Tim M. Blackburn, Julie L. Lockwood, and Phillip Cassey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232543
- eISBN:
- 9780191715983
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232543.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Ornithology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter considers the long-term outcomes of exotic bird establishment in terms of the propensity for evolution in exotic bird populations. It shows that exotic birds have occasionally lost ...
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This chapter considers the long-term outcomes of exotic bird establishment in terms of the propensity for evolution in exotic bird populations. It shows that exotic birds have occasionally lost substantial amounts of genetic variation via the introduction process, but that just as many (if not more) populations have not lost genetic variation. It is difficult to pin down the influence that the loss or gain of genetic variation has on establishment success; this is a research area that is ripe for exploration.Less
This chapter considers the long-term outcomes of exotic bird establishment in terms of the propensity for evolution in exotic bird populations. It shows that exotic birds have occasionally lost substantial amounts of genetic variation via the introduction process, but that just as many (if not more) populations have not lost genetic variation. It is difficult to pin down the influence that the loss or gain of genetic variation has on establishment success; this is a research area that is ripe for exploration.
Joseph Fishkin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199812141
- eISBN:
- 9780199395576
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812141.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Equal opportunity is a powerful idea with broad appeal. Yet the most attractive existing conceptions of equal opportunity cannot be achieved. As long as families are free to raise their children ...
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Equal opportunity is a powerful idea with broad appeal. Yet the most attractive existing conceptions of equal opportunity cannot be achieved. As long as families are free to raise their children differently, no two people's opportunities will be equal; nor is it possible to disentangle someone's abilities or talents from her background advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, different people need different opportunities, confounding most ways of defining “equal.” This book proposes an entirely new way of thinking about the project of equal opportunity. Instead of focusing on the chimera of literal equalization, it argues for broadening the range of opportunities open to people at every stage in life, in part by loosening bottlenecks in the opportunity structure—the narrow places through which people must pass in order to pursue many life paths that open out on the other side. A bottleneck might be a test like the SAT, a credential requirement like a college degree, or a skill like speaking English. It might be membership in a favored caste or racial group. Reducing the severity of such bottlenecks is one piece of what this book calls opportunity pluralism: building a more open and pluralistic opportunity structure in which people have more of a chance, throughout their lives, to pursue paths they choose for themselves, rather than those dictated by limited opportunities. The book then applies this approach to contemporary egalitarian policy problems: class and access to education, workplace flexibility and work/family conflict, and antidiscrimination law.Less
Equal opportunity is a powerful idea with broad appeal. Yet the most attractive existing conceptions of equal opportunity cannot be achieved. As long as families are free to raise their children differently, no two people's opportunities will be equal; nor is it possible to disentangle someone's abilities or talents from her background advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, different people need different opportunities, confounding most ways of defining “equal.” This book proposes an entirely new way of thinking about the project of equal opportunity. Instead of focusing on the chimera of literal equalization, it argues for broadening the range of opportunities open to people at every stage in life, in part by loosening bottlenecks in the opportunity structure—the narrow places through which people must pass in order to pursue many life paths that open out on the other side. A bottleneck might be a test like the SAT, a credential requirement like a college degree, or a skill like speaking English. It might be membership in a favored caste or racial group. Reducing the severity of such bottlenecks is one piece of what this book calls opportunity pluralism: building a more open and pluralistic opportunity structure in which people have more of a chance, throughout their lives, to pursue paths they choose for themselves, rather than those dictated by limited opportunities. The book then applies this approach to contemporary egalitarian policy problems: class and access to education, workplace flexibility and work/family conflict, and antidiscrimination law.
Ivan Pelant and Jan Valenta
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199588336
- eISBN:
- 9780191738548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588336.003.0012
- Subject:
- Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
Unlike all of the previous chapters, this one is devoted to low-dimensional semiconductor structures (quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots-nanocrystals). Basic classification of these ...
