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Cited by 206Free Will and AgencyPhilosophy and History of ScienceAcademic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology

Indeterminacy in brain and behavior

Glimcher, Paul W.·2005·Annual Review of Psychology
DOI 10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141429
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Abstract

The central goal of modern science that evolved during the Enlightenment was the empirical reduction of uncertainty by experimental inquiry. Although there have been challenges to this view in the physical sciences, where profoundly indeterminate events have been identified at the quantum level, the presumption that physical phenomena are fundamentally determinate seems to have defined modern behavioral science. Programs like those of the classical behaviorists, for example, were explicitly anchored to a fully deterministic worldview, and this anchoring clearly influenced the experiments that those scientists chose to perform. Recent advances in the psychological, social, and neural sciences, however, have caused a number of scholars to begin to question the assumption that all of behavior can be regarded as fundamentally deterministic in character. Although it is not yet clear whether the generative mechanisms for human and animal behavior will require a philosophically indeterminate approach, it is clear that behavioral scientists of all kinds are beginning to engage the issues of indeterminacy that plagued physics at the beginning of the twentieth century.

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Crossref · 10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141429

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62 of 62 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • One can only remember so much information, but what one does with that memory presumably depends on reinforcement contingencies and other factors.

    “This captures the idea that one can only remember so much information, but it is distinct from what one does with that memory, which presumably depends on reinforcement contingencies and other factors (Glimcher, 2005; Neuringer, 2002).”

    From DYNAMIC RESPONSE-BY-RESPONSE MODELS OF MATCHING BEHAVIOR IN RHESUS MONKEYS (2005) · cites this paper as Glimcher, 2005

  • Intrinsic indeterminacy may be essential for unpredictable behavior.

    “Glimcher (2005) argued that intrinsic indeterminacy may be essential for unpredictable behavior.”

    From Decision Making in Recurrent Neuronal Circuits (2008) · cites this paper as Glimcher, 2005

  • This conclusion is consistent with behavioral studies demonstrating an indispensible role of feedback in producing random patterns of responses.

    “This conclusion is consistent with behavioral studies demonstrating an indispensible role of feedback in producing random patterns of responses (Rapoport and Budescu, 1992; Camerer, 2003; Glimcher, 2005).”

    From Decision Making in Recurrent Neuronal Circuits (2008) · cites this paper as Glimcher, 2005

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Authors
Glimcher, P. W.
Affiliations
New York University (US)
Corresponding author
Glimcher, Paul W.
ORCID
Glimcher, Paul W.
Venue
Annual Review of Psychology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2005-02-01
Volume
56
Issue
1
Pages
25-56
ISSN
  • 0066-4308 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2085
DOI
10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141429
OpenAlex
W2108348099
Cited by
206
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
FWCI
0.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Annual Review of Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Free Will and Agency
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
Keywords
indeterminacy, determinism, quantum uncertainty, philosophy of science, reductionism, uncertainty, brain-behavior relationship, philosophy of physics
MeSH terms
Animals, Behavior, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Eye Movements, Humans, Membrane Potentials, Nerve Net, Neuropsychology, Quantum Theory, Social Sciences, Synapses

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