RUI: Scaling Relations and the Intrinsic Dynamics of Cognitive Performance

The University Corporation, Northridge, Northridge CA

Investigators

Abstract

Response time, the elapsed time in a laboratory experiment between the presentation of a signal to respond and an action that stops the clock is among the oldest and most widely used ways to gauge cognitive performance. The response times from these basic cognitive acts provide a wealth of information that may inform scientists about the principals that govern cognitive performance. It was recently recognized that the patterns of intrinsic variability that emerge in response times, as a person repeatedly engages in a wide range of cognitive acts, suggests a link to a recently formalized class of physical systems, called self-organizing systems. Self-organizing systems display emergent properties-ordered temporal and spatial patterns that do not reduce to the properties of the fundamental components from which the system is comprised. It is the flexibility and exquisite contextual sensitivity of self-organizing systems that implies they may supply promising metaphors for understanding the complexity and diversity of human thought and action. With the help of National Science Foundation support, Dr. Holden's research is aimed at formally testing the degree to which research hypotheses derived from the principals of self-organization and complex systems theory are able account for empirical patterns of response time, across a host of cognitive activities. This work has the potential to allow a better understanding of skill acquisition and skilled performance. More generally, it may better inform scientists about how the human body, nervous system, and mind coordinate the myriad processes that support and constrain human thought and action, and enhance the links between cognitive science and complex systems science. Furthermore, this research entails training and mentoring opportunities for groups not historically represented in the sciences, and is being conducted at a DOE-certified Hispanic serving institution that emphasizes undergraduate education.