TY - JOUR
T1 - Complex adaptive behavior and dexterous action
AU - Harrison, Steven J.
AU - Stergiou, Nicholas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences.
Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Dexterous action, as conceptualized by Bernstein in his influential ecological analysis of human behavior, is revealed in the ability to flexibly generate behaviors that are adaptively tailored to the demands of the context in which they are embedded. Conceived as complex adaptive behavior, dexterity depends upon the qualities of robustness and degeneracy, and is supported by the functional complexity of the agent-environment system. Using Bernstein's and Gibson's ecological analyses of behavior situated in natural environments as conceptual touchstones, we consider the hypothesis that complex adaptive behavior capitalizes upon general principles of self-organization. Here, we outline a perspective in which the complex interactivity of nervous-system, body, and environment is revealed as an essential resource for adaptive behavior. From this perspective, we consider the implications for interpreting the functionality and dysfunctionality of human behavior. This paper demonstrates that, optimal variability, the topic of this special issue, is a logical consequence of interpreting the functionality of human behavior as complex adaptive behavior.
AB - Dexterous action, as conceptualized by Bernstein in his influential ecological analysis of human behavior, is revealed in the ability to flexibly generate behaviors that are adaptively tailored to the demands of the context in which they are embedded. Conceived as complex adaptive behavior, dexterity depends upon the qualities of robustness and degeneracy, and is supported by the functional complexity of the agent-environment system. Using Bernstein's and Gibson's ecological analyses of behavior situated in natural environments as conceptual touchstones, we consider the hypothesis that complex adaptive behavior capitalizes upon general principles of self-organization. Here, we outline a perspective in which the complex interactivity of nervous-system, body, and environment is revealed as an essential resource for adaptive behavior. From this perspective, we consider the implications for interpreting the functionality and dysfunctionality of human behavior. This paper demonstrates that, optimal variability, the topic of this special issue, is a logical consequence of interpreting the functionality of human behavior as complex adaptive behavior.
KW - 1/f scaling
KW - Biomechanics
KW - Dynamical systems theory
KW - Multifractals
KW - Nonlinear analysis
KW - Robustness
KW - Self-organized criticality
KW - Synergetics
KW - Variability
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M3 - Article
C2 - 26375932
AN - SCOPUS:84947564341
VL - 19
SP - 345
EP - 394
JO - Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences
JF - Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences
SN - 1090-0578
IS - 4
ER -