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Mapping collective behavior – beware of looping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2014

Markus Christen
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland. christen@ethik.uzh.chhttp://www.ethik.uzh.ch/ibme/team/mitarbeitende/markuschristen.html Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Unit, University Hospital Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. peter.brugger@usz.chhttp://www.neuroscience.ethz.ch/research/neural_basis/brugger_p
Peter Brugger
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Unit, University Hospital Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. peter.brugger@usz.chhttp://www.neuroscience.ethz.ch/research/neural_basis/brugger_p

Abstract

We discuss ambiguities of the two main dimensions of the map proposed by Bentley and colleagues that relate to the degree of self-reflection the observed agents have upon their behavior. This self-reflection is a variant of the “looping effect” which denotes that, in social research, the product of investigation influences the object of investigation. We outline how this can be understood as a dimension of “height” in the map of Bentley et al.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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