[Xmca-l] Re: Rhythm

[HENRY SHONERD]

Respectfully,
I don’t want to speak for others, but no way is Francine’s proffer too divergent. I love getting back to the brain here. (Lashley’s shift from bacteriology to neuropsychology in the early part of the 20th century was a boon to psychology.) Love that materiality. 

Your comments on changes in rhythm, whether self-initiated or through and external agent remind me of my dissertation many years ago, where repair in spontaneous speech played a major role in my study of L2 acquisition. Repair includes correction of speech by others, the stereotypical form of teaching a language. In my dissertation, I found that one of the most effective forms of repair of L2 speech in English was other-assisted, that is when the learner was seeking assistance in moving the conversation forward. This both respects the learner and provides the resources of the native speaker of English. Other-assisted repair is initiated by the learner, not imposed. Other-assisted repair is particularly effective because it sandwiches the learning within a dialog, without interrupting it. Lots of Vygotsky’s ZPD here, I claimed. I found, not surprisingly, that there are cultural differences in how other repair is viewed. 

Henry

   
> On Jan 11, 2015, at 2:01 PM, larry smolucha <lsmolucha@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Message from Francine:
> Message from Francine:
> 
> Larry, Rod, Annalisa, Henry, et al
> 
> Here are some thoughts relating rhythm to prefrontal activity:
> 
> In the intro to his book The Prefrontal Cortex (p.3), Fuster says that
> "Both coherence and coordination {of action} derive from the capacity of
> the prefrontal cortex to organize actions in the time domain . . . ." 
> The prefrontal cortex enables the individual to act in a goal directed way.
> This would include the timing of a speech vocalization. Does it merely
> join a chorus of voices, interrupt of flow of speech or a conversation, or
> change the flow of speech or conversation. 
> 
> The carrier wave analogy is interesting because neuronal discharge can also
> become rhythmic with regular brainwave patterns (frequency and amplitude).
> Some rhythmic brainwave are OK (like alpha rhythms) others are very bad (like
> seizures). Carrier waves as radio waves are modulated and change their pattern
> or rhythm. If we view speech as a neuronal rhythm that can also be a shared
> interpersonal activity like a dance, is this "group think?" There has to be some
> common "group think" or we would not be able to understand each other. Change in the
> rhythm, pattern, or habit of speaking (hence thinking) can occur several ways.
> One is self-initiated (prefrontal cortex), the other would be an external agent
> perhaps a charismatic leader, or a divergent member of the group who randomly
> inserts a new element or rhythm (like a jam session among musicians.) 
> Nonhuman external events also change the rhythm as do neuro-chemical
> changes like fatigue. 
> 
> Does this contribute to the flow of conversation on this thread or am I being
> too divergent?
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 08:06:38 -0800
>> From: lpscholar2@gmail.com
>> To: xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Rhythm
>> 
>> Annalisa, Henry, Rod
>> 
>> The perspective:
>> 
>>  a shared rhythm, whether at the level of embodied co-movement, patterned
>> sound or, over a longer timescale, traditional patterns of activity,
>> provides a 'carrier wave' over which very subtle nuances of meaning can be
>> communicated.
>> 
>> The metaphor of "carrier wave" points towards notions of the "ear" and
>> "hearing" meaning that Hutto suggests is at the level of "basic"
>> cognition.  How is this kind of meaning [thinking and speech within
>> "carrier waves"] related to meaning as conceptual [thought and language]?
>> 
>> The phrase "hearing each other into voice" [even when reading silently] I
>> am suggesting is an aspect of "third spaces" as places of socially situated
>> intersubjective dialogue. In testimonies, our readings are returned to our
>> "interpretive communities" and in this return  "possibilities" open up in
>> this third space.
>> 
>> [posse meaning "can" & ibilas as a suffix changing posse/"can" to an
>> adjective].
>> So "possibility" [as if] and "can" as action are intimately related within
>> "carrier waves"
>> 
>> Larry
>> 
>> On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 3:59 AM, Rod Parker-Rees <
>> R.Parker-Rees@plymouth.ac.uk> wrote:
>> 
>>> I think your quote from Lashley makes a very useful point - that
>>> communication often depends on interventions within a continuing flow of
>>> interaction. The meaning is not in the message so much as in how the
>>> message is placed in this flow, how it refers back to what the speaker can
>>> assume the listener will recognise and relate to and how it refers forward
>>> to a possible future state of relationships etc. I think this relates to
>>> Annalisa's posting about rhythmic entrainment because a shared rhythm,
>>> whether at the level of embodied co-movement, patterned sound or, over a
>>> longer timescale, traditional patterns of activity, provides a 'carrier
>>> wave' over which very subtle nuances of meaning can be communicated. As an
