By: Warren Tryon, Posted on: January 8, 2015

Multi-determinism refers to the fact that in complex systems, especially neural systems, there is often more than one way to cause an event to occur. Gazzaniga (2011, pp. 130-133) discusses the problem of multi-determinism as “The Spiny Lobster Problem”. He reports research by Eve Marder who has identified and simulated more than 20 million possible network combinations of synapse strengths and neuronal circuits in the spiny lobster. It turns out that there are somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 different combinations that result in the same behavior at a given moment. Gazzaniga presented this finding as trouble for the determinist based on the unstated presumption that hard determinism requires one, and only one, way to produce every result. This premise is echoed by Miller and Keller (2000) who questioned the connection between psychology and biology. I quote from page 93 of my book, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychotherapy: Network Principles for a Unified Theory:

There is an indefinite set of potential neural implementations of a given psychological phenomenon. Conversely, a given neural circuit might implement different psychological functions at different times or in different individuals. Thus, there is no necessary identity between psychological states and brain states.

Miller and Keller (2000) appear to mean that there is no one-to-one connection between a brain state and a psychological state. I refer to this as the “psychological implementation issue” on page 94 of my book. This one and only one requirement is a feature of hard determinism that I contrast with soft determinism starting on page 101 of my book. I define determinism as a reduction of alternatives. Hard determinism occurs when there is but one alternative. Soft determinism occurs in direct proportion to the presence of additional alternatives.

The Spiny Lobster results are consistent with determinism in that all of these numerous neural states lead to the same behavior. Each of these many neural states consistently generates the same result which means that the behavior in question is determined in multiple ways. These neural circuits are like multiple roads leading to the same city as in the phrase “All roads lead to Rome”. It does not matter what road you take, they always lead to Rome. Your destination is multiply determined.

The many neural network configurations, neural circuits, that yield the same result provides a substantial degree of resilience to the spiny lobster by virtue of extensive redundant backup. The neural network of the spiny lobster can apparently sustain its behavior in spite of damage to thousands of its neural network circuits. Such diverse implementation confers flexibility and adaptability compared to an organism that can only implement behavior in one way.

The spiny lobster problem carries two important implications for emergence. The first implication is that emergence precludes working backwards from the target behavior to the particular neural state that gave rise to it. Determinism appears to be a one-way bottom-up process in neural systems. The second implication is that the question of how behavior emerges from any of these 100,000 to 200,000 neural states remains a mystery but is open to study. Some principles of reorganization may await discovery by those curious enough to look.

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Warren’s book, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychotherapy: Network Principles for a Unified Theory is available for purchase on the Elsevier Store. Use discount code “STC215” at checkout and save up to 30% on your very own copy.

About the Author

Warren W. Tryon received his undergraduate degree from Ohio Northern University in 1966. He was enrolled in the APA approved Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at Kent State University from 1966 – 1970. Upon graduation from Kent State, Dr. Tryon joined the Psychology Department faculty at Fordham University in 1970 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1977 and to Full Professor in 1983. Licensed as a psychologist in New York State in 1973, he joined the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology in 1976, became a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in 1984, was promoted to Fellow of Division 12 (Clinical) of the American Psychological Association in 1994 and a fellow of the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology in 1996. Also in 1996 he became a Founder of the Assembly of Behavior Analysis and Therapy.

In 2003 he joined The Academy of Clinical Psychology. He was Director of Clinical Psychology Training from 1997 to 2003, and presently is in the third and final year of phased retirement. He will become Emeritus Professor of Psychology in May 2015 after 45 years of service to Fordham University. Dr. Tryon has published 179 titles