brain

1. 1012 DF Problem (e.g., muscle DF >>> CM DF) 102 many DF state space 3 109 brain 103 few DF control space spine CM muscles skeleton Degrees of Freedom Problem: 40 Years and Counting articulation phonation producing any single phoneme involves ≈ 70 muscles respiration

2. Coached Collaborated Taught Studied Experimental and Physiological Psychology at Ohio State (1964-1967) Fall, 1965 Why Action? PE at Loughborough College (now University) PE at Ohio State (1963-1964)

3. Spring 1969 UConn 1967, Haskins 1970 Spring 1973 Two gifts 1st epiphany (1952): Invariance is in articulation, not acoustics. Object of perception is gesture, not sound. 2nd epiphany (1985): Inconstant motor commands implicate abstract motor invariants. Speech production-perception is a special module. hear (speak) speak (hear)

4. 1974-75: Guggenheim Biofizica, Bernstein, Gibson, coordinative structure(a group of muscles, often spanning several joints, constrained to act as a single [tunable. cyclic-like] functional unit) Turvey “Preliminaries to a theory of action with reference to vision.” (’75), ’77 Fowler “Timing control in speech production” ’77 Saltzman “On levels of sensorimotor representation” ‘77 Fitch & Turvey “On the control of activity: Some remarks from an ecological point of view.” ‘77 Fowler & Turvey “Skill acquisition: An event approach with special reference to searching for the optimum of a function of several variables.” (’77) ’78 Turvey, Shaw, & Mace “Issues in a theory of action: degrees of freedom, coordinative structures, and coalitions” ‘79 Fowler, Rubin, Remez, & Turvey ”Implications for speech production of a general theory of action.” ’80 Fitch, Tuller, Turvey “The Bernstein perspective: I. The problems of degrees of freedom and context-conditioned variability. II. The concept of muscle linkage or coordinative structure. III. Timing of coordinative structures with special reference to perception. (’78), ‘82

5. flows VELOCITY FORCE VECTORS forces force field given I(d2/dt2) I(d2/dt2) F force field desired time time A Panoply of Issues cortical keyboard spinal keyboard “How do flows constrain forces?” “How does light get into muscle?” Address-specific control?Address-approximate control?Address-less control? “Bend force-field given to obtain force-field required”

6. On a drive to Haskins: “It’s a physics problem” A minimally intelligent executive intervening minimally An elegant theory of executive ignorance No loans of intelligence (no set points, no programs, no inference engines) Action must be “direct” if perception is Not hierarchy, but dual heterarchies Solution to Bernstein’s problem: Not neurophysiology, not cybernetics, not artificial intelligence, but physics. But what kind of physics? Strong heterarchy Physics of self-organization: Nonlinear, nonequilibrium thermodynamics Kugler, Kelso, & Turvey “On the concept of coordinative structures as dissipative structures” ‘80 Kugler, Kelso, & Turvey “On the control and coordination of naturally developing systems.” ‘82

7. B (Boundary Conditions) C (Collective/Cooperative Level) A (Atomistic Level) Coordination as emergent from competition and cooperation: Haskins research scientists as von Holst’s (1935) fish Frank’s 2nd Gift Coordinative structures as 3-tiered upper lip DF “compensates” for lost jaw DF Kugler & Turvey “Information, natural law, and the self-assembly of rhythmic movement” 1987 (pp.480) Functionally specific cooperation of speech articulators freeze jaw while closing On first occurrence For /baeb/, lips adjust to complete utterance, not tongue For /baez/, tongue adjusts to complete utterance, not lips Kelso, Tuller, Bateson, & Fowler, 1984

8. Criteria of non-equilibrium phase transition: modality, inaccessibility, sudden jumps, hysteresis, critical slowing down, critical fluctuations The Experiments π f 0 Frequency Coordinative structures are S-O ( HKB Equation: Elementary Coordination Law) The Formalism The Noise The Motion The Potential V(f) Symmetry: reflectional time-translational -π π f 0 The Strategy Recognize: Even in complex situations Nature obeys simple laws Pursue: A phenomenological, aggregated description of the highest level

9. Intrinsic Timing, Articulatory Phonology Action Units Basic phonological unit: articulatory gesture, a dynamical system with a characteristic set of parameter values. task specific special purpose autonomous dynamic An utterance: an ensemble of potentially overlapping gestural units Phonetic and phonological as micro and macro descriptions of the same system Task Dynamics constrictions variable in location, degree “execution” dynamics “planning” dynamics articulators tract variables coordinate transformation perceive gestures intended gestures [Phonetic Module] articulatory dynamics

10. Today? perception-action Executive ignorance (on-line assembly of feedback laws), minimal intervention (uncontrolled manifold) (Todorov, 2004) (Warren 2009) Rate of entropy production as coordination selection principle (Frank 2011) ? Intentional dynamics (Shaw & Kinsella-Shaw,1988, in press) Impredicativity of S-O (Chemero in press) (West 2009) Renormalization, fractal calculus A Haskins Legacy