Papers by Wayne Christensen
Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 2020
The nature of the cognition-motor interface has been brought to prominence by Butterfill & Siniga... more The nature of the cognition-motor interface has been brought to prominence by Butterfill & Sinigaglia (2014), who argue that the representations employed by the cognitive and motor systems should not be able to interact with each other. Here I argue that recent empirical evidence concerning the interface contradicts several of the assumptions incorporated in Butterfill & Sinigaglia's account, and I seek to develop a theoretical picture that will allow us to explain the structure of the interface presented by this evidence. The central idea is that neural plasticity incorporates metarepresentational rules for constructing representational systems and linking them. The structure of the cognition-motor interface is constructed flexibly during development and skill learning based on information processing demands.
9th Conference of the …, Jan 1, 2009
The ability to predict the actions of other agents is vital for joint action tasks. Recent theory... more The ability to predict the actions of other agents is vital for joint action tasks. Recent theory suggests that action prediction relies on an emulator system that permits observers to use information about their own motor dynamics to predict the actions of other agents. If this is the case, then predictions for self-generated actions should be more accurate than predictions for other-generated actions. We tested this hypothesis by employing a self/other synchronization paradigm where prediction accuracy for recording of self-generated movements was compared with prediction accuracy for other-generated movements. As expected, predictions were more accurate when the observer's movement dynamics matched the movement dynamics of the recording. This is consistent with that idea that the observer's movement dynamics influence the predictions they generate.
Familiarity plays an important role in face processing. The importance of familiarity is increase... more Familiarity plays an important role in face processing. The importance of familiarity is increased when facial form cues are degraded, so that a person must rely primarily on movement (dynamic) information to identify someone. It is, however, unclear which dynamic cues are used for face recognition of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, little work has been done on dynamic self-face recognition, and none has focused on the type of movement that facilitates this process. The current study used motion capture cameras to record and isolate facial movements in order to test recognition of self, familiar and unfamiliar faces. Participants completed a 2AFC same/different face-matching task involving point-light displays of natural motion (i.e. both rigid and non-rigid motion), rigid motion only (e.g. nodding/shaking), non-rigid motion only (e.g. mouth/eyebrow motion) and still images to determine whether differences in familiarity resulted in the use of different movement cues. The manner (style) in which someone is speaking may also impact on whether they can be easily identified from dynamic cues. Consequently, speech style was either matched or mismatched between video clips. We found that matching performance was more accurate overall when speech style was matched than mismatched. Familiar face matching appears to use rigid, non-rigid and natural movement cues equally, but unfamiliar and self-face matching are more accurate for rigid than natural motion when speech style differs between clips. These results are discussed in relation to previous research on dynamic face recognition, and possible
implications for current face processing models.
This paper outlines a theory of anticipation in autonomous systems. Our account of autonomous sys... more This paper outlines a theory of anticipation in autonomous systems. Our account of autonomous systems is designed to model the basic organisational form of life. Anticipation is an integral feature of the autonomy account, and is an important foundational concept for an interactivistconstructivist (I-C) theory of embodied intelligent agents. We present the basic conceptual framework of the I-C approach to intelligence, including an account of directed processes, normativity as process closure, and self-directedness as the basis of intelligence and learning.
Geeves, A., Christensen, W., Sutton, J & McIlwain, D. Critical Review of Practicing Perfection, by Chaffin, Imreh, & Crawford, in Empirical Musicology Review 3 (3), August 2008, 163-172
Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology
Cognition as high-order control
Review of KM Ford, C. Glymour & PJ Hayes (Eds) Android epistemology
Android epistemology-Ford, KM, Glymour, C, Hayes, PJ
Review: Churchland Symposium
The representational demands of mindreading
Selection theory, organization and the development of knowledge
A general interactivist-constructivist model of intentionality
Adaptiveness and adaptation: A new autonomy-theoretic analysis and critique
The ascent of endogenous control: Autonomy-theoretic foundations for biological organisation and evolutionary epistemology
From cell to scientist: Toward an organisational theory of life and mind
Organised interactive construction: The nature of autonomy and the emergence of intelligence
This paper outlines an interactivist-constructivist theory of autonomy as the basic organisationa... more This paper outlines an interactivist-constructivist theory of autonomy as the basic organisational form of life, and the role we see it playing in a theory of embodied cognition. We distinguish our concept of autonomy from autopoiesis, which does not emphasise interaction and openness. We then present the basic conceptual framework of the I-C approach to intelligence, including an account of directed processes, dynamical anticipation, normative evaluation, and selfdirectedness as the basis of intelligence and learning, and use this to briefly reflect on other contemporary dynamical systems approaches.
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Papers by Wayne Christensen
implications for current face processing models.
implications for current face processing models.
with which they are faced during performance. To further explore this apparent paradox and the way in which it is negotiated by expert musicians, this article profiles theories presented by Roger Chaffin, Hubert Dreyfus and Tony and Helga Noice. For Chaffin, expert skill in music performance relies solely upon overarching mental representations, while, for Dreyfus, such representations are needed only by novices, while experts rely on a more embodied form of coping. Between Chaffin and Dreyfus sit the Noices, who argue that both overarching cognitive structures and embodied processes underlie expert skill. We then present the Applying Intelligence to the Reflexes (AIR) approach — a differently nuanced model of expert skill aligned with the integrative spirit of the Noices’ research. The AIR approach suggests that musicians negotiate the apparent paradox of expert skill via a mindedness that allows flexibility of attention during music performance. We offer data from recent doctoral research conducted by the first author of this article to demonstrate at a practical level the usefulness of the AIR approach when attempting to understand the complexities of expert skill in music performance.
ables within his control. In order to achieve this, JK must engage in ongoing monitoring of his performance, whereby the spotlight of his attention pans across a vast array of disparate performance
processes (and levels within these processes) in order to ascertain how he can most effectively meet the specific demands of a given performance situation. It is hoped that future research compiling data from numerous interviews and sources as well as using different research methodologies will further unlock the potential that the AIR approach holds for understanding expert performance."