotsky–Luria’s line and Leontiev–Zaporozhets’ line that are obviously connected, but their connection isn’t articulated enough. Their point of convergence dates back to mid 1940s, but since then the development of the two lines was largely parallel. And the missing link is Nikolay Bernshtein’s non-classical biology of purposeful activity. Both lines are intrinsically based on his predictive explanatory framework, with the central role of task set in movement construction, which, in turn, determines the hierarchy of levels where backward reafference (‘sensory corrections’) takes place. Current neurorehabilitation disregards the Bernsteinian idea of the central role of values and meanings in the recovery of movements, which opposes neurorehabilitation as training, or instruction, to neurorehabilitation as guidance, the latter relevant to Leontiev’s ‘personal meaning’ problem. Neurorehabilitation as guidance is generation of the personal meaning, or ‘making values’, allowing to overcome bounds perceived as insuperable, the idea that brings it together with existential psychology and existential psychotherapy. Keywords: rehabilitation, task set, value, image of the desired future, physiology of activity, existential neuropsychology, personal meanin

The Predictive Coding Principle and the Problem of Activity in the Contemporary Cognitive Science

In recent years, the principle predictive coding has become one of the frontiers in the contemporary cognitive science and is used to explain a growing range of cognitive functions, as well as emotions, social psychological effects, etc. Implementing the general concept of anticipation as the cornerstone of human activity, this principle echoes some ideas articulated by N. A. Bernstein in his physiology of activity in the middle of the twentieth century. For example, multilevel “sensory corrections” to the course of movement in accordance with its program, or the “image of the future”, might be compared to the “prediction error” in the perceptual image construction as described by K. Friston. Both approaches aim at explaining the self-organization of living systems. The paper discusses some possibilities of their integration and mutual enrichment.Принцип предсказывающего кодирования в современной когнитивной науке в последние годы выходит на передний план и применяется для объяснения все более широкого круга явлений познания, а также эмоций, социально-психологических феноменов и т. д. Реализуя общее представление о предвосхищении как основе активности человека, этот принцип перекликается с идеями, сформулированными в физиологии активности Н. А. Бернштейна в середине XX столетия. В частности, многоуровневые «сенсорные коррекции», вносимые в ход движения в соответствии с программой, или «образом будущего», могут быть соотнесены с «ошибкой предсказания» при построении образа восприятия в трактовке К. Фристона. Оба подхода ставят своей целью описание самоорганизации живых систем. В исследовании обсуждаются возможности их интеграции и взаимообогащения.Работа поддержана Программой фундаментальных исследований НИУ ВШЭ (2020)

Testing superabsorbent polymer (SAP) sorption properties prior to implementation in concrete: results of a RILEM Round-Robin Test

This article presents the results of a round-robin test performed by 13 international research groups in the framework of the activities of the RILEM Technical Committee 260 RSC "Recommendations for use of superabsorbent polymers in concrete construction''. Two commercially available superabsorbent polymers (SAP) with different chemical compositions and gradings were tested in terms of their kinetics of absorption in different media; demineralized water, cement filtrate solution with a particular cement distributed to every participant and a local cement chosen by the participant. Two absorption test methods were considered; the tea-bag method and the filtration method. The absorption capacity was evaluated as a function of time. The results showed correspondence in behaviour of the SAPs among all participants, but also between the two test methods, even though high scatter was observed at early minutes of testing after immersion. The tea-bag method proved to be more practical in terms of time dependent study, whereby the filtration method showed less variation in the absorption capacity after 24 h. However, absorption followed by intrinsic, ionmediated desorption of a specific SAP sample in the course of time was not detected by the filtration method. This SAP-specific characteristic was only displayed by the tea-bag method. This demonstrates the practical applicability of both test methods, each one having their own strengths and weaknesses at distinct testing times