Multiple Systems

The term “multiple systems” was coined to describe the occurrence of multiple, variable interactions involving commonly the same elements and their interchangeability and equivalence, as seen in ecosystems, collective behaviors, and multiple networks. It also relates to the complex dynamics of emergence, such as multiple, partial, tentative, and failing, for instance, in social systems where sequences of acquisitions of multiple roles and properties like cultural, consumerist, familial, political, professional, and religious for single agents overlap and combine one another. More broadly, multiple systems are related to structural dynamics, where the dynamics are related to changes in interaction structures (the way interactions are arranged, organized, or interfere) rather than changes in values regarding the same interaction structure, and different possible cases can occur separately or simultaneously in any combination. In contrast with “complete-able incompleteness”, the changing of multiple interaction structures is intended to be characterized by “theoretical incompleteness,” a property suitable to leave the system provided by such a property in a state of permanent indefiniteness given by multiplicities of combined elements and interactions with parametrical and timing values that are predominantly always different. The multiple versions of such systems are conceivable as a network of possibilities, from which configurations endowed with partial and dynamic coherence are selected, for instance, due to environmental disturbances and the occurrence of random prevalence. Finally, the presence of potential “superimposed” multiple systems associated with pending, inactivated, implicit interactions waiting for suitable environmental conditions, e.g., energetic such as for metastability, to “collapse” in the activation of a specific version, can be considered. This is the case in ecosystems and social systems. Interestingly, the contrast between classical and quantum collapse can be considered. A General Systems Theory ignoring multiple systems should be intended as a case of reductionism having theoretical and practical effects.

In applying probability theory to specific problems, it is not uncommon that many random experiments are to be considered simultaneously, each of which has a particular probability space associated with it, and that the problem under consideration requires to find probabilities defined in a particular space from known probabilities defined in other spaces. In such cases, before probability theory can be applied, it is necessary to transfer the known probabilities from the spaces in which they are defined to the space in which the required probability is defined. This transfer can be justified only by using special principles independent of the axioms of probability theory, because the latter apply only to events defined in a single probability space. In this paper, by analyzing in depth a notable example of this kind of problem, we formulate and justify one such principle, the Principle of Equivalence.

In this work, we propose a line of research on logical open systems interpreted as Turing oracles coupled to other systems, suggesting that the resulting metasystem produces new results and computational emergences.

How systems can be functionally integrated is of particular interest in neurosciences, while explaining the underlying bioelectrical phenomena of consciousness. Recent reviews have proposed the cross frequency phase-amplitude coupling (CfM) as a way by which the local brain activities (at high frequency) are integrated in large functional brain networks (by low frequency). Large brain networks are needed for consciousness and for strong cognitive tasks as well as they may be disrupted in pathological conditions as schizophrenia or emotional dysregulation. We have made a math model of high-frequency wave activities (by 9 dipoles) integrated by low-frequency modulators. In this model, “integration” is intended as phase coherence and activity inter correlation between dipoles. The highest integration was found to be linked to specific combination of modulation waves and dipole frequencies and phase differences. These results lead to the hypothesis that integrating the brain networks is not only necessary a low-frequency modulation in the Delta/Theta band, but also a predisposition of dipoles getting an harmonic resonance with that waves; this interpretation highlights the possibility that brain integration needs the past presence of harmonic resonance between dipoles and modulators, in relation with the personal history of parental functioning and neural development.

The problem of affect and affectivity plays a significant role in psychoanalysis, both at a theoretical and therapeutic level. In Freud’s first interpretation of hysterical symptoms affect is considered as a certain amount of energy, and this already mirrors its aporetic intertwining with the “reality” of the unconscious. For Paul Ricœur, Freud’s psychoanalysis has a double, irreducible theoretical-procedural register, energetistic and hermeneutical; and his research into the unconscious reality reveals the significance and consequences of this double/dualistic approach. A combination of Husserl’s phenomenological and Ricoeur’s hermeneutical approaches helps us to find a “third, mediative way”, in which the unconscious can be reinterpreted as a “affective matter”, that is a mid-way reality placed between corporality and non-corporality, body and mind, natural causality and experiential/existential meaning. The notion of “affective matter” seems to indicate a sort of median, hybrid dimension of the unconscious as a “sphere of the unreflective” and as a “sphere of the instinctual” which is, a formula for rejecting Freud’s realism of the unconscious without denying the instinctual and transformative reality underlying the life of consciousness. The problem to be solved is how the idea of transformation can be applied to the domain of identity transformation. I tackle transformation starting from its general reference to the process of the symbolic appropriation of reality.

