Benjamin De Bari
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dr. Benjamin De Bari earned his BS in Cognitive Science from the University of Connecticut in 2016. He then earned a PhD in Experimental Psychology focused on Ecological Approaches to Perception-Action-Cognition from the University of Connecticut in 2021.
Dr. De Bari studies the minimal physical requirements of basic biological intelligence through the interdisciplinary blending of thermodynamics, complexity science, and cognitive science. Many psychological activities are generic among all living systems, including intentionality, perception-action, foraging for resources, and a basic motivation for self-maintenance. These, and perhaps other traits, are likely candidates for a "ground-floor" of mental activity, the most basic processes constituting living minds.
To study these generic processes Dr. De Bari uses a sufficiently generic characterization of living systems as special kinds of physical systems called dissipative structures - self-organized non-equilibrium systems. Some abiotic dissipative structures display end-directedness, self-maintenance, and even forage for energy that sustains them.
Dr. De Bari applies the principles of self-organization in non-living dissipative structures to the behavior of living organisms. Current projects include the self-organization of postural control with haptic biofeedback, and another on cortical dynamics in virtual interception tasks.
Representative Publications
Kelty-Stephen D. G., Cisek P. E., De Bari B., Dixon J. A., Favela L. H., Hasselman F., Keijzer F., Raja V., Wagman J. B., Thomas B. J., Mangalam M. (Preprint) In search for an alternative to the computer metaphor of the mind and brain.
De Bari B., Dixon J. A., Kondepudi D. K., & Vaidya A., (In Review) Thermodynamics, organisms, and behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.
De Bari B., Paxton A., Dixon J. A., Kondepudi D. K., Kay B. A. (2021) Functional interdependence in coupled dissipative structures: Physical foundations of biological intra- and inter-personal coordination. Entropy, 23(5), doi: 10.3390/e23050614
De Bari B., Dixon J. A., Kondepudi D. K., Kay B. A. (2020) Collective dissipative structures, force-flow reciprocity, and the foundations of the perception action cycle. Ecological Psychology, doi: 10.1080/10407413.2020.1820337