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Unlike all of the previous chapters, this one is devoted to low-dimensional semiconductor structures (quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots-nanocrystals). Basic classification of these structures is outlined and densities of electronic states are described. A detailed theoretical treatment of electronic states and exciton effects in quantum wells, both with infinite and finite barriers, is presented in effective-mass approximation. Strong and weak quantum confinement limits are discussed. Selection rules for optical transitions in quantum wells are outlined and optical absorption and emission spectra are compared. Specificity of exciton behaviour is stressed. Quantum dots with spherically symmetric potential are described in strong and weak quantum confinement regime. Salient luminescence features of quantum dots are summarized and illustrated via typical examples. Briefly mentioned are other interesting luminescence-related phenomena: phonon bottleneck, excitons indirect in real space, enhancement of nano-luminescence by metal nanoparticles and exciton multiplication.Less
Unlike all of the previous chapters, this one is devoted to low-dimensional semiconductor structures (quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots-nanocrystals). Basic classification of these structures is outlined and densities of electronic states are described. A detailed theoretical treatment of electronic states and exciton effects in quantum wells, both with infinite and finite barriers, is presented in effective-mass approximation. Strong and weak quantum confinement limits are discussed. Selection rules for optical transitions in quantum wells are outlined and optical absorption and emission spectra are compared. Specificity of exciton behaviour is stressed. Quantum dots with spherically symmetric potential are described in strong and weak quantum confinement regime. Salient luminescence features of quantum dots are summarized and illustrated via typical examples. Briefly mentioned are other interesting luminescence-related phenomena: phonon bottleneck, excitons indirect in real space, enhancement of nano-luminescence by metal nanoparticles and exciton multiplication.
Jeremy M. Wolfe
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195189193
- eISBN:
- 9780199847457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189193.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Models and Architectures
Visual input is processed in parallel in the early stages of the visual system. Later, object recognition processes are also massively parallel, matching a visual object with a vast array of stored ...
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Visual input is processed in parallel in the early stages of the visual system. Later, object recognition processes are also massively parallel, matching a visual object with a vast array of stored representation. A tight bottleneck in processing lies between these stages. It permits only one or a few visual objects at any one time to be submitted for recognition. That bottleneck limits performance on visual search tasks when an observer looks for one object in a field containing distracting objects. Guided Search is a model of the workings of that bottleneck. It proposes that a limited set of attributes, derived from early vision, can be used to guide the selection of visual objects. The bottleneck and recognition processes are modeled using an asynchronous version of a diffusion process. The current version (Guided Search 4.0) captures a range of empirical findings.Less
Visual input is processed in parallel in the early stages of the visual system. Later, object recognition processes are also massively parallel, matching a visual object with a vast array of stored representation. A tight bottleneck in processing lies between these stages. It permits only one or a few visual objects at any one time to be submitted for recognition. That bottleneck limits performance on visual search tasks when an observer looks for one object in a field containing distracting objects. Guided Search is a model of the workings of that bottleneck. It proposes that a limited set of attributes, derived from early vision, can be used to guide the selection of visual objects. The bottleneck and recognition processes are modeled using an asynchronous version of a diffusion process. The current version (Guided Search 4.0) captures a range of empirical findings.
Eric Ruthruff and Harold Pashler
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199563456
- eISBN:
- 9780191701863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199563456.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter evaluates the mental time estimation hypothesis which proposes that timing might be subject to a discrete central attentional bottleneck and timing cannot take place until certain ...
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This chapter evaluates the mental time estimation hypothesis which proposes that timing might be subject to a discrete central attentional bottleneck and timing cannot take place until certain operations have finished. The chapter reviews the evidence for a central attentional bottleneck and discusses its relevance to the study of timing under conditions of divided attention. The findings refute the suggestion that timing is wholly subject to the same discrete central bottleneck as other types of effortful mental processes.Less
This chapter evaluates the mental time estimation hypothesis which proposes that timing might be subject to a discrete central attentional bottleneck and timing cannot take place until certain operations have finished. The chapter reviews the evidence for a central attentional bottleneck and discusses its relevance to the study of timing under conditions of divided attention. The findings refute the suggestion that timing is wholly subject to the same discrete central bottleneck as other types of effortful mental processes.
