tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post2271690516838476600..comments2024-03-12T03:23:42.976-04:00Comments on NeuroDojo: Can evolutionary psychology walk the walk over walking?Zen Faulkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-6612576106856634132011-07-04T15:43:09.903-04:002011-07-04T15:43:09.903-04:00It certainly reads that way to me, and no-one stud...It certainly reads that way to me, and no-one studying biological motion perception would claim it was gender perception that was the key thing (I don't think; there are crazy people everywhere, of course :) <br /><br />But the detection of biological and other complex motion (and, more specifically, the perception of what that complex motion specifies out in the world) is utterly critical to successful visual perception; these complex motions are the only possible source of information good enough to support perception and action. I don't think it's controversial to say that it's what the visual system has evolved to detect.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16732977871048876430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-38917709204743596602011-07-04T15:20:04.147-04:002011-07-04T15:20:04.147-04:00Er. I don't quite understand.
What feature (o...Er. I don't quite understand.<br /><br />What feature (or ability, I suppose) is an adaptation, in your view?<br /><br />Is the claim that "detecting biological motion" is an adaptation?<br /><br />Looking at it again, I <b>do</b> see how Bradshaw might have been referring to the more general case of biological motion in the quote, rather than detection of sex specifically, which was obviously my initial interpretation.Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-88395246222960810512011-07-04T15:05:22.793-04:002011-07-04T15:05:22.793-04:00For humans in particular, I still think the key po...<i>For humans in particular, I still think the key point is trying to rule out that detection of biological motion is different than plain old learning.</i><br />That distinction doesn't make sense. The thing you are learning is what the biological motion specifies. You don't learn about gender, and learn about biological motion, and learn that one can be used to perceive the other. The claim is that you distinguish gender on the basis of the information in biological motion. <br /><br />And actually, while the warning about adaptationism is fair, the reason I felt moved to comment is that I don't think it's justified in the context of this study.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16732977871048876430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-26200062541749267652011-07-04T14:12:26.251-04:002011-07-04T14:12:26.251-04:00Thanks for the comment. I'm particularly pleas...Thanks for the comment. I'm particularly please you thought the warning about adaptation was fair, as it was the main one I was trying to make.<br /><br />Whether there are adaptations for detecting biological motion above and beyond those for detecting motion in general is an interesting question. For humans in particular, I still think the key point is trying to rule out that detection of biological motion is different than plain old learning.Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-35949594275038377132011-07-04T13:54:41.813-04:002011-07-04T13:54:41.813-04:00Point light displays are a method for examining wh...Point light displays are a method for examining what we can perceive from structured motion alone. It turns out we can perceive quite a lot from motion, including the gender and emotional state of a person. <br /><br />The suggestion is that biological motion perception (<i>not</i> the perception of point lights) is what actually underpins these abilities in more naturalistic conditions. <br /><br />So while your point about being careful about claiming adaptationism is fair, the way you've addressed this particular topic isn't fair to the research. Our ability to directly access all kinds of very important information about animate organisms in our surrounds via <i>motion perception</i> is, in fact, extremely adaptive. The fact that this is measured in the lab using <i>point lights</i> is not even approximately the issue.<br /><br />I recommend checking out Niko Troje's work at http://www.biomotionlab.ca/. He's one of the best I know in the field.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16732977871048876430noreply@blogger.com