Adaptation
Beware the jub-jub bird, and shun..
The 'acid' test for a theory's fitness is extrapolation, not interpolation. In other words, force the theory/model to deal with a more ambitious data range than the one used to construct it, and observe competency. Success in cognitive theorizing takes a candidate theory from the prosaic domain of psychology (mind, behaviour) into the esoteric realm of psychiatry (soul, fulfilment). A superior assessment suggests that the paradigm has advanced significantly*.
Attraction/ satisfaction are general emotions which lie at the very core of all vertebrate behavior, as well as representing the keys to human happiness and self-realization. The concept of attraction maps onto motivation (feedforward L-lobe contribution - mission attainment), while the concept of satisfaction maps onto conservation (feedback L-lobe contribution - system preservation). 'Mission' is an aggregate term used to denote tasks (external goals) while 'System' is the aggregate term for states (internal goals). Of course, when a human or animal individual experiences lust or love, the feedforward and feedback mappings will in general resonate throughout all three TDE levels.
*This is what Bill T. Powers did when he transformed Perceptual Control Theory or PCT (which is a cognition theory) into The Method of Levels (which is a psychiatric therapy).
V(oluntary) actions can be U(nconscious)
Prior to the work on the TDE, almost every researcher had assumed that psychophysical qualia consisted of intensity variations along one subjective dimension only. One of the major discoveries of TDE theory is the realization that there are in fact not one but two factors which contribute to subjective phenomena, volition as well as consciousness. This realization provides a belated, but entirely convincing, solution to Benjamin Libet's observations. Otherwise known as 'Libet's Paradox', these experiments involve the apparent backward referral of introspective time, an observation which we know to be factually ('objectively') impossible. TDE theory represents a 'game changer' in cognitive science because it introduces the potential existence of mental states which are deliberate (ie goal directed, commanded by drive state) but not immediately experienced consciously - this is the V+U quadrant in figure 7(b) .
Constant Learning System uses (feedforward - feedback) error deltas
Figure 17(a) vertebrate behavioral adaptation, which features a constant learning system (CLS), in which the moment-to-moment differences ('deltas') between feedforward (command, this is what you want) and feedback (control, this is what you get) messages are constantly being negated by pain passivation signals, which are typically implemented as post-synaptic endorphin (EP) receptors. In other words, errors in motion estimation result in corrective cybernetic differentials which are generated by the same set of neural mechanisms as pain due to injury.
Attention acts as the link between unconditioned needs (features) and conditioned wants (gestalts)
It is the 'spotlight of attention'* which acts like a error (or pain) focus. Attention can be seized by inner drives reaching excessive levels or external events. These correspond to the boxes labelled 'attraction' in figure 17(a), and 'attention' in figure 17.1(a). These comments apply equally to noxious sensations or odious situations ('repulsion'). The mechanism whereby pain/error/attention signals are passivated by transient signals, then recorded permanently by the neural equivalent of symbols is none other than Classical Conditioning, also known as Pavlovian Learning. It is this mechanism that automatically satisfies needs by linking them to desires. For instance, when you are hungry, you don't just ask for food ("Waiter, bring me some food!"), you ask for something that you like, and check that it is available.
Figure 17.1 (a) depicts the GOLEM diagram, which reveals the subjective-linguistic nature of cognitive computations. Figure 17.1 (b) depicts the QOLEM diagram, which reveals the subjective-phenomenal nature of cognitive computations. The GOLEM is a QOLEM diagram which has been 'unwound' or 'uncrossed'.** In other words, the QOLEM is how the GOLEM is actually implemented in the brain, as pyramidal decussations, which exist at all three TDE levels. In the 'integration' page, the neural circuitry within pyramidal decussations is discussed.
Accumulated Serotonin debt causes increased sleep pressure drive
Evidence from sleep research clearly demonstrates that the CLS is always operating, ie some adaptation occurs even when in Slow Wave Sleep (SWS)***. During waking the EP passivation/correction signals ('deltas') are tracked by means of accumulating Serotonin (ST) levels. That is, the EP 'deltas' are 'borrowed' from a fixed pool, and must be returned there at some point during sleep. The larger the accumulated sleep debt, the larger the uncancelled output from the aggregations of ST neurons, and hence the larger the sleep pressure, which is experienced as a homeostatic drive, just like any other metabolic drive (eg hunger, thirst).
A (permanent, feedforward) dopamine copy is made of each (temporary, feedback) endorphin signal
The information gained during each waking (WK) learning episode is not, however, lost while sleeping (SP). Before being returned to the ST pool, an equivalent Dopamine (DA) copy is made of each EP signal. The difference between EP and DA receptors is that, while EP signals are temporary and cyclic, DA signals are used to permanently store procedural knowledge (skills). Depending on the part of the brain, NO (nitric oxide- a gas****) might be used instead of EP. Similarly, Acetylcholine (AC) might substitute for DA. The type of neurotransmitter (N/T) molecule is not as important as its location in the neural circuitry and its valence (synaptic effect) - all the N/T's mentioned here are INHIBITORY. They are able to store biocomputational state (and therefore can operate as finite state machines) by means of meta-inhibitory latching.
*Treisman & Gelade (1980) A Feature Integration theory of Attention. Cognitive Psychology 12, 97-136
**One of the uses of the GOLEM form is to demonstrate that Chomsky's view of language is wrong.
***However, because very little motion occurs during sleep, this effect is quite small- indeed it has only recently been confirmed by experiment.
****This is how Viagra works, by releasing NO (a dissolved gas) into the blood, where it acts as an paracrine agonist at local vasodilators located within erectile sponge tissue.
The constant learning system (CLS) of the human/animal brain was introduced in the previous section. The flawed concept that is usually called 'efferent copy' exists in large part because this CLS design feature was not more widely accepted. A more thorough treatment appears later, on the page titled- 'efference copycats'.