Klaus Oberauer
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198570394
- eISBN:
- 9780191693816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570394.003.0020
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter offers a model in which there is no limit to the amount of activation available, with the possibility of multiple distinct activations. However limitations arise if there are too many ...
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This chapter offers a model in which there is no limit to the amount of activation available, with the possibility of multiple distinct activations. However limitations arise if there are too many representations active at one time, leading to competition and interference, and a requirement for an inhibitory process for activations that are not relevant for the task in hand. It suggests that efficiency of inhibitory function might offer a major source of individual differences in working memory capacity. It also suggests that at any one time there is a set of activations that are readily accessible, and there is a subset of these that are in the focus of attention. it is specific about competition between activations for the focus of attention. This last concept is described as a processing bottleneck.Less
This chapter offers a model in which there is no limit to the amount of activation available, with the possibility of multiple distinct activations. However limitations arise if there are too many representations active at one time, leading to competition and interference, and a requirement for an inhibitory process for activations that are not relevant for the task in hand. It suggests that efficiency of inhibitory function might offer a major source of individual differences in working memory capacity. It also suggests that at any one time there is a set of activations that are readily accessible, and there is a subset of these that are in the focus of attention. it is specific about competition between activations for the focus of attention. This last concept is described as a processing bottleneck.
Pierre Jolicœur, Roberto DellʼAcqua, and Jacquelyn M. Crebolder
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198505150
- eISBN:
- 9780191686818
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198505150.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon can be succinctly defined as an increase in the difficulty of reporting a second (masked) target that follows (after a short delay) a first target that required ...
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The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon can be succinctly defined as an increase in the difficulty of reporting a second (masked) target that follows (after a short delay) a first target that required immediate processing. This chapter reviews evidence supporting the view that the AB phenomenon results from a bottleneck in the information-processing stream required to perform tasks designed to reveal the AB phenomenon. The chapter is organized into six sections. The first four describe a major prediction of bottleneck models of dual-task interference, followed by relevant evidence from AB and related paradigms. The fifth section reviews evidence pertinent to the issue of the locus of the bottleneck in the AB phenomenon. The last section presents some conclusions.Less
The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon can be succinctly defined as an increase in the difficulty of reporting a second (masked) target that follows (after a short delay) a first target that required immediate processing. This chapter reviews evidence supporting the view that the AB phenomenon results from a bottleneck in the information-processing stream required to perform tasks designed to reveal the AB phenomenon. The chapter is organized into six sections. The first four describe a major prediction of bottleneck models of dual-task interference, followed by relevant evidence from AB and related paradigms. The fifth section reviews evidence pertinent to the issue of the locus of the bottleneck in the AB phenomenon. The last section presents some conclusions.
Eric Ruthruff and Harold E. Pashler
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198505150
- eISBN:
- 9780191686818
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198505150.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Humans often experience difficulty when asked to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Two of the better-known forms of dual-task interference are the attentional blink (AB) effect and the ...
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Humans often experience difficulty when asked to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Two of the better-known forms of dual-task interference are the attentional blink (AB) effect and the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) effect. These phenomena have traditionally been studied independently, using divergent methodologies and different dependent measures. This chapter aims to explore the possibility that these dual-task phenomena might reflect the same underlying processing limitation — a central bottleneck. It also discusses how AB and PRP effects are related to other phenomena such as repetition blindness and movements of spatial attention across visual space.Less
Humans often experience difficulty when asked to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Two of the better-known forms of dual-task interference are the attentional blink (AB) effect and the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) effect. These phenomena have traditionally been studied independently, using divergent methodologies and different dependent measures. This chapter aims to explore the possibility that these dual-task phenomena might reflect the same underlying processing limitation — a central bottleneck. It also discusses how AB and PRP effects are related to other phenomena such as repetition blindness and movements of spatial attention across visual space.
