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Bouizegarene N, Ramstead MJD, Constant A, Friston KJ, Kirmayer LJ. Narrative as active inference: an integrative account of cognitive and social functions in adaptation. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1345480. [PMID: 38903472 PMCID: PMC11188712 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1345480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
While the ubiquity and importance of narratives for human adaptation is widely recognized, there is no integrative framework for understanding the roles of narrative in human adaptation. Research has identified several cognitive and social functions of narratives that are conducive to well-being and adaptation as well as to coordinated social practices and enculturation. In this paper, we characterize the cognitive and social functions of narratives in terms of active inference, to support the claim that one of the main adaptive functions of narrative is to generate more useful (i.e., accurate, parsimonious) predictions for the individual, as well as to coordinate group action (over multiple timescales) through shared predictions about collective behavior. Active inference is a theory that depicts the fundamental tendency of living organisms to adapt by proactively inferring the causes of their sensations (including their own actions). We review narrative research on identity, event segmentation, episodic memory, future projections, storytelling practices, enculturation, and master narratives. We show how this research dovetails with the active inference framework and propose an account of the cognitive and social functions of narrative that emphasizes that narratives are for the future-even when they are focused on recollecting or recounting the past. Understanding narratives as cognitive and cultural tools for mutual prediction in social contexts can guide research on narrative in adaptive behavior and psychopathology, based on a parsimonious mechanistic model of some of the basic adaptive functions of narrative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nabil Bouizegarene
- Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Research Center, Montreal University Institute of Mental Health, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Maxwell J. D. Ramstead
- VERSES Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Axel Constant
- School of Engineering and Informatics, The University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Karl J. Friston
- VERSES Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Laurence J. Kirmayer
- Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Shakes P, Cashin A, Hurley J. Threat and adaptation: The maternal lived experience of continuing pregnancy after receiving a prenatal diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum. Soc Sci Med 2023; 339:116391. [PMID: 37956619 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
One stated objective of prenatal screening and diagnosis is the preparation for delivering a baby with medical needs or disability, however, psychosocial outcomes of parents who received a prenatal diagnosis suggest that this objective is not yet realised. Preparation may be complicated by diagnostic and prognostic uncertainty. A prenatal diagnosis that includes significant uncertainty due to the heterogeneous presentations, classifications, causes and outcomes is agenesis of the corpus callosum. As a neuroanatomical anomaly identified in the second or third trimesters, the diagnosis is likely to cause distress for expectant mothers, yet there is limited guidance for holistic support. To begin to address the paucity of research, this hermeneutic phenomenological study sought to explore, and provide a telling of the maternal experience of continuing pregnancy after a prenatal diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum. Through interviews and a series of online, asynchronous and facilitated focus groups, lived experiences during pregnancy from the time of diagnosis to birth were explored with 26 mothers who participated in this international study. Themes were constructed through reflexive thematic analysis to describe the experience of the lived phenomenon. The first theme, Under Threat, included subthemes of The Threat to the Life of the Baby and Threatened Image of the Expected Family. The second theme, Day to Day Toward Adaptation, included subthemes of Holding it Together and Falling Apart, and More Than Information, Searching for Meaning, Hope and Control. To realise the commonly stated objective of prenatal diagnosis, to support maternal preparation, healthcare professionals require awareness of the profound, yet individual experience of prenatal diagnosis to adequately respond and support mothers through their continued pregnancies. Healthcare services should be designed to flexibly respond in a woman- and family-centred manner to reduce the threat and support maternal adaptation after a prenatal diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pieta Shakes
- Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.
| | - Andrew Cashin
- Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.
| | - John Hurley
- Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450, Australia.
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Quirin M, Malekzad F, Paudel D, Knoll AC, Mirolli M. Dynamics of personality: The Zurich model of motivation revived, extended, and applied to personality. J Pers 2022. [PMID: 36577709 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Personality researchers are increasingly interested in the dynamics of personality, that is, the proximal causal mechanisms underlying personality and behavior. Here, we review the Zurich Model of Social Motivation concerning its potential to explain central aspects of personality. It is a cybernetic model that provides a nomothetic structure of the causal relationships among needs for security, arousal, and power, and uses them to explain an individual's approach-avoidance or "proximity-distance" behavior. We review core features of the model and extend them by adding features based on recent behavioral and neuroscientific evidence. We close by discussing the model considering contemporary issues in personality science such as the dynamics of personality, five-factor personality traits and states, and personality growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Quirin
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychology, PFH University of Applied Sciences Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Farhood Malekzad
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychology, PFH University of Applied Sciences Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dinesh Paudel
- School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Alois C Knoll
- School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Marco Mirolli
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (ISTC-CNR), Rome, Italy
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