Induction/catastrophe theory: A behavioral ecological approach to cognition in human individuals

Abstract

Gibson's (1966) ecological formulation of perceptual processes as abstracted systems, the tenets and units of neobehaviorism as formulated within psychobiology and the experimental analysis of behavior, and the topological approaches of mathematical biology as formulated by Rashevsky (1951, 1960) and Thom (1975) are the elemental concepts that form the basis of the theory presented in this paper. A cognitive or decision process of individual human beings--living systems at the organism level--emerges as a one-step, match-contrast, serial pattern embedded as a triplet of Gibson frames in five-dimensional butterfly catastrophe. Some of the experimental, clinical and philosophical implications of a "catastrophic" formulation of induction are discussed.

A butterfly catastrophe model of motivation in organization: Academic performance.

“…Applications in psychological theory include psychophysical judgments (Ayers, 1981; Yelen, 1980) with application to clinical decision making (Lueger, 1982), parameterization of learning curves (Baker & Frey, 1980; Frey & Sears, 1978), perception of optical illusions (Poston & Stewart, 1978b; Stewart & Peregoy, 1983), attitude change and behavior (Cobb, 1980; Flay, 1978), reactance to social feedback (Tesser, 1980), the treatment of anorexia nervosa (Callahan, 1982b; Zeeman, 1977), color vision under stressful conditions (Guastello, 1982b), progression through stages of cognitive development (Saari, 1977), and sexual preference (Evan & Zeiss, 1984). Of a more applied nature, models have been proposed for the effect of alcohol on driving speed (Cobb, 1981a; Zeeman, 1976) and other traffic calamities (Dendrinos, 1980; Furutani, 1976a, 1976b, 1977), status displays for the stability of power generators (Sallam & Dineley, 1983), labor-management negotiations (Oliva & Capdevielle, 1977; Oliva, Peters, & Murthy, 1981), equity in organizations, work performance, and absenteeism (Guastello, 1981, 1984b, 1984c), turnover (Abelson, 1982; Guastello, 1981; Sheridan, 1980, 1985; Sheridan & Abelson, 1983), induction and decisions (Dockens, 1979; Johnson, 1982; Keown, 1980), the reliability of confidential information (Fung, 1980), organizational reactance to change (Bigelow, 1982), two-stage personnel selection and training evaluation (Guastello, 1982c), physical fatigue (Guastello & McGee, 1982), performance decrement under increased load (Guastello, 1985a, 1985b), and occupational safety and accidents (Guastello, 1984d; Guastello & Dizadji, 1984).…”

Explaining Corporate Failure: A Catastrophe Theory Approach

“…Some researchers have undertaken work in this area, Libby (1975a and1975b) and Kennedy (1975), but not within a Catastrophe Theory framework. Recently, certain researchers have adopted a Catastrophe Theory approach in their studies of behavioural responses to new information, Flay (1978) and Dockens (1979). These developments should provide the basis for further studies in creditor's responses to accounting ratios.…”

Industry Performance and Digital Disruption: Unleashing Possibilities for the African Farmer

“…The Internet and digitisation have changed industries and disruptive forces are powerful drivers "fuelling" this forceful and dramatic change (Wang, 2013). Like the morphogenesis paradigm, described by researchers such as Lakoff (1987) and Dockens (1979), where prediction of future outcomes is mathematically calculated, the genome theory clarifies the "genetic code" that already determines the digital disruptive outcome, five to ten years from now (Dockens, 1979). The innovative disruptive forces, fueled by cloud and mobile computing, changes in capabilities and workforce, digitised supply chain, digital consumers and compliance to global regulations, are determining the 2020 vision of running on 5G networks, zero distance connectivity, cloud enterprise infrastructure, with a potential of five billion mobile enabled users.…”