Life-space foam: A medium for motivational and cognitive dynamics

Vladimir Ivancevic and Eugene Aidman

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2007, vol. 382, issue 2, 616-630

Abstract: General stochastic dynamics, developed in a framework of Feynman path integrals, have been applied to Lewinian field-theoretic psychodynamics [K. Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1951; K. Lewin, Resolving Social Conflicts, and, Field Theory in Social Science, American Psychological Association, Washington, 1997; M. Gold, A Kurt Lewin Reader, the Complete Social Scientist, American Psychological Association, Washington, 1999], resulting in the development of a new concept of life-space foam (LSF) as a natural medium for motivational and cognitive psychodynamics. According to LSF formalisms, the classic Lewinian life space can be macroscopically represented as a smooth manifold with steady force fields and behavioral paths, while at the microscopic level it is more realistically represented as a collection of wildly fluctuating force fields, (loco)motion paths and local geometries (and topologies with holes). A set of least-action principles is used to model the smoothness of global, macro-level LSF paths, fields and geometry. To model the corresponding local, micro-level LSF structures, an adaptive path integral is used, defining a multi-phase and multi-path (multi-field and multi-geometry) transition process from intention to goal-driven action. Application examples of this new approach include (but are not limited to) information processing, motivational fatigue, learning, memory and decision making.

Keywords: Psychophysics; Path integrals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:382:y:2007:i:2:p:616-630

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2007.04.025

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