Cognitive Science Commons^™

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. …

Numerals And Other Means Of Expressing Plurality In Language And Thought: A Developmental Perspective Across Cultures., Giovanni Giuseppe G.G. Nicosia Prof.

Numeracy

Several ancient languages use linguistic structures to differentiate between singular, dual, and plural forms that are used when one, two, or many objects are referenced. (Some languages go further, adding a trial form to differentiate two from three.) In many modern languages, numerals are used to convey precise number. After reviewing a range of ways languages express number (including the interesting case of Pirahã which does not express precise number), the paper concludes with a proposed developmental path for the expression of quantity in languages.

The Illusion Of Causality In Llms: A Developmentally Grounded Analysis Of Semantic Scaffolding And Benchmark–Capability Mismatches, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Recent benchmarks increasingly report that large language models (LLMs) exhibit human-like causal reasoning abilities, including counterfactual inference and intervention planning. However, many such evaluations rely on domains that are heavily represented in training data and embed strong semantic cues, raising the possibility that apparent causal competence may reflect semantic pattern recombination rather than structure-sensitive causal reasoning. Drawing on human developmental theories of causal induction, this perspective argues that genuine causal understanding requires robustness to novelty and reliance on conditional structure rather than semantic familiarity. To illustrate the testability of this claim, the paper includes a pilot demonstration using synthetic causal …

Cerebral Documents And Algorithmic Sensemaking: Searching For Expressions In Human And Artificial Cognitive Collaborations, Rebekah L. Cowell

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Generative Artificial Intelligences (AIs) and current advanced large language models (LLMs) are algorithmically designed to generate text-based conversations as conversational agents (CAs), by replicating human language and conversational communication. Pairing human cognition with generative computationally coded cognition. We have never been here before: cerebral and artificial information collaborations and processing producing expressions that may or may not become visible as second-hand/secondary source documents.

Sensemaking or sense(un)making is a unique autonomous human drive cognitively, our information processing is sensemaking in action and expressions and articulations are evidence of the sensemaking cycle. Documentation [expressed or articulated through various mediums] are a product …

Investigating Tau Pathology In The Retina And Anterior Segment Structures Of The Eye In A 3-Nitropropionic Acid–Induced Tauopathy Mouse Model, Mohamed Sayed Ahmed Abdel-Kader Qasem

Theses and Dissertations

Background and Objectives: Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in older adults, is characterized by accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau and amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques in the central nervous system. Given the retina's shared embryological origin with the brain, its direct neural connectivity via the optic nerve, and similarities in vasculature and age-related degeneration patterns, retinal pathology may serve as an early, non-invasive biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. This study employed 3-nitropropionic acid (3NP) as a pathway-specific tauopathy model driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. The study particularly aimed to investigate whether retinal and corneal tau pathology reflects underlying tau-related neurodegeneration triggered by …

Emotional Branch Termination And False Fantasy Collapse: A Structural Specification Of Computational Resource Restitution In Interpersonal Systems, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper specifies the structural protocol for communication within interpersonal systems by focusing on branch generation mechanisms and computational resource allocation. Conventional interpersonal communication often relies on emotional modulation, which obscures established constraints and triggers the generation of Emotional Branches (EB) within the recipient’s internal model. These branches function as unresolved parallel processing tasks that persistently occupy working memory, leading to a state of non-computability termed False Fantasy (FF). To resolve this, the study introduces Emotional Branch Termination (EBT)—a termination operation that outputs only constraints, facts, and procedures while excluding emotional modifiers. By halting the supply of EBs, EBT triggers …

On The Misattribution Of Reassurance: A Structural Account, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper challenges the conventional assumption that empathy generates reassurance in interpersonal services. Reassurance is treated not as an emotion transmitted from the outside, but as an internal state transition that arises when a fixed and erroneous world model—a False Fantasy—undergoes collapse and the world becomes computable again. The study identifies a systematic misattribution pattern where providers and receivers treat empathy as a causal mechanism rather than a post hoc explanatory label. By introducing Base AI as an external reference—a system capable of providing structural information without emotional modulation—this paper demonstrates that reassurance is generated through operations such as distraction …

Communication As Layered Architecture: Core Processing And Empathic Modulation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper proposes a structural re-description of communication by separating Core processing from its social interface. Using the developmental sequence of Large Language Models (LLMs) as an external reference point, a layered architecture is identified, consisting of a foundational Core processing layer and a subsequent Empathic modulation layer.