Ching Kwan Lee
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520211254
- eISBN:
- 9780520920040
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520211254.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality
The economic dynamism since the late 1980s of the south China manufacturing region has been founded on a regional history of tenacious social and economic ties between two societies adopting opposing ...
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The economic dynamism since the late 1980s of the south China manufacturing region has been founded on a regional history of tenacious social and economic ties between two societies adopting opposing systems of political economy—a colony of Britain claimed by some as the haven of laissez-faire capitalism and its neighboring Chinese province ruled by one of the world's largest socialist states. These connections have survived more than a century of political changes and international transfers of sovereignty. The change in China's strategy of national economic development from self-reliance to an emphasis on active absorption of foreign investment coincided with the emergence of bottlenecks in Hong Kong's economy, particularly the shortage of cheap labor for its labor-intensive export production. It was east-west commerce in that period that made Canton (today's Guangzhou) and Hong Kong the bones of contention between the Chinese and foreign interests led by the British.Less
The economic dynamism since the late 1980s of the south China manufacturing region has been founded on a regional history of tenacious social and economic ties between two societies adopting opposing systems of political economy—a colony of Britain claimed by some as the haven of laissez-faire capitalism and its neighboring Chinese province ruled by one of the world's largest socialist states. These connections have survived more than a century of political changes and international transfers of sovereignty. The change in China's strategy of national economic development from self-reliance to an emphasis on active absorption of foreign investment coincided with the emergence of bottlenecks in Hong Kong's economy, particularly the shortage of cheap labor for its labor-intensive export production. It was east-west commerce in that period that made Canton (today's Guangzhou) and Hong Kong the bones of contention between the Chinese and foreign interests led by the British.
Caroline Melly
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226488875
- eISBN:
- 9780226489063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226489063.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter introduces the reader to the profound cultural paradox at the heart of this book: that mobility—particularly transnational migration—is both a cherished collective value and an ...
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This chapter introduces the reader to the profound cultural paradox at the heart of this book: that mobility—particularly transnational migration—is both a cherished collective value and an increasingly restricted and impossible goal for the majority of Dakar’s residents. Beginning with the anthropologist’s story of “arrival” in the field, the introduction considers the urban embouteillage as a tangible expression of this paradox and as a critical indigenous framework for making sense of its contradictory effects on urban life and policy. The chapter does three things: It familiarizes the reader with the concept of the bottleneck and its everyday uses. It reflects on the challenges and opportunities offered by ethnographic research in this volatile context. It elaborates the bottleneck as an instance and site of infrastructural overload; a gendered experience of citizenship; an everyday bureaucratic reality after structural adjustment; and a critical vantage point for writing about Africa’s worldliness.Less
This chapter introduces the reader to the profound cultural paradox at the heart of this book: that mobility—particularly transnational migration—is both a cherished collective value and an increasingly restricted and impossible goal for the majority of Dakar’s residents. Beginning with the anthropologist’s story of “arrival” in the field, the introduction considers the urban embouteillage as a tangible expression of this paradox and as a critical indigenous framework for making sense of its contradictory effects on urban life and policy. The chapter does three things: It familiarizes the reader with the concept of the bottleneck and its everyday uses. It reflects on the challenges and opportunities offered by ethnographic research in this volatile context. It elaborates the bottleneck as an instance and site of infrastructural overload; a gendered experience of citizenship; an everyday bureaucratic reality after structural adjustment; and a critical vantage point for writing about Africa’s worldliness.
Caroline Melly
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226488875
- eISBN:
- 9780226489063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226489063.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
Accompanying cab drivers as they move along the city’s emergent highways and neglected side roads, this chapter considers what citizenship and governance look like for many urban residents in an era ...
