Cogprints

The evolutionary origins of volition

Christensen, Dr Wayne (2006) The evolutionary origins of volition. [Book Chapter] (In Press)

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
 PDF
561Kb

Abstract

It appears to be a straightforward implication of distributed cognition principles that there is no integrated executive control system (e.g. Brooks 1991, Clark 1997). If distributed cognition is taken as a credible paradigm for cognitive science this in turn presents a challenge to volition because the concept of volition assumes integrated information processing and action control. For instance the process of forming a goal should integrate information about the available action options. If the goal is acted upon these processes should control motor behavior. If there were no executive system then it would seem that processes of action selection and performance couldn’t be functionally integrated in the right way. The apparently centralized decision and action control processes of volition would be an illusion arising from the competitive and cooperative interaction of many relatively simple cognitive systems. Here I will make a case that this conclusion is not well-founded. Prima facie it is not clear that distributed organization can achieve coherent functional activity when there are many complex interacting systems, there is high potential for interference between systems, and there is a need for focus. Resolving conflict and providing focus are key reasons why executive systems have been proposed (Baddeley 1986, Norman and Shallice 1986, Posner and Raichle 1994). This chapter develops an extended theoretical argument based on this idea, according to which selective pressures operating in the evolution of cognition favor high order control organization with a ‘highest-order’ control system that performs executive functions.

Item Type:Book Chapter
Keywords:volition, agency, distributed cognition, executive control, brain architecture, cognitive architecture, evolution of cognition, evolution of intelligence
Subjects:Biology > Animal Cognition
Philosophy > Philosophy of Mind
Neuroscience > Behavioral Neuroscience
ID Code:4831
Deposited By: Christensen, Dr Wayne D
Deposited On:08 Apr 2006
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:56

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Allman, J. M., Hakeem, A., Erwin, J. M., Nimchinsky, E., & Hof, P. (2001). The Anterior Cingulate Cortex: The Evolution of an Interface between Emotion and Cognition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 935, 107-117.

Baars, B. J. (1989). A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working Memory. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

Bennett, C. H. (1985). Dissipation, information, computational complexity and the definition of organization. In D. Pines (Ed.), Emerging Syntheses In Science. Proceedings of the Founding Workshops of the Santa Fe Institute. Redwood City, Calif.: Addison West Publishing Company.

Botvinick, M. M., Cohen, J. D., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: an update. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(12), 539-546.

Brooks, R. A. (1991). Intelligence Without Reason. In Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (pp. 569-595): Morgan Kauffman, San Mateo.

Brown, T. S. (1911). The intrinsic factors in the act of progression in the mammal. Proc. Royal Soc. London, Series B, 84, 308-319.

Byrne, R. W. (2000). Evolution of primate cognition. Cognitive Science, 24(3), 543-570.

Cajal, S. R. (1894). Les Nouvelles idées sur la structure du système nerveux chez l'homme et chez les vertebrés. Paris: Reinwald.

Card, J. P., Swanson, L. W., & Moore, R. Y. (2003). The hypothalamus: an overview of regulatory systems. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 897-908): Elsevier Academic Press.

Cattell, R. B. (1971). Abilities: Their Structure, Growth and Action. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Christensen, W. D. (in preparation). The evolution of strategic agency.

Clark, A. (1997). Being there: Putting brain, body and world together again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Collier, J. D., & Hooker, C. A. (1999). Complexly organised dynamical systems. Open Systems and Information Dynamics, 6, 241-302.

Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1997). The modular nature of human intelligence. In A. B. Scheibel & J. W. Schopf (Eds.), The Origin and Evolution of Intelligence (pp. 71-101). London: Jones and Bartlett.

Deary, I. J., & Caryl, P. G. (1997). Neuroscience and human intelligence differences. Trends in Neurosciences, 20(8), 365-371.

Dehaene, S., Kerszberg, M., & Changeux, J.-P. (1998). A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 95, 14529–14534.

Duncan, J. (2001). An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 820-829.

Duncan, J., Seitz, R. J., Kolodny, J., Bor, D., Herzog, H., Ahmed, A., et al. (2000). A Neural Basis for General Intelligence. Science, 289(5478), 457-460.

Floeter, M. K. (2003). The Spinal Cord, Muscle, and Locomotion. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 767-790): Elsevier Academic Press.

Fuster, J. M. (1997). The Prefrontal Cortex: Lippincott-Raven.

Fuster, J. M. (2004). Upper processing stages of the perception-action cycle. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(4), 143-145.

Fuster, J. M., Bodner, M., & Kroger, J. K. (2000). Cross-modal and cross-temporal association in neurons of frontal cortex. Nature, 405, 347-351.

Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R. (1998). Cognitive Neuroscience: the biology of the mind. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Gray, J. R., Chabris, C. F., & Braver, T. S. (2003). Neural mechanisms of general fluid intelligence. Nature Neuroscience, 6(3), 316-322.

Grillner, S. (2003). Fundamentals of motor systems. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 755-765): Elsevier Academic Press.

Koechlin, E., Ody, C., & Kouneiher, F. (2003). The architecture of cognitive control in the human prefrontal cortex. Science, 302(5648), 1181-1185.

Legrand, D. (to appear). The bodily self: The sensori-motor roots of pre-reflexive self-consciousness. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.

Lockard, R. B. (1971). Reflections on the fall of psychology: Is there a message for us all? Am. Psychol., 26, 168-179.

Metzinger, T. (2003). Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity: MIT Press.

Miller, E. K. (2000). The prefrontal cortex and cognitive control. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1, 59-65.

Norman, D., & Shallice, T. (1986). Attention to action: willed and automatic control of behavior. In R. J. Davidson, G. E. Schwartz & D. Shapiro (Eds.), Consciousness and Self-Regulation (Vol. 4, pp. 1-18). New York: Plenum Press.

Posner, M. I., & Raichle, M. E. (1994). Images of Mind. New York: Scientific American Library.

Powley, T. L. (2003). Central control of autonomic functions: organization of the autonomic nervous system. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 913-932): Elsevier Academic Press.

Roth, G., & Dicke, U. (2005). Evolution of the brain and intelligence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(5), 250-257.

Scheiber, M. H., & Baker, J. F. (2003). Descending control of movement. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 792-814): Elsevier Academic Press.

Sherrington, C. S. (1947). The Integrative Action Of The Nervous System (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press.

Simpson, G. G. (1949). The Meaning of Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Swanson, L. W. (2003a). Brain Architecture - Understanding the Basic Plan: Oxford University Press.

Swanson, L. W. (2003b). The architecture of nervous systems. In L. R. Squire, F. E. Bloom, S. K. McConnell, J. L. Roberts, N. C. Spitzer & M. J. Zigmond (Eds.), Fundamental Neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 15-44): Elsevier Academic Press.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Cogprints is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.