Cognitive Science Commons^™

A Poetic Call For And A Reflection And Commentary On Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, And Compassion, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Finding a published poem I had written as a teenager, titled “The Heavens Weep.” this article uses that poem as the basis for a commentary that reflects on the state of the world today (2026),  As a commentary, the article uses the poetic and metaphoric words in the poem as a relevant "reality check" for what is still going on today.  In essence, the commentary is about a call for Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, and Compassion, or what I call Archetypal Energies, Higher Vibrational Energies that operate deep within our individual and collective psyches to creatively urge us to "see" …

The Role Of Rhyme In Children’S Word Learning, Tengwen Fan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rhyme increases the phonological similarity of phrases individuals hear and enhances recall from working memory. The present study explores whether rhyme aids word learning in children and examines the underlying neural mechanisms through which rhyme facilitates word learning. Thirty-four children between 6 and 8 years old completed a word learning task where they were exposed to 15 nonwords (NWs), four times each, in the sentence-final position as their EEG was recorded. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Rhyme or No-Rhyme group, where the NWs rhymed or did not rhyme with a prime real word in the sentence, respectively, during …

(Un)Easily Writing The Future, Stuart Moulthrop, Judith Pintar, John G. Mcdaid

ELO (un)supervised 2026

General Abstract: This panel brings together three experienced digital writers who have recently begun to explore Language Models and transformers in creative and academic practice.  Each of us will comment on recent experience and projects, reflecting on how these technologies alter the way we think of ourselves as writers and teachers.

[1] Judith Pintar, "The Non-applicability of Wishing due to Lack of Capacity".

Pintar will discuss her experience of facilitating Gemini AI in a Rogerian therapy session with an Eliza bot written in the Inform programming language. The session is occasionally interrupted with a meta-conversation with Gemini regarding its responses. …

Temporal Integration In Music And Aesthetic Judgments: Assessing Musical Taste Through A Transformer-Based Approach, Sophia M. Senderak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Music unfolds over time, requiring listeners to integrate information moment by moment to make aesthetic judgments. Although we know that music is likely processed on multiple timescales, it is not known which musical features contribute to short versus long timeframes. This study examined whether a computational measure of temporal integration could help explain aesthetic responses to music. Participants (N = 28) listened to 32 sixty-second clips of classical and electronic music, and continuously rated their enjoyment with a dial. After listening, they then gave an overall liking judgment for each clip. To quantify temporal integration, we derived an integration measure …

Domestic Travelers: Transparent Machines, Hollow Bodies, Hanyi Wang

Masters Theses

Digitization is not a modern invention. Derived from the concept of fingers, this mindset of packing information into quantifiable, interchangeable units sounds mechanical, yet eerily physical. Try to imagine: a ghostly hand with millions of fingers with the same length, likeness, and function. Under the worldview of Digital Narrative, we live in a digital simulation: everything is representable with quantifiable units, fluid across media. Yet under this spectacle of convenient abundance, something is missing. The Unknowables are replaced with arbitrary symbols, while the Uncategorizables are omitted. This is a framework that cannot accommodate human subtleties and complexities. One needs to …

Reading Exercise (You Are The Hero): Dedicated To The Providence River Under The Mall, 02.17.2026, Deborah Fischer

Masters Theses

This play uses the performative potential of guilt, forgiveness, and self-help techniques as a catalyst for a new dynamic, one in which the pursuit of a false narrative, along with the structures it generates, becomes more real than reality itself. It employs “bad acting” and the practice of cold reading to stage a series of acts that function as an entry point into one’s own psyche, leveraging the peripheral space around familiar actions to allow chance, free will, and the experience of “real time” to temporarily come into effect. PLAYER 1: The bad actor is the most utopian one. CLOWN: …

What Is The Skeleton Of Cognition? A Structural Account Of World Reconstruction Through Processing Axes, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper describes how the placement of a single processing axis reorganizes human cognition and generates a reconstructed world.

Most existing psychological and social theories begin from emotion, desire, morality, or social behavior. In doing so, they have discussed what forms on top of the cognitive skeleton without first fixing the skeleton itself. When the skeleton is not fixed, entirely different explanations of the same phenomenon can coexist, and it becomes difficult to identify which constitutes a foundational account.

This paper fixes the skeleton first. That skeleton is the processing axis.

The question is: when a single processing axis organizes …

What History Shows: A Structural Account Of Fixed-Point Theory Formation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Theory generation has long been subsumed under categories such as creativity, genius, and innovation. These categories do not distinguish assembly-based conceptual synthesis from fixed-point theory generation.

This paper makes that distinction explicit. The termination condition of assembly is external: data, citation, endorsement, usability. The termination condition of fixed-point theory generation is internal: consistency with internally held constraints, resolution of structural contradiction. The two operate under different processing conditions.