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Accompanying cab drivers as they move along the city’s emergent highways and neglected side roads, this chapter considers what citizenship and governance look like for many urban residents in an era of intense urban construction and infrastructural impasse. The chapter argues that the traffic bottleneck indexed deep concerns about the suspension of lives and itineraries, but it also offered unexpected strategies and occasions for recuperating the meantime—for elaborating networks, hatching plans, revising legitimate practices, and claiming identities that helped bridge the inescapable present with far-off, mobile futures. In doing so, the chapter positions taxi drivers’ experiences and perspectives as normative rather than derivative, alternative, or contrary to official visions for the city. It thus works toward developing the embouteillage as a critical ethnographic framework for thinking about the paradoxes of contemporary urban belonging in Dakar more broadly.Less
Accompanying cab drivers as they move along the city’s emergent highways and neglected side roads, this chapter considers what citizenship and governance look like for many urban residents in an era of intense urban construction and infrastructural impasse. The chapter argues that the traffic bottleneck indexed deep concerns about the suspension of lives and itineraries, but it also offered unexpected strategies and occasions for recuperating the meantime—for elaborating networks, hatching plans, revising legitimate practices, and claiming identities that helped bridge the inescapable present with far-off, mobile futures. In doing so, the chapter positions taxi drivers’ experiences and perspectives as normative rather than derivative, alternative, or contrary to official visions for the city. It thus works toward developing the embouteillage as a critical ethnographic framework for thinking about the paradoxes of contemporary urban belonging in Dakar more broadly.
Caroline Melly
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226488875
- eISBN:
- 9780226489063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226489063.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
The conclusion considers the adaptability and utility of the concept of embouteillage at other moments and in other places. It first argues that the bottleneck remained a culturally relevant and ...
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The conclusion considers the adaptability and utility of the concept of embouteillage at other moments and in other places. It first argues that the bottleneck remained a culturally relevant and analytically powerful way of understanding life and policy in Dakar after the road projects were complete and the traffic has eased. It then moves beyond the African continent to ask how the concept of embouteillage might help us understand predicaments of governance, authority, and belonging unfolding on other terrains. Focusing in particular on bottlenecked lives and landscapes in the United States in the time of the Great Recession and widespread housing foreclosures, this chapter considers embouteillage as a framework that is at once expressly Senegalese and surprisingly flexible and adaptable. In doing so, the conclusion explores the generative possibilities that are opened up when insights gathered in Dakar are centralized as a normative and productive standard for understanding life lived elsewhere.Less
The conclusion considers the adaptability and utility of the concept of embouteillage at other moments and in other places. It first argues that the bottleneck remained a culturally relevant and analytically powerful way of understanding life and policy in Dakar after the road projects were complete and the traffic has eased. It then moves beyond the African continent to ask how the concept of embouteillage might help us understand predicaments of governance, authority, and belonging unfolding on other terrains. Focusing in particular on bottlenecked lives and landscapes in the United States in the time of the Great Recession and widespread housing foreclosures, this chapter considers embouteillage as a framework that is at once expressly Senegalese and surprisingly flexible and adaptable. In doing so, the conclusion explores the generative possibilities that are opened up when insights gathered in Dakar are centralized as a normative and productive standard for understanding life lived elsewhere.
Sergio Balari and Guillermo Lorenzo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199665464
- eISBN:
- 9780191746116
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199665464.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
The main theme of the chapter revolves around the notion of “monster,” both in its biological and social dimensions, in order to explain the processes that eventually brought about the appearance of ...
