Quantum Psychology Experiment.

New model describes cognitive decision making as the collapse of a quantum superstate


The above article from Phys.org reports an emerging theory related to decision-making as a process of evidence accumulation which generates support for possible hypotheses. It is a psychologically and experimentally based report contrasting the classic theory of Markov Random Walk with a new concept, Quantum Random Walk.

The experiment was,

"In the experiment, nine study participants completed 112 blocks of 24 trials each over five sessions, in which they viewed a random dot motion stimulus on a screen. A percentage of the dots moved coherently in a single direction. The researchers manipulated the difficulty of the test between trials. In the choice condition, participants were asked to decide whether the coherently moving dots were traveling to the left or the right. In the no-choice condition, participants were prompted by an audio tone simply to make a motor response.

Then participants were asked to rate their confidence that the coherently moving dots were traveling to the right on a scale ranging from 0 (certain left) to 100 percent (certain right). "

In the results it was noted that,

"The researchers report that, on average, confidence ratings were much higher when the trajectories of the dots were highly coherent. Confidence ratings were lower in the no-choice condition than in the choice condition, providing evidence against the read-out assumption of MRW theory, which holds that confidence in the choice condition should be higher."

"They conclude, "...quantum random walk theory provides a previously unexamined perspective on the nature of the evidence accumulation process that underlies both cognitive and neural theories of decision making."

Quantum theory is proving to be a useful perspective from which to examine literally everything. It is almost as if physics is entering a new era from classical physics. Certainly, psychologically, I think it will bring new depths of understanding about the human mind and human perception.

Classical physics and psychology are rapidly being challenged by new models. Here is yet another model, Quantum Random Walk Theory.

Quantum theory to me deals with interaction. Not just the constituent parts, but the way they interact, their behaviour in relation to other information.

Lol, Holistic Science is upon us. Holisitc means "characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole."

In another thread I was debating the state of "truth". It made me question the whole foundation of human perception. I think we are changing so quickly in the modern world and this is a feedback based and interactive process.

"The QRW theory posits that evidence evolves over time, as in MRW, but that judgments and decisions create a new definite state from an indefinite, superposition-like state. "This quantum perspective reconceptualizes how we model uncertainty and formalizes a long-held hypothesis that judgments and decisions create rather than reveal preferences and beliefs,"

In plain language that once we make a judgement we are creating preferences and beliefs. This did not exist as a state until we made the decision. It can not be revealed because it did not exist before we made the decision, but only as a superposition-type-state with no decision or judgement having been made.

I'm drawn to what Christ said here, "Judge not or else you will be judged". Quantum Christ? His words have something to say in the coming quantum age perhaps.

There you have me expressing my interactions. It is not right or wrong. It just is. It may be useful to one and not to another. Anyone who has interacted with me will make a decision and a judgement and that will create yet more values that never existed until the decision was made.

I tried hard to express this, but it is a bit complicated for a small thread like this.

sorry, double post.

It's important to note that the researchers are not suggesting that the brain is a quantum computer; they specifically note that their report uses quantum dynamics only metaphorically.

Read more at: phys.org...

Let's not get too carried up in the quantum hype train.

a reply to: Revolution9

Unfounded association of QRW with psychology... vague definition of "difficulty of tests"... unfounded comparison of left and right movements from dots with actual particle quantum states... attempt to test a theory in Hard Science using an experiment from an unrelated Soft Science... bad link...

I'd say it is a beautifully written nonsense.

I think GetHyped put it best.

Throwing the word “quantum” around loosely has become fashionable these days. If something seems strange, offbeat or simply not yet understood, many people (mostly not physicists) throw it in the quantum junkpile. I guess it gives it a more “mystical” quality.

I know there’s a book titled, “Quantum Psychology”, but didn’t know there was a branch of science with the same name. Hmmm...

I really think that by using quantum dynamics metaphorically to descibe the results observed in their moving-the-dot study was a disservice by these psychologists. Now, most who read the article will associate quantum physics with the field of psychology. It kinda surprises me that Phys.Org published the article...

Oh well, just my 2 cents...

a reply to: netbound

Quick, pass me my Quantum Valium before I revisit my VR psychiatrist

a reply to: Revolution9

I think the important thing here is a quantum walk are coming up yet again when talking about the way people think. I do think the article just lends more support to a Quantum Mind.

We see quantum walks in nature and there's no reason why our species didn't evolve quantum circuitry to give our species a HUGE advantage. Here's M.I.T. Professor Seth Lloyd on the emerging field of Quantum Biology.

By zapping complexes of photosynthetic molecules with lasers, the authors of the paper were able to show that the excitons use quantum mechanics to make their journey through the photocomplex more efficient. The experimental evidence was strong and compelling. The authors also speculated that the excitons were performing a particular quantum computation algorithm called a quantum search, in which the wave-like nature of propagation allows the excitons to zero in on their target. As it turns out, the excitons were performing a different kind of quantum algorithm called a quantum walk, but the “crackpot” fact remained: Quantum computation was helping the bacteria move energy from point A to point B.

How could tiny bacteria be performing the kind of sophisticated quantum manipulations that it takes human beings a room full of equipment to perform?

www.pbs.org...

A paper was published that said true artificial intelligence will need to be equipped with quantum circuitry in order to do quantum walks.

Your Android phone (or iPhone, if that's how you roll) is an impressive machine, with computing speeds and storage capacities thousands of times those of desktop PCs from only years ago. If Moore's Law holds up, your smart watch may outshine today's phones the way today's phones eclipse old PCs.

But no matter how powerful these machines become, they may never develop true intelligence if we continue to rely on conventional computing technology. According to the authors of a paper published in the journal Physical Review X last July, however, adding a dash of quantum mechanics could do the trick.

Quantum walks, on the other hand, describe a walker who doesn't exist at one spot at a time, but instead is distributed over many locations with varying probability of being at any one of them. Instead of taking a random step to the left or right for example, the quantum walker has taken both steps. There is some probability that you will find the walker in one place or the other, but until you make a measurement the walker exists in both.

That's not to say you'd need to make a full-blown quantum computer to build a truly intelligent machine - only part of an otherwise classical computer would need to be supplemented with a bit of quantum circuitry. That's good because progress toward developing a stand-alone quantum computer has been about as slow as the progress toward artificial intelligence. Combining artificial intelligence systems with quantum circuitry could be the recipe we need to build the HAL 9000s and R. Daneel Olivaws of the future

physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com...

I think the great work of Penrose/Hameroff and Scientist like Song show this is the best explanation for consciousness vs. the convoluted explanation that consciousness magically emerged because of complexity.

A Quantum Mind explains every aspect of consciousness including what's called paranormal.

nice reads here, thanks!

All i see is profiling