Conceptual spaces and consciousness: Integrating cognitive and affective processes

In the book Conceptual Spaces: the Geometry of Thought [2000] Peter Gärdenfors proposes a new framework for cognitive science. Complementary to symbolic and subsymbolic [connectionist] descriptions, conceptual spaces are semantic structures constructed from empirical data representing the universe of mental states. We argue that Gärdenfors' modeling can be used in consciousness research to describe the phenomenal conscious world, its elements and their intrinsic relations. The conceptual space approach affords the construction of a universal state space of human consciousness, where all possible kinds of human conscious states could be mapped. Starting from this approach, we discuss the inclusion of feelings and emotions in conceptual spaces, and their relation to perceptual and cognitive states. Current debate on integration of affect/emotion and perception/cognition allows three possible descriptive alternatives: emotion resulting from basic cognition; cognition resulting from basic emotion, and both as relatively independent functions integrated by brain mechanisms. Finding a solution for this issue is an important step in any attempt of successful modeling of natural or artificial consciousness. After making a brief review of proposals in this area, we summarize the essentials of a new model of consciousness based on neuro-astroglial interactions. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Um estudo sobre a experiência escolar e singularidades de crianças em tratamento oncológico a partir de produções escritas

Pós-graduação em Educação - IBRC

Diferentes realidades: ticas de matema na matemática escolar

Pós-graduação em Educação Matemática - IGCE

O processo de escolha dos temas dos projetos de modelagem matemática

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A Utilização do computador e do programa LOGO como ferramentas de ensino de conceitos de geometria plana

Pós-graduação em Educação Matemática - IGCE

Olhares de “crianças” sobre gênero, sexualidade e infância

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

Violência e livro didático: um estudo sobre as ilustrações em livros de história

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

Instituições de educação infantil: lugar onde filantropia e direitos se encontram?

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

O profissional de serviço social na educação infantil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Dimensões teórico-metodológicas do cálculo diferencial e integral: perspectivas histórica e de ensino e aprendizagem

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A Gestão ambiental no distrito industrial I de Maracanaú - Região metropolitana de Fortaleza-CE

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Serviço social e meio ambiente: a contribuição do Assistente Social em Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento - PAC

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Ensuring quality in qualitative inquiry: Using key concepts as guidelines

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Correlates of above-average cognitive performance among older adults: the SABE study

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mixed methodology to analyze the relationship between maturity of environmental management and the adoption of green supply chain management in Brazil

The aim of this research is to verify the relationship between the maturity levels of environmental management and the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices by electro-electronic companies in Brazil. In this work a two-phase research was conducted, with one quantitative and the other qualitative. The quantitative phase aimed to test whether a relationship between the maturity levels of environmental management and GSCM exists, while the qualitative phase tried to detail the characteristics of this relationship. The quantitative phase was conducted through a survey with 100 Brazilian electro-electronic companies and the collected data were processed using Structural Equation Modeling. For the qualitative phase, a multiple case study was conducted with three companies located in Brazil. The results indicate that: (1) The main hypothesis was confirmed and considered statistically valid, indicating that, indeed, the maturity level of environmental management influences the adoption of GSCM practices; (2) a coevolution tends to occur between the environmental maturity and the GSCM practices; that is, the more developed is the company's environmental management, more complex GSCM practices are adopted; and (3) the GSCM internal practices tend to present a greater relative adoption than the external practices; these external practices of GSCM tend to be adopted when the company is inserted in a higher environmental stage and/or operates under a scenario of stronger normative environmental pressure. By the way, this is the first research mixing survey and case studies on GSCM in Brazil. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.