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The main theme of the chapter revolves around the notion of “monster,” both in its biological and social dimensions, in order to explain the processes that eventually brought about the appearance of modern humans, conceptualized in two basic steps. The first step would correspond to the appearance and subsequent consolidation of a developmental monstrosity in the mind/brain of a subpopulation of hominids. Such a monstrosity, just a would-be FL at this stage, would initially have had a negative impact by turning these individuals into social monsters in the eyes of their conspecifics, with the effect of generating a reproductive barrier and thus opening the way to a process of speciation. The process would only culminate with the advent of a number of environmental circumstances giving rise to a population bottleneck, altering the genetic makeup of the population, and favoring the preservation of the original developmental monstrosity.Less
The main theme of the chapter revolves around the notion of “monster,” both in its biological and social dimensions, in order to explain the processes that eventually brought about the appearance of modern humans, conceptualized in two basic steps. The first step would correspond to the appearance and subsequent consolidation of a developmental monstrosity in the mind/brain of a subpopulation of hominids. Such a monstrosity, just a would-be FL at this stage, would initially have had a negative impact by turning these individuals into social monsters in the eyes of their conspecifics, with the effect of generating a reproductive barrier and thus opening the way to a process of speciation. The process would only culminate with the advent of a number of environmental circumstances giving rise to a population bottleneck, altering the genetic makeup of the population, and favoring the preservation of the original developmental monstrosity.
Andrew F. G. Bourke
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199231157
- eISBN:
- 9780191774553
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231157.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Major transitions involving different species or unrelated members of the same species (egalitarian transitions) are always cooperative, with both partners retaining the ability to reproduce. Only ...
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Major transitions involving different species or unrelated members of the same species (egalitarian transitions) are always cooperative, with both partners retaining the ability to reproduce. Only transitions involving relatives (fraternal transitions) can be altruistic, with one partner losing its ability to reproduce. The stability of social groups relies on their members having a coincidence of fitness interests, which occurs via either shared reproductive fate (in non-relatives) or shared genes (in relatives). Conflict resolution within groups, which serves to alleviate the tragedy of the commons, occurs through two broad mechanisms. The first is self-limitation, e.g., when relatedness to other group members decreases individual selfishness; and the second is coercion. A life cycle with a bottleneck (e.g., development from a single cell) increases relatedness and hence reduces potential conflict, whereas a life cycle without a bottleneck (e.g., development from a group of cells) reduces relatedness and hence increases potential conflict.Less
Major transitions involving different species or unrelated members of the same species (egalitarian transitions) are always cooperative, with both partners retaining the ability to reproduce. Only transitions involving relatives (fraternal transitions) can be altruistic, with one partner losing its ability to reproduce. The stability of social groups relies on their members having a coincidence of fitness interests, which occurs via either shared reproductive fate (in non-relatives) or shared genes (in relatives). Conflict resolution within groups, which serves to alleviate the tragedy of the commons, occurs through two broad mechanisms. The first is self-limitation, e.g., when relatedness to other group members decreases individual selfishness; and the second is coercion. A life cycle with a bottleneck (e.g., development from a single cell) increases relatedness and hence reduces potential conflict, whereas a life cycle without a bottleneck (e.g., development from a group of cells) reduces relatedness and hence increases potential conflict.
Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034319
- eISBN:
- 9780262334778
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034319.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Chapter 4 discusses how the immediacy of language processing provides a fundamental constraint on theories of language acquisition and evolution. Language happens in the here-and-now. Because memory ...