The gaze is a conjugated movement of the eyes, which has evolved phylogenetically in the different species, with the initial and prevalent purpose of exploring the external environment. In the higher mammals, in addition to this function, in the course of evolution, the property of conveying and interpreting complex emotional states has been added, necessary for the communication processes between individuals, as well as for the construction of inferences on the mental states of others. The systemic interest of this topic consists in the fact that the mechanisms that regulate eye movements, and the multiple meanings of the gaze, are located in that subtle interface that separates neurology from psychiatry, materials that are at the same time indivisible due to the same substrate of origin, but infinitely distant on an epistemological level. In this theoretical reflection, both the complex neurological regulation and the different functions of eye movements, such as postural adjustments, will be analyzed, as well as the psychopathological meaning and the phenomenological description of the gaze in psychiatry, in an attempt at a holistic view of the phenomena described. The systemic conceptualization of this work, and its reference to multiple systems, consists in the fact that the theme of the gaze can be analyzed through two theoretical models that belong to different disciplines, but which interface in the construction of a common phenomenology, almost as if a point of view continually fluctuating between the two systems should be acquired.

In pursuing a systemic view on cognition (as introduced by Cowley and Vallée-Tourangeau in Cognition beyond the brain. Springer, pp. 255–273, 2013), we recognize that cognition unfolds not just brain-side as postulated by traditional cognitive science (see e.g., Searle, The rediscovery of mind. MIT Press, 1992) but also world-side (cf. p. 255). This paper presents an attempt at specifying the systemic nature of human cognition by exploring it as occurring in the functional intersection of different ontologies (cf. Gahrn-Andersen in Organizational cognition: The theory of social organizing. Routledge, 2023). Part of the motivation for doing so is to inform views that overplay the uniqueness of experience (e.g., Jesus, Phenomenol Cogn Sci 17:861–887, 2018) and, thus, tone down the fact that cognition is imbued with and, hence, constrained by non-unique (or general) factors such as concepts, habits, instincts, affordances, activity trails etc. which ensure systemic coherence in the first place. More specifically, we pave new grounds for a systemic take on cognition by tracing human cognitive activity to what proponents of performativist Science and Technology Studies term ‘practical ontologies’ (Jensen, Berliner Blätter 84:93–104, 2021). Such ontologies have proven to be fruitful for disentangling messy human—non-human relations which are structurally co-determined by practices and their material arrangements. At the same time, however, little has been said about how such ontologies link up with aspects of the cognitive.

Research in the field of pathological addiction has shown that craving is one of the factors contributing to continued substance use. Craving can be considered an urgent need to use substances and can be triggered by a prolonged period of abstinence or by external stimuli. Several studies have shown how the use of non-invasive neurostimulation techniques such as tDCS (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) can help reduce craving through the use of protocols and repetitive stimulation sessions. The present study aims to analyze the neurological mechanisms underlying the brain processes, stimulated by neurostimulation, through the use of Spiking Neural Network (SNN), which represents a biologically more adherent method compared to traditional neural network models, for learning, classification, and comparative analysis of brain data. EEG traces were recorded on eight subjects with cocaine dependence during a cognitively activating task. Four subjects performed 9 sessions with tDCS and the remaining 4 subjects did not perform tDCS. Anode placed on F3 and cathode on F4 has been used as tDCS protocol. EEG data were collected through a Brain–Computer Interface (BCI). The NeuCube architecture, trained on spatio-temporal EEG data, was used to classify EEG data between the two groups of subjects to facilitate a more in-depth comparative analysis of dynamic processes in the brain. The results showed different brain activity patterns, in particular related to the frontal areas. Through the analysis of the connectivity of the SNN model and its dynamics, new information has been revealed on the effects of tDCS on cognitive functions of the brain and areas involved in cocaine addiction. These results can bring new insights into the brain functions associated with brain activity in subjects with addiction under cognitive activation conditions.

This study aims to provide insight into potential risk factors for phubbing behavior, which has become increasingly prevalent in recent years despite limited research on this issue. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 599 Italian and Turkish university students (53.1% female) to investigate the mediating effect of Addictive Smartphone Behavior (ASB) on the relationship between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Phubbing Behavior (PB). Participants completed surveys that included the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SASSV), the Fear of Missing Out scale (FoMOs), and the General Scale of Phubbing (GSP). Statistical analysis revealed significant direct and indirect effects among FOMO, ASB, and PB, with FOMO having a positive influence on both ASB and PB. Furthermore, there was an indirect influence of FOMO on PB via ASB. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the psychological variables underlying phubbing behavior.