>>> example - when a musician performs a familiar piece of music, which is
>>> already familiar to many in the audience, very small variations in how the
>>> piece is performed can communicate a great deal about the performer's
>>> relationship with the piece. Or - where people are required to wear any
>>> form of uniform, small variations in how it is worn may communicate much
>>> about the wearer. I suppose this could be seen in terms of the 'yes and'
>>> rule in improvisation - go with the flow/rhythm but also add something to
>>> it.
>>> So while there may be much to be gained from losing oneself in the crowd
>>> it is also possible to find distinctiveness among the co-participants in a
>>> crowd activity.
>>> 
>>> This reminds me of what I think was an inspired piece of teaching which is
>>> presented in the catalogue of the exhibition of children's work from the
>>> Reggio Emilia preschools in Northern Italy - in a project focusing on
>>> crowds children were asked to choose one person in a photograph of a crowd
>>> seen and to imagine what that person was thinking - the children drew their
>>> chosen person and added a bubble to show the person's thoughts. In this way
>>> the children were encouraged to recognise the individuality of each member
>>> of the crowd and this was carried on into their representation of a crowd
>>> in clay figures - each figure was given its own unique identity in the form
>>> of clothes, shoes, accessories etc. This struck me as a powerful learning
>>> opportunity in preschools which were developed with the express intention
>>> of preventing any resurgence of fascism in this part of Italy.
>>> 
>>> All the best,
>>> 
>>> Rod
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: xmca-l-bounces+rod.parker-rees=plymouth.ac.uk@mailman.ucsd.edu
>>> [mailto:xmca-l-bounces+rod.parker-rees=plymouth.ac.uk@mailman.ucsd.edu]
>>> On Behalf Of HENRY SHONERD
>>> Sent: 10 January 2015 18:36
>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Rhythm
>>> 
>>> The link proffered by Annalisa has a section on hiving and rhythmic
>>> entainment, a phenomenon that I have been interested in for years. I see it
>>> in the morning flights of pigeons that fly overhead as I do tai chi and in
>>> the migration of geese, ducks and cranes twice a year here in central New
>>> Mexico. This morning, as I took part in a dance-exercise class, I took part
>>> in a rhythmically entrained activity. I have read about rhythmic
>>> entrainment in the interactions of child and caregiver that Vera first made
>>> me aware of as a prime aspect of language acquisition. I see it in the work
>>> of McNeill on the rhythmic integration of gesture and speech.  Karl Lashley
>>> said the following in 1951:
>>> 
>>> "My principal thesis today will be that the input is never into a
>>> quiescent or static system, but always into a system which is already
>>> actively excited and organized. In the intact organism, behavior is the
>>> result of interaction of this background of excitation with input from any
>>> designated stimulus. Only when we can state the general charac- teristics
>>> of this background of excitation, can we understand the effects of a given
>>> input."
>>> 
>>> Whether within an organism, or in interactions between organisms, this
>>> suggests a rhythmic pulse underlying activity and development, and that the
>>> temporal domain is, in some sense, what underlies all of creation. I would
>>> like to propose that this rhythmic entrainment fits nicely with Hutto's
>>> radical embodiment/enactive cognition (REC) hypothesis proferred by Larry.
>>> 
>>> I was wondering what others think about rhythm and all that jazz.
>>> 
>>> Henry
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 9, 2015, at 11:20 AM, Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hello sundry discussants!
>>>> 
>>>> ?This landed in my email box this morning and figured it was a pretty
>>> catchy title that may intrigue others here on the list as much as me!
>>>> 
>>>> I am practicing something I don't like to, which is post a link of
>>> something I haven't finished reading, with the risk I may not agree with it.
>>>> 
>>>> However, then I thought I don't have to agree with everything I post on
>>> the list, do I? So just to say it is possible that I read it and be remiss
>>> that I shared it...
>>>> 
>>>> Still, it can be looked at what kinds of writing are going on about
>>> consciousness out there, "outside." It may contribute to further discussion
>>> of the ideology of individualism?
>>>> 
>>>> For what its worth? here's the link below...
>>>> 
>>>> Kind regards,
>>>> 
>>>> Annalisa
>>>> 
>>>> Ritual and the Consciousness Monoculture
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/01/08/ritual-and-the-consciousness-monoculture/
>>>> 
>>>> by Editor on January 8, 2015
>>>> 
>>>> Sarah Perry is a guest blogger who blogs at Carcinisation<
>>> http://carcinisation.com> and is the author of Every Cradle is a Grave:
>>> Rethinking the Ethics of Birth and Suicide<
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Every-Cradle-Is-Grave-Rethinking/dp/0989697290/>.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
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>