this paper studies the role of the conceptual models of the policy makers in the quality of prioritizing problems in the agenda setting stage of public policy cycle.  several factors contribute to perceiving problems, presenting clear definitions of them, prioritizing them and then problem setting in the format of agenda for policy makers. however, expecting to examine the theories of enactment...

Self-organization was introduced originally in the context of physics and chemistry to describe how microscopic processes give rise to macroscopic stuctures in out-of-equilibrium systems, Recent research that extends this concept to ethology suggests that it provides a concise description of a wide range of collective phenomena in animals, especially in social insects. This description does not...

as this quotation indicates, Charles Darwin was an attachment theorist. Although he focused on “society” (instead of significant others) and “comrades” (instead of attachment figures), Darwin was the first scientist to appreciate the full extent to which human social nature is a product of selection pressures. John Bowlby, who not only admired Darwin’s theoretical vision but was one of his biog...

This paper builds bridges between robotics, psychology and ethology in order to define a kind of ”Turing test” that would constitute a possible aim for entertainment robotics. We argue that the design principles responsible for the success of existing artificial pet are not sufficient for building robots capable of a rewarding relationship with their owner. To achieve this goal, robots must dis...

In this survey of the research on psychological approaches to play, the author outlines its various focuses on the similarities and di†erences in the thinking and behavior of individuals and groups in relation to play and on the environmental factors that in‡uence these. She notes that although psychologists oˆen use standard experimental research methods to study play, they also conduct studie...

Ethologists and others studying animal behavior in a "cognitive" spirit are in need of a dcscriptive language and method that are neither anachronistically bound by behaviorist scruples nor prematurely committed to particular "information-processing models." Just such an interim descriptive method can be found in intentional system theory. The use of intentional system theory is illustrated wit...