According to Edwin Hutchins (in Cogn Sci 19:265–288, 1995a; Cognition in the Wild. MIT Press, 1995b), cognitive science should explain how humans became skilled processors of symbolic structures, rather than assuming that the architecture of cognition is symbolic. He suggests that the origin of symbolic processing should be traced back to human interaction in sociocultural systems. Developing Hutchins’ ideas, the distributed approach to language grounds linguistic abilities in proto-symbolic exchanges that can be observed in early child–parent interactions (Spurrett and Cowley in The Extended Mind. The MIT Press, 2010). Here, the parent’s adoption of a language stance (i.e., the assumption that children’s gestures and utterances have a symbolic content) leads to the reinforcement of the child's linguistic behavior, which in turn leads the child to adopt a linguistic stance toward other people, and so on. In this view, the parent–child pair forms a dual system from which the language stance emerges. In order to envisage an explanation to human’s symbolic processing abilities in a distributed perspective, we propose to add a further step to this hypothesis. Once language is adopted as the privileged vehicle for interaction, a symbolic stance, in which symbols are understood as if they were well-codified objects of a specific language, emerges on a multiple system composed of (at least) a cognitive subject, the social community of users of certain symbolic systems, and the conventions and norms associated with the use of these symbolic systems.

Scope Clarify how coevolution, cooperation, and creation dynamics are crucial in human change. Method Exploring the paradox of private language, synchronization theory, complex biosemiotics, and heterogeneous dynamics involved in therapeutic relationships as a case study for general human change dynamics. We examined specific theoretical implications of our research groups’ empirical studies developed over recent years. We explored the biosemiotic nature of communication streams from emotional neuroscience and embodied mind perspectives. They investigated intraindividual and interpersonal relations and found coevolution dynamics based on hybrid couplings, synchronizations, and desynchronizations. Cluster analysis and Markov chains produced evidence of chimera states and phase transitions. A probabilistic and non-deterministic approach clarified the properties of these hybrid dynamics. As a result, multidimensional theoretical models can better represent the hybrid nature of human interactions. We presented and discussed different models. Results New challenges lie ahead. Complex systems present plural structural forms and varieties of organization and disorganization. These varieties are frequently distributed within any singular system, creating rugged dynamical landscapes. Hybrid forms of organization are specific to human systems, as they present multiple scales and heterogeneous subsystems; synchronous and asynchronous interactions; stable, unstable, and metastable states; and localized and generalized dynamics. Therefore, considering the hyper-complexity of the human dynamical landscapes, empirical studies can use mixed methods and different approaches (sometimes all at once). Accordingly, multiple and varied interventions can induce change or facilitate its natural evolution and emersion. Therefore, multiple and different therapeutic techniques can produce similar (though not identical) outcomes in the clinical field. The good old equifinality principle of complex open systems is still at work with more advanced science tools. Coevolutionary cooperative creations present robust evidence in human change dynamics. We finally examine the personalization and ethical aspects of these models.

Self-awareness disturbance is a feature in many mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, and may be due to various triggering factors which have been studied at psychiatric, medical, and biological level. At the level of quantum logic, however, it seems possible to formalize the loss of self-awareness in terms of quantum error-correcting codes. Cases of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder are presented, the former strictly in the context of quantum error-correcting codes, the latter in relation to the lack of a quantum metalanguage and, consequently, the lack of coherent states.

Complexity emerges in many descriptions of systems. It is a concept that may assume many different forms, depending on the particular and specific characteristics of each system. Nonlinearity, multiplicity of variables, dissipation, stability, and hierarchy are some properties that impact directly on systems complexity. The investigation of a phenomenon is traditionally operated following two paradigms. The study of the theoretical models and the evaluation of their experimental properties are traditionally in accordance with TE (Theory, Experiment) paradigm. With the availability of computers the simulation became an important third component of TES (Theory, Experiment, Simulation) paradigm. Theory and simulation are powerful artificial methodologies and tools that enable to investigate the structure of systems and processes, but the execution of experiments remains the only way to correctly evaluate the behavior of real systems. Is complexity in the descriptions of phenomena? Or is it a property of the phenomena? For a system this dichotomy emerges when it is necessary to understand the role of energy and energy transformations. In particular the involved powers cover a crucial role because they impact directly on the interactions among the systems and processes.