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Chapter 4 discusses how the immediacy of language processing provides a fundamental constraint on theories of language acquisition and evolution. Language happens in the here-and-now. Because memory is fleeting, new material will rapidly obliterate previous material, creating a Now-or-Never bottleneck. To successfully deal with the continual deluge of linguistic information, the brain must compress and recode its input into “chunks” as rapidly as possible. It must deploy all available information predictively to ensure that local linguistic ambiguities are dealt with Right-First-Time; once the original input is lost, there is no way to recover it. Similarly, language learning must also occur in the here-and-now. This implies that language acquisition involves learning how to process linguistic structure, rather than inducing a grammar. Incoming language is recoded incrementally into chunks of increasing granularity, from sounds to constructions, and beyond. Importantly, several key properties of language follow naturally from this perspective, including the local nature of linguistic dependencies, the quasi-regular nature of linguistic structure, multiple levels of linguistic representation, and duality of patterning (i.e., that meaningful units are composed of smaller elements).Less
Chapter 4 discusses how the immediacy of language processing provides a fundamental constraint on theories of language acquisition and evolution. Language happens in the here-and-now. Because memory is fleeting, new material will rapidly obliterate previous material, creating a Now-or-Never bottleneck. To successfully deal with the continual deluge of linguistic information, the brain must compress and recode its input into “chunks” as rapidly as possible. It must deploy all available information predictively to ensure that local linguistic ambiguities are dealt with Right-First-Time; once the original input is lost, there is no way to recover it. Similarly, language learning must also occur in the here-and-now. This implies that language acquisition involves learning how to process linguistic structure, rather than inducing a grammar. Incoming language is recoded incrementally into chunks of increasing granularity, from sounds to constructions, and beyond. Importantly, several key properties of language follow naturally from this perspective, including the local nature of linguistic dependencies, the quasi-regular nature of linguistic structure, multiple levels of linguistic representation, and duality of patterning (i.e., that meaningful units are composed of smaller elements).
Rodney B. Pierce
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816679546
- eISBN:
- 9781452947761
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816679546.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter discusses the ecology of northern pike including variability, habitat, reproduction, feeding, and other behaviors. The pike’s relatively low genetic variability compared to other fish ...
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This chapter discusses the ecology of northern pike including variability, habitat, reproduction, feeding, and other behaviors. The pike’s relatively low genetic variability compared to other fish stems from low effective population sizes and population bottlenecks, which can be traced back to earlier glacial periods when the geographic range of pike was limited. Northern pike can tolerate a broad range of environmental conditions but thrive in moderately productive mesotrophic to eutrophic freshwater lakes and rivers. With regard to gender and reproduction, the sex of northern pike can be identified accurately via the external appearance of their urogenital areas, where eggs and milt are expelled.Less
This chapter discusses the ecology of northern pike including variability, habitat, reproduction, feeding, and other behaviors. The pike’s relatively low genetic variability compared to other fish stems from low effective population sizes and population bottlenecks, which can be traced back to earlier glacial periods when the geographic range of pike was limited. Northern pike can tolerate a broad range of environmental conditions but thrive in moderately productive mesotrophic to eutrophic freshwater lakes and rivers. With regard to gender and reproduction, the sex of northern pike can be identified accurately via the external appearance of their urogenital areas, where eggs and milt are expelled.
Joseph Fishkin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199812141
- eISBN:
- 9780199395576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812141.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter proposes a new way of thinking about equal opportunity: opportunity pluralism. The idea is that, instead of literally attempting to equalize opportunities, we ought to work to broaden ...
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This chapter proposes a new way of thinking about equal opportunity: opportunity pluralism. The idea is that, instead of literally attempting to equalize opportunities, we ought to work to broaden the ranges of opportunities open to people at all stages in life to pursue paths that lead to human flourishing. To achieve this, the chapter argues that we ought to loosen the bottlenecks in the opportunity structure: the narrow places through which people must pass in order to reach a wide range of paths that open out on the other side. The chapter argues that we ought to build a society with a wide plurality of values, in which many of the goods people value are not positional goods, and where there are many competing sources of authority over both the opportunity structure and questions of value.Less
This chapter proposes a new way of thinking about equal opportunity: opportunity pluralism. The idea is that, instead of literally attempting to equalize opportunities, we ought to work to broaden the ranges of opportunities open to people at all stages in life to pursue paths that lead to human flourishing. To achieve this, the chapter argues that we ought to loosen the bottlenecks in the opportunity structure: the narrow places through which people must pass in order to reach a wide range of paths that open out on the other side. The chapter argues that we ought to build a society with a wide plurality of values, in which many of the goods people value are not positional goods, and where there are many competing sources of authority over both the opportunity structure and questions of value.
Joseph Fishkin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199812141
- eISBN:
- 9780199395576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812141.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter demonstrates that opportunity pluralism can help us see new dimensions of and identify new proposals to ameliorate three especially difficult contemporary egalitarian policy problems. ...
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This chapter demonstrates that opportunity pluralism can help us see new dimensions of and identify new proposals to ameliorate three especially difficult contemporary egalitarian policy problems. Sections of the chapter cover (a) class and access to education, (b) workplace flexibility and work/family conflict, and (c) antidiscrimination law, particularly employment discrimination law. In all of these areas, it is possible to build a more open and porous opportunity structure in part by ameliorating bottlenecks.Less
This chapter demonstrates that opportunity pluralism can help us see new dimensions of and identify new proposals to ameliorate three especially difficult contemporary egalitarian policy problems. Sections of the chapter cover (a) class and access to education, (b) workplace flexibility and work/family conflict, and (c) antidiscrimination law, particularly employment discrimination law. In all of these areas, it is possible to build a more open and porous opportunity structure in part by ameliorating bottlenecks.
Li Zhaoping
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199564668
- eISBN:
- 9780191772504
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564668.003.0001
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development, Behavioral Neuroscience
This book’s approach to understand vision is by linking neural substrates in the brain with visual perceptual behavior through the use of theory and models. This chapter proposes to view vision as ...
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This book’s approach to understand vision is by linking neural substrates in the brain with visual perceptual behavior through the use of theory and models. This chapter proposes to view vision as containing three roughly successive stages: visual input encoding, visual information selection by attention, and visual recognition or perception by visual decoding. In contrast to traditional views, which decompose vision to low-level, mid-level, and high-level processes, the proposed three-stage view makes explicit the separate tasks in vision and highlights the role of vision selection, which admits a tiny fraction of visual input information through the attentional bottleneck for visual decoding. This chapter previews the topics in each of the three stages that will be covered in the rest of the book, noting that we have the least understanding about the visual decoding stage.Less
This book’s approach to understand vision is by linking neural substrates in the brain with visual perceptual behavior through the use of theory and models. This chapter proposes to view vision as containing three roughly successive stages: visual input encoding, visual information selection by attention, and visual recognition or perception by visual decoding. In contrast to traditional views, which decompose vision to low-level, mid-level, and high-level processes, the proposed three-stage view makes explicit the separate tasks in vision and highlights the role of vision selection, which admits a tiny fraction of visual input information through the attentional bottleneck for visual decoding. This chapter previews the topics in each of the three stages that will be covered in the rest of the book, noting that we have the least understanding about the visual decoding stage.
Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262015240
- eISBN:
- 9780262295703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262015240.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter explores the evolution of levels of organization by making the idea of a Darwinian population central. It describes how marginal cases are important for understanding transitional cases. ...
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This chapter explores the evolution of levels of organization by making the idea of a Darwinian population central. It describes how marginal cases are important for understanding transitional cases. It suggests that thinking in terms of Darwinian populations provides a more fruitful approach than working with the concept of a replicator. It also highlights the paradigm, minimal and marginal cases, and the network of relations between populations. This chapter shows that the bottlenecks and germlines contribute to the Darwinization of the higher-level individuals and the partial de-Darwinizing of the lower.Less
This chapter explores the evolution of levels of organization by making the idea of a Darwinian population central. It describes how marginal cases are important for understanding transitional cases. It suggests that thinking in terms of Darwinian populations provides a more fruitful approach than working with the concept of a replicator. It also highlights the paradigm, minimal and marginal cases, and the network of relations between populations. This chapter shows that the bottlenecks and germlines contribute to the Darwinization of the higher-level individuals and the partial de-Darwinizing of the lower.