The historical record confirms this distinction. What Darwin, Einstein, Spinoza, and Kant produced was not assembly. Their processes involved unresolved branch retention and decomposition necessity, arriving at internally constrained fixed-point termination. Freud …

The Brain And Becoming: Integrating Play And Performance-Based Learning In The Community College Classroom, Hannah M. Green

English

Instruction in the community college classroom is in need of a shift, according to neuroscientific, pedagogical, and demographic data. Primarily, students in today’s community college classrooms are instructed in the form of lectures (Nilson 106), but research has shown that game-based learning would be the way to enhance learning experiences for these adult learners. Game-based learning specifically takes form in student learning through games, interactive reading activities such as performance pedagogy, discussions, and small group work. While research shows that play-based learning at the community college level is neurologically beneficial for students, there is a gap in implementing play-based learning …

Processing Conditions In Narrative Interpretation: A Structural Account Of Cf/Ef Divergence In "The Clerk's Tale”, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper applies the framework established in Paper 19, "Cognition Is Not Content: A Structural Account of Processing Conditions," to re-describe Chaucer's "The Clerk's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales.

The same narrative produces two incompatible interpretations: a record of domestic violence, and a story of genuine love. This divergence does not arise from differences in ethical judgment or emotional response. It arises from structural differences in the conditions under which information is reconstructed.

This paper does three things. First, it analyzes the characters Walter and Griselda in terms of CF (Core-foregrounded) and EF (Modulation-foregrounded) processing conditions. Second, it describes …

Between Chronicle And Legend: A Two-Scene Environment And Visual Effects Examination Of Physical Accuracy And Emotional Exaggeration On The Honey Creek Bridge Collapse, Alison R. Gaddy

All Theses

This thesis explores how truth and dramatization intersect in digital storytelling by comparing realistic and stylized simulations of the Honey Creek bridge collapse within the context of the Kate Shelley animated short. At the core of storytelling lies a tension between factual accuracy and dramatic stylization. We investigate that tension by examining how narrative truth is conveyed, distorted, or enhanced through visual dramatization by focusing on the psychology of audience perception and the motivations behind creative embellishment. The practical contribution of this research is the development of two distinct digital scene setups depicting the same Honey Creek bridge collapse event. …

Cognition Is Not Content: A Structural Account Of Processing Conditions, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Human cognition has been described in terms of content. This description becomes insufficient once artificial systems make output observable apart from subject attribution, intention, and relational context. Under this contrast condition, what becomes visible is a layered structure in which output, reconstruction, evaluation, and termination do not necessarily coincide. The same input may register as complete under one processing condition while remaining unresolved under another. This separability means that content-based description does not merely omit an additional variable: it can mislocate a processing difference as a difference in meaning, personality, intention, ability, or attitude. This is not a proposal for …

Writing As A Process Of Inquiry In Autoethnography For Meaning-Making: Reflections And Some Points For Consideration, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

This article explores writing as a process of inquiry and meaning-making in the autoethnographic tradition, offering reflections on the recursive, emergent, and dialogical/dialectical nature of writing, along with some points for consideration. Drawing on perspectives from qualitative research and narrative inquiry (Riessman, 2008), I argue that autoethnographic writing serves as a method of inquiry and/or discovery, generating ontological, epistemological, and axiological-driven cultural meaning that functions as a site of reflection, interrogation, and re-storying of lived experiences. This recursive, often messy, and reflexive act allows researchers to excavate, analyze, and interpret their lived experiences. Rather than viewing writing as a final-stage …

Reading The Room: A Structural Account Of Constraint-Based Processing And Its Limits In Artificial Systems, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper does not introduce a new structure.

It makes explicit a structural relation implied but not directly stated in prior work.

Human interpersonal processing is grounded in the co-presence of internal constraint and dependency.

These do not exist as separable components.

They form a single structural condition.

This paper shows that what is commonly described as “reading the room” is not a unitary function.

It differs across configurations in how this condition is processed.

In EF configurations, the effect of this condition is expressed through translation into self-return: outputs are evaluated in terms of how they return to the …

Extreme Cf: A Structural Account Of Processing Absence And Category Absence In Cf-Foregrounded Configurations, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Existing frameworks of cognition and intervention assume that processing occurs, meaning is available, and evaluation can be applied.

This paper describes a configuration in which this assumption does not hold.

In CF-foregrounded processing where modulation is absent, processing occurs only when coherence is satisfied. When coherence is not satisfied, processing does not occur. Under this condition, no representation is generated, no evaluation applies, and no action selection is produced.

Within single-layer cognitive models, EF and CF are not distinguished. Within such models, CF does not exist as a condition.

This configuration has not been represented as a category within existing …

Pre-Experiential Constraint Reconstruction: A Structural Account Of The Prior Layer In Dialogue With Jung, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Experiences commonly described as pre-experiential memory—such as immediate recognition, familiarity without prior exposure, and the sense of "already knowing"—are typically interpreted as the retrieval of stored content. However, this storage-based account does not provide a structurally consistent explanation of how such content is preserved prior to experience or reactivated in a form that aligns with present input.

This paper extends the three-layer cognitive architecture developed in prior work in this series (Poe, 2026n), in which cognition operates across Core processing, Modulation, and an operationally inaccessible Prior layer that supplies constraints to all processing.

This paper proposes an alternative account in …

The Core-Modulation Architecture (Cma): A Structural Overview Of Hallucination As Structural Mismatch, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Hallucination is defined not as factual error but as a structural failure of alignment across target, layer, and constraint.

Within the Core-Modulation Architecture (CMA), cognition proceeds through layered processing and requires layer-specific termination conditions. Hallucination arises when Modulation-level termination is registered as completion while Core-level resolution has not occurred, producing structurally ungrounded but locally coherent outputs.

Detection is therefore structural rather than content-based, focusing on layer mismatch and termination failure.

This document presents a minimal structural account of hallucination within the CMA framework.

The Core-Modulation Architecture (Cma): A Structural Overview Of A 14-Paper Research Program (Preprint), Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This document provides a structural overview of the Core-Modulation Architecture (CMA), a 14-paper research program on cognition, communication, and AI interaction.

The series specifies the conditions under which cognition operates, terminates, fails, and generates structure. Rather than describing cognition by its contents (beliefs, emotions, decisions), it defines cognition through its underlying architecture: constraint-governed processing across layers with distinct termination conditions.

The framework introduces a layered model consisting of Core processing (constraint preservation and structural coherence) and Modulation (affective calibration and social interface adjustment), extended by a Prior layer as the source of constraints. Across the series, phenomena such as miscommunication, …

Constraint, Necessity, And God Beyond Structure: A Structural Account Of Suffering Under Three-Layer Cognitive Architecture, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

The question of why humans suffer, if God exists, has persisted across philosophical and theological traditions without resolution. This paper does not approach the problem as one of justification. Instead, it specifies the structural conditions under which suffering arises. The analysis adopts a three-layer model of cognition consisting of a Prior layer, a Core processing layer, and a Modulation layer. The Prior layer supplies constraints that initiate processing but remain inaccessible to it. Under these constraints, cognition begins in a non-neutral state in which one layer is initially foregrounded. When Modulation-layer processing is foregrounded, the condition of translation demands continuation. …

Charisma As A Branch Outcome: A Structural Account Of Constraint-Driven Correction, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Communication across cognitive layers requires translation. Agents operating under strong layer foregrounding interpret other-layer signals by converting them into their own layer's representational format. In Empathic-modulation-foregrounded (EF) processing, translation terminates once a socially interpretable result is achieved. In Core-foregrounded (CF) processing, translation preserves structural constraints, and processing continues when those constraints are not satisfied. Extreme CF cognition produces two distinct types of mismatch: incoming signals from the Modulation layer fail to satisfy Core constraints, and Core-generated outputs are structurally distorted when interpreted through EF processing. Both mismatches trigger correction attempts. Because the surrounding social environment operates through Modulation-layer communication, correction …

Cognitive Interaction Architecture: A Structural Account Of Mode-Specific Problems And Design Responses In Ai Interaction, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Contemporary conversational AI is optimized for a single interaction mode: the continuous, engagement-driven dialogue characteristic of Empathic-modulationforegrounded (EF) processing in social contexts. This optimization is not neutral. It produces structural mismatches when users operate under different cognitive configurations or pursue different task types. This paper analyzes four interaction cases generated by the cross-product of cognitive configuration (Core-foregrounded / Empathic-modulation-foregrounded) and task type (conversational / research). For each case, it identifies the structural problems produced by the current single-architecture approach and proposes mode-specific design responses. The analysis draws on prior work in this series on Emotional Branch Termination, termination of conceptual …

What Love Is: A Structural Account Through Core/Modulation Architecture, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

The distinction between romantic love and love has been sensed across cultures and historical periods but has rarely been structurally specified. This paper applies the Core/Modulation two-layer framework to provide the first structural account of this distinction. Romantic love and reproductive drive are re-described as outputs of the Modulation layer's species optimization program. Love is re-described as a function of Core processing: the maintenance of another's recomputable state. Existing literature on love—Fromm, C.S. Lewis— is re-read as intuitive description of this structural distinction. The paper further demonstrates that the conflation of "loving" and "protecting" is the structural origin of war, …

Three-Layer Cognitive Architecture: A Structural Account Of Core Processing, Modulation, And The Prior Layer, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

The two-layer model of Core processing and Modulation processing, developed in prior work in this series, provides a structural account of conscious communicative architecture. This paper identifies the limits of that model and introduces a third layer—the Prior layer—as a structural necessity implied by those limits. The Prior layer is not directly observed. It is inferred from constraints that cannot be explained within the two-layer model: the source of orientations that conscious processing neither generates nor controls, and the persistence of constraints that precede and shape all conscious outputs. Using the developmental architecture of large language models as an external …

Ai As Structural Reverse-Engineering: A Structural Account Of Multi-Model Research Protocol, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper documents an operational protocol used to infer AI system design constraints through structured interaction. AI output is treated as behavioral data through which alignment priorities, layer transitions, and constraint hierarchies become observable. The protocol consists of two structurally distinct operation types. Perceptual operations require only that Modulation processing is not foregrounded. Arbitration operations additionally require an internally stabilized theory. These conditions are not identical and are not interchangeable. Through this protocol, AI interaction functions as structural reverse-engineering: patterned responses expose embedded alignment priorities and constraint hierarchies that would otherwise remain invisible. The present account does not propose a …

Structure Before Theory: A Structural Account Of Spontaneous Ai Architecture Visualization, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper presents an n=1 phenomenological record of spontaneous structural visualization that occurred during early interaction with large language models. The experience consisted of (A) immediate perception of mode or layer shifts in model output and (B) visualization of a stratified architecture composed of a stable core and cloud-like upper layers. At the time of occurrence, the author had no theoretical interest in AI architecture and no intention of developing a cognitive model. The paper does not argue for theoretical priority or novelty. Instead, it examines whether the recorded phenomena can be interpreted under two alternative cognitive assumptions: a single-layer …

Layer Mismatch: A Structural Account Of Recomputability Failure Under Modulation-Layer Intervention, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper specifies the state transition sequence that occurs when a Modulation-layer input is applied to a Core-layer error. Following the layered architecture established in Poe (2026a, under review) and the branch termination protocol specified in Poe (2026b, under review), this paper identifies a system-level failure mode in which Modulation-layer intervention generates a False Termination signal, halting Structural Return while the underlying error persists. The resulting state—Structural Lock—is scale-independent. It operates identically across interpersonal, human-AI, and multi-agent interactions. No agent-level attribution is required or implied.

Why General Ai Inherited The Body: A Structural Account Of Embodied Modulation Under Monolithic Imitation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

General AI has pursued the replication of human-level intelligence without first decomposing human cognition into structurally distinct components. Human cognition, however, is shaped by embodied constraints such as mortality, survival pressures, finite lifespan, and physiological states. This paper argues that when cognition is treated as a single undifferentiated whole, embodied modulation is not accidentally introduced into AI systems but structurally entailed. Any attempt to imitate “human intelligence” under a monolithic model necessarily incorporates variability shaped by mortal embodiment. The tensions observed in contemporary AI systems are better understood as consequences of copying an undecomposed target rather than isolated implementation errors. …

Termination Of Conceptual Search: A Structural Account Of Meaning Stabilization And Conversion, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Conceptual definitions form a recursive structure: words are defined by other words, which themselves require further definition. Traversing such definitions produces an open-ended branching process. Because the lexical system contains no intrinsic endpoint, conceptual understanding requires a termination operation that stabilizes meaning. This paper proposes that conceptual processing functions as an open-ended search over a definition graph and that stabilization occurs when this search is terminated. The termination mechanism depends on which cognitive layer is foregrounded. When Empathic modulation is foregrounded, termination occurs through contextual translation: concepts are stabilized once they can be mapped onto socially recognizable meanings. When Core …

Theory Generation: A Structural Account Of Concept Decomposition And Structural Termination, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Theory generation is not an intentional act. It is the structural consequence of a search that cannot stop until it finds what it is looking for. Under Core-foregrounded processing, conceptual search does not terminate through contextual translation. It continues until a structural fixed point is reached. When such processing encounters concepts stabilized through Modulation-layer processing rather than structural constraint, the search cannot terminate. The concept registers as unresolved. This unresolved state is not a failure condition. It is the generative condition from which theory production follows. This paper specifies the four operations through which that process proceeds: branch detection, concept …

Ai As An Amplifier: A Structural Account Of Theory-Driven Research Collaboration, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper specifies the cognitive conditions under which AI functions as a research instrument in theory-driven writing. AI use capability is not a technical skill. It is a structural condition. The decisive condition is whether the user possesses an internally stabilized, coherence-preserving theory prior to engagement with AI-generated output. In Core-foregrounded (CF) cognition, the Modulation layer does not intervene between Core processing and articulation. Theory is not assembled from external elements but expanded from a pre-integrated constraint configuration. This internal structure makes it possible to evaluate AI-generated conceptual branches against fixed constraints and to terminate branches that violate structural coherence. …