Coping and resilience, which are the ways in which we cope with stress and difficult times, represent two separate but interconnected constructs. The literature has not yet fully clarified the extent to which the two concepts overlap or differ. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between coping and resilience and their interconnections with well-being and stress in the Covid-19 pandemic, through a network analysis. Participants aged 18–24 are university students who completed an online self-report battery measuring resilience, coping, stress, and well-being at two different times T0 (during lockdown from Covid-19) and T1 (one year after the first completion). The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), the Brief COPE, the Perception of Stress Scale (PSS), and the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWS) were administered. Through a network analysis, it was found that coping and resilience show associations with measures of well-being, but less with stress. Specifically, the RSA subscales “self-perception” and “perception of the future”, and adaptive coping strategies show major association and direct relationships well-being. The results, therefore, show that coping and resilience are distinct but clearly related constructs, and that resilience presents the most weight influence. Comparing the connectedness networks at T0 and T1 shows that both constructs are less important in reducing stress levels but more important in improve well-being. The results obtained in this study may have important implications for structuring specific interventions in periods of difficulty and stress for the university student population.

In their book The Theory of Social Organizing, (Secchi et al., Organizational cognition: The theory of social organizing. Taylor & Francis, 2022) present a view of organizational cognition as it structures around meso domains. The meso is separate but intertwined with a micro (personal, individual) and a macro (structural) dimension. It is where social interactions allow for “social organizing” to arise. If we take this conceptualization seriously, it becomes immediately apparent that the structuration of the meso domain cannot be singular, but it requires multiple mechanisms to be in place at once. In this chapter, we argue that cognition can be framed as a system which integrates multiple domains, whose boundaries are plastic, and which is temporarily observable while leaving latent traces. In describing the above, this chapter then uses the example of the IOP 2.1.2 Model—an agent-based computational simulation—to explore what kind of systemic interdependencies exist among different meso domains.

How does the mind keep track of time? Timing capacity is one of the key elements not only of learning, but also of our sense of identity and agency. This capacity is the most basic feature of the brain working, it connects an individual mind with its environment. May there be a metronome independent of other structures that acts as a unit of temporal measurement? There are two different possible answers to this question that imply a completely different understanding of the workings of attention, and so of individual consciousness. First, we could say that there is a specific area that always pulses at the same frequency, which works as a timer. In this sense, we have to suppose that it starts to pulse at some point of the development of the neural system. The features which define different contents of perception would then depend on those internal and subjective rhythms that are related to this original timing unit. Under this perspective, attentional content is a step-by-step sum of speedier activations compared to this timer. But, as we will argue here, this is only one possible answer, for we should also consider the existence of multiple clocks and an alternative way of measuring time might depend on their integration or overlap.

Freud's scientific model of reference is related to a linear, deterministic rationality, which adopts a homeostatic, stable system concept. Over the last few decades, Psychoanalysis, like all sciences, has approached the theory of Complex Systems, recognising its strong innovative impact for the study and understanding not only of psychic phenomena in the relationship between mind and body, but also of what happens in the psychoanalytic process. The aim of this contribution is to present the concept of the interpsychic, proposed by the Italian psychoanalyst Stefano Bolognini. This notion can be considered of some relevance with a view to contributing to a reflection on possible convergences between Psychoanalysis and Complex Systems. This concept, developed on the basis of clinical observation of phenomena occurring during psychoanalytic treatment, concerns all human relationships and refers to fundamental physiological processes. In addition, possibilities are being explored to extend the research and clinical use to other areas, such as the developmental age, groups and institutions. This topic undoubtedly requires a more articulated theoretical reflection, which is beyond the scope of this work. It aims to show, through a clinical case and with evocative language, how the interpsychic can be considered a significant protagonist or agent of change in the analytical scene, where complex dynamic interactions, even unpredictable ones, take place.

The Italian education system is made up of subsystems that should interact with each other to ensure the student's learning and success. Sometimes something does not work, and once compulsory schooling is over, a phenomenon often arises, especially widespread in Italy: school dispersion or dropout. There is evidence of a blockage in the transitions between the various school orders. This difficulty becomes more evident in the period of transition from high school to university, the student finds himself in a system with different characteristics from the previous systems, so that he finds the academic system and manifests discomfort in learning and studying, even to the point of abandoning the path, without obtaining a degree. This system required the student to have a high level of self-regulation. The online laboratory that we have created helps the student acquire greater self-regulation during the first year of university. In this paper, we show a text analysis of the student's thoughts on what he/she experienced.