Brain simulation and personhood: a concern with the Human Brain Project

The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a massive interdisciplinary project involving hundreds of researchers across more than eighty institutions that seeks to leverage cutting edge information and communication technologies to create a multi-level brain simulation platform (BSP). My worry is that some brain models running on the BSP will be persons. If this is right then not only will the in silico experiments the HBP envisions being carried on the BSP be unethical the mere termination of certain brain models running on the BSP will be unethical. To assess the possible personhood of certain brain simulations I consider John Searle’s critique of strong AI. In arguing that Searle’s critique fails I conclude that the HBP must tread carefully and devise strict rules on how research using the BSP ought to proceed.     

Postural Sway of Human Infants while Standing in Light and Dark

Postural sway was measured in 12-14-month-old human infants and in adults while they were standing in the light and dark. Spectral density analyses conducted on all frequencies, at specific frequencies, and for individual subjects showed that infants generally did not sway significantly more in the dark than in the light, whereas adults did. For example, infants' dark/light sway proportions were 1.12 and 1.21 for the anterior-posterior and lateral dimensions, respectively, compared to adult values of 2.23 and 3.43 for one-footed stance, and 1.43 and 2.13 for two-footed stance. A statistical power analysis indicated that if the dark/light proportions for infants had been comparable to those for adults, significant differences could have been detected. These findings indicate that the early regulation of standing posture does not depend on the continuous availability of visual information.     

Evolution of methods to measure student information use

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the application of the case study method to investigate the process used by students in secondary school and undergraduate academic settings to locate and use information through the library. The case study method has, in most recent years compared to investigations of 20 to 30 years ago, become established as the primary research technique used to document student thought processes in topic focus and in source selection. Direct observation and interviewing successful library users, two tools common to the case study method, may also lead to examination of student selection and critical use of evidence for research projects as students move beyond the traditional library collection. These tools have also proven to be useful as researchers in recent studies are more interested in an analysis of student use of information as evidence rather than conducting studies which only document student location and citation of resources. Selected studies which illustrate this evolution are drawn from the dissertations and field studies related to secondary school and undergraduate bibliographic instruction.