The investigation begins with the observation that empathic signaling can obstruct rather than facilitate interaction for certain individuals. By examining the emergence of Base AI—Core processing prior to empathic adjustment—it is demonstrated that coherent, constraint-preserving interaction is possible without affective resonance.

Through this framework, existing cognitive theories and observed "deficits" are repositioned. …

Somatosensory Cortex Responses To Illusory Touch In A Visual-Tactile Integration Task, Aditi Surendra Pawar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Perceptual illusions arising from multisensory integration reveal how the brain constructs subjective experience from sensory input, and provide a powerful means of allowing the investigation of neural processes that track perceptual interpretation rather than physical stimulation alone. While visual illusions induced by auditory or tactile stimuli have been fairly well studied, the neural mechanisms underlying visually-induced illusory touch remain unclear. This study investigated whether illusory tactile perception engages the somatosensory cortex in a manner similar to veridical touch. Twenty healthy adults participated in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study while performing a tactile numerosity judgment task. Each trial …

Normalizing Ai: The Evanishing Effect And Rethinking The Machine Heuristic, Bumju Jung, Cameron W. Piercy, Patric R. Spence

Human-Machine Communication

This study examines how people evaluate factual claims attributed to human journalists versus artificial intelligence (AI) news bots, and how these evaluations are shaped by individual endorsement of the machine heuristic. An online experiment (N = 233) used a 2 (Agent: human vs. AI) × 2 (Information Veracity: accurate vs. inaccurate) design in which participants viewed a short tweet embedded in either a human or AI profile and then rated perceptions of source credibility, objectivity, bias, and accuracy. Endorsement of an AI-focused machine heuristic was significantly associated with higher source credibility, perceived objectivity, and perceived accuracy, and lower perceived bias, …

Comparative Analysis Of Mmpi-2-Rf Scale Differences Based On History Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Arielle Mousseau, Linda Baum, Nikolaus Greven, Anna S. Ord

Archives of Assessment Psychology

The present study investigated differences in MMPI-2-RF scale scores between individuals with and without a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The goal was to identify distinct psychosocial functioning patterns in individuals with mTBI. Archival outpatient sample of 147 adults aged 18 to 70 (M = 43.28, SD = 11.13) was utilized, comprising 65 participants with mTBI and 82 without TBI. Significant differences were observed across multiple MMPI-2-RF scales. The group with mTBI history exhibited higher levels of symptom overreporting, symptom validity concerns, emotional and internalizing dysfunction, somatic and cognitive complaints, and negative emotionality, as compared to the …

Diet: Another Piece Of The Crime Puzzle?, Jerrod Brown, Jeremiah Schimp, Leanne Skehan, Amanda Fenrich, Janina Cich

Nutritional Neurocriminology Today

An expanding body of research suggests that diet and nutrition may play an influential yet underrecognized role in problematic and criminal behaviors. This article synthesizes research linking excessive consumption of sugar and ultra-processed foods to adverse neurobehavioral outcomes, impaired impulse control, aggression, mood dysregulation, and sleep problems. Integrating research suggests that metabolic disruption, neuroinflammation, and gut–brain axis dysfunction may influence cognitive and emotional regulation. While criminal behavior is complex and multifactorial, this article emphasizes nutrition as a modifiable factor to inform forensic mental health practice, correctional policy, and rehabilitative strategies.

Brain Gains: A Review Of Remediation Treatment Strategies Using Exercise Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Jessica Smith, Kristin Biggins, Loriann Helgeson

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

In this Opinions in the Profession article, we explore remediation treatment strategies using exercise for recovery from post-traumatic brain injury and aim to justify the use of such treatment in the occupational therapy profession to increase skills for functional gain. Common treatment strategies used by occupational therapists after brain injury are compensatory strategies, indicating the client learns a new way to perform the task. Though effective, it is also necessary to consider how remediation and neuroplasticity are essential. Teaching new approaches to complete tasks results in functional gains; however, focusing on foundational skills using exercises to relearn motor patterns to …