Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses causation regarding two core aspects of human evolution: bipedal movement and brain expansion. Rather than focusing on their retroactive adaptive benefits, the discussion revolves around typical causes of mutation, particularly metabolic changes fomented by climate shifts over the course of time.

The causal origins of two distinctly human traits; bipedal movement and brain expansion are unclear. With respect to upright walking, a number of theories have been put forth over time. So- called “savanna theory” (generically) is based on the premise that nature selected bipedal locomotion because it facilitated food carrying (Hewes, 1961) and provided heat resistance in the African flatlands (Wheeler 1991) and facilitate a throwing capacity for hunting and self defense. (Calvin 1990).

Another is the“generalist/fisherman” theory (my term) (Niemitz 2010) which holds that an upright posture evolved because it is readily supported by water and that early hominids spent considerable time by water’s edge in search of a plentiful, convenient aquatic food supply. Still another, free-hands theory, suggests that an upright posture allowed the first hominids to make tools (Darwin 1861) and/or throw objects to hunt or defend themselves (Young, 2003) (Kirschmann, 1999).

Meanwhile, aquatic ape theory provides a scenario in which homo sapiens became adapted to water environments. It is based on the fact that our species has tear ducts and other features seen in aquatic creatures. (Morgan 1997)

Each of these theories has merit but each has been subject to criticism. With respect to Aquatic Ape theory, Preuschoft has argued humans are biomechanically suited to life in the water, that too many of us are afraid of water and/or poor swimmers for this to be a species indigenous trait (1991). It begs the question of how competitive would we be in an aquatic milieu; for example vis a vis crocodiles and boas? Could we submerge without air for long periods of time as they do? Could we employ stealth in fleeing from predators? Even the most adept Olympic swimmers splash too much to rely on stealth in the water.

[Read more…] about Human Evolution: A Discussion of Antecedent Factors in Bipedal Movement and Brain Expansion

By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses a model of psychological adaptation by applying components of Donald Hebb’s phasic model of cognition/ brain function to the clinical concept of experiential congruity as seen in the psychoanalytic, client-centered and cognitive-behavioral methods. The possible use of a-training (psycho-innoculation) method analogous to that of Seligman is discussed and self directive language is described as a mechanism of implementation.

Theory and Research…

Donald Hebb’ proposed a neurophysiological model of learning and memory, partly in response to his frustration over the impasse during his time between the behaviorists and introspectionists. He was interested in the meditational process in the brain, specifically what happens in the period between presentation of a stimulus and subsequent response that finally consolidates learning and memory. His solution was something he called the cell assembly. He suggested that the brain is organized into cellular configurations which become hypersensitized to specific inputs with repetition of those inputs (1949). In a sense this notion not only built a bridge between introspectionism and learning theory but also between respondent and classical learning theories since they were seen as theories devoid of a meditational, cognitive component..

Hebb postulated that with repeated inputs specific cell assemblies are activated in the form of loops or circuits. These loops could be more or less exclusive, depending on the habit strength incurred through repetition. However Hebb also felt brain activity consisted of multiple assemblies, trended toward formation of hierarchical loops, and that there was some probability that one cell assembly could merge with and be influence by another to form a higher order, mega-circuit. Hebb referred to the interactions among cell assemblies and the hierarchical influence they purveyed as phase sequences.

[Read more…] about Phase Sequences, Language and Psychological Adaptation

By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article proposes that the human psyche derives functionally and structurally from the same mechanisms that led to the origin and increasing complexity of life forms in the course of time. The mechanism is described as a sequence of events whereby organic entities first emerged through an initial separation process in which they were able to partition themselves from the outer (extra-cellular) environment via membrane structures and mechanisms. That first organism/environmental partition led to a capacity for self-regulation, whereby cells developed their own insular energy and information producing capabilities. The trend toward greater subdivisions continued, as cells proceeded to become more intra-distinctive and internally complex. To adapt to and regulate their own internal complexity they developed broader, more flexible systemic rules and psycho-physiological parameters to accommodate further intra-distinctions in line with the continued trend toward further subdivisions. This article proposes that this trend is the sine qua non of the biological world, perhaps even exceeding natural selection in importance and that it is a model that can be applied to brain evolution and the origin of psychic functioning in man.

A Concept of Life…Themes and Variations

While the advent of life forms has been viewed as a highly improbable occurrence (Crick, 1982) it might have been fairly predictable. (Ball, 2006). The amino acids arising from the tumultuous conditions on earth 3.5 billion years ago were prone to line up in chain sequences that comprise proteins, the building blocks of animal tissue. The combination of protein structures and the emergence of a heavily bonded, internally resilient macromolecule known as DNA created a prototype for an entity with resilient anatomical and reproductive features that we now refer to as “life.”

[Read more…] about The Psyche: A Biological Perspective

by Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses human evolution in terms of cue and trait detection skills facilitated by expansion of the human brain. A comparison is drawn regarding the co-impact of natural and sexual selection. The latter is considered to have a more potent, yet culturally influenced, happenstance effect on human evolution.

While natural selection is typically presumed to be the main driver of organic evolution, one could argue that in the course of an organism’s phylogenic development, nature, which changes slowly and often in punctuated fashion, has less to do with organic change than the simple interactions between males and females. Darwin of course alluded to this phenomenon in his discussions on sexual selection (1871). On the other hand the concept of fitness, which provides a cornerstone of his theory is not necessarily part of the sexual selection process, particularly for humans whose sensory discrimination, language and cognitive-creative capabilities might or might not coincide with fitness in a completely natural context – indeed might in some instances reverse nature’s tendency toward optimal organism-environmental congruence.

Evolution is a tricky concept; once tautological and vague. In and of itself the word implies a change or mutation into some new form. Yet the formal definition of the word has to do largely with the capacity among organisms to reproduce, as suggested in the work of Eberhard, (1996). The ambiguity of the term has to do with the fact that while adaptation and fitness are oft-used criteria, they are not encompassed in these narrow definitions. For example an organism can possess traits that are, or could be adaptive vis a vis the natural environment but unless he or she passed their genes on to the next generation, the potentially adaptive advantage of these traits would be irrelevant.

[Read more…] about Essay: Sexual Selection, Adaptation and the Human Brain

By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses an apparent contradiction in the sensory behaviors of autistic children, specifically their tendency to both avoid input and seek it out. An explanation is put forth that this apparent conflict can help explain the nature of autism as well as future prospects for treatment.

Most autistic individuals have significant language deficits and as a result can’t tell us very much about their “take” on experience, their awareness of having a developmental disorder, the ways in which they cope or their views of the outside world. While some people diagnosed with autism have written books and given speeches (the so-called high functioning group), their accounts might be less than definitive. That is not necessarily because they have been misdiagnosed but because by definition their involvement is mild. Otherwise they could not integrate and/or conceptualize their world enough to write and talk about their experiences in the first place.

The presumption that high-functioning autistic persons can tell us something about the experiences of more severely impaired clients (one that permeates autistic research) presents a significant problem with respect to gaining a true understanding of the disorder. Since high-functioning autistic persons can communicate, label objects and experiences, compartmentalize and express emotion through words rather than motion that would, if for no other reason than that they expend far less energy in adapting to their environment, distinguish them from their less verbal and nonverbal counterparts.

To understand the experiences of the classically autistic person can only resort to observations of nonverbal behavior in drawing inferences about the functions of brain and body. One of the more fascinating as well as diagnostically indicative features of non-verbal, autistic persons is the way in which they deal with sensory input. There is a plethora of research devoted to this topic. For example Rosenhall, Johannson et. al. (1988), Scharre, Creedon et. al. (1992) and Takarae, Minshew, et.al. (2004) and Belmonte, M (2000) have shown that autistics have a delayed reaction to input which interferes their timing with regard to responsiveness, memory consolidation and social interaction. Dawson (1989) has shown that this delay in processing creates problems with arousal levels such that the autistic individual often feels overwhelmed, unable to make sense of sensory inputs (unless the patterns are over-learned) and therefore learns to be generally stimulus avoidant. Notwithstanding research findings most of the above trends can be discerned through simple observation. In fact observation and inference are in some instances the most accurate ways to determine cause-effect patterns in autistic development.

[Read more…] about The Autism Paradox; Stimulus Seeking/Stimulus Avoidance

By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article proposes that emotion can be understood in terms of physical laws, particularly energy dynamics. In so doing it offers a possible link between the pre-biotic world and the evolution of life forms.

Over time a variety of explanations have been offered regarding the true nature of emotion. One of the earliest was proposed in the 19th century when William James and Carl Lange described emotion as an interpretive, post-arousal process. Although dismissed subsequently, the idea that cognitive appraisals and interpretations guided emotions resurfaced through the work of Lazarus (1984), Ellis (1994) and Ellsworth (1994).

Another description, provided by Walter Cannon (1929) held that emotion could be defined in the context of fight-flight behaviors and emergency reactions (Friedman & Silver 2007), (Sapolsky 1994). Still another, championed by Freud (Kennard 1998) and post analytic theorists such as Jung (1970) viewed emotion as resulting from a bio-cultural clash within a compartmentalized psyche. Following this came phenomenological interpretations of emotion as exemplified by Carl Rogers (Farber 1998) who viewed emotion (most especially anxiety) as emanating from incongruities within the self concept. A more recent theory derives from the field of evolutionary psychology and holds that emotion is most essentially an orchestration-oversight mechanism of mind (Cosmides &Tooby (2000).

Research has yielded valuable information about the physiological correlates of emotion. For example it appears that through its regulation of hormones, the limbic system is the source of pleasure, rage, aggression and fear, and that neurotransmitter mechanisms are instrumental in creating depression and other pathological states. (Papez 1937) Bruce & Neary (1995). Yet while these studies offer a building block assessment of how emotions occur they do not explain how they originated or why they occur in the first place.

Some theoreticians have addressed the question by suggesting that emotion first evolved with reptiles, whose limbic system produced the neuro-chemical wherewithal to aggress, flee, maintain vigilance and thereby enhance predatory, escape and avoidance behaviors. McLean’s notion of the triune brain is one example of that idea (1990).

[Read more…] about PHYSICS AND THE ROOTS OF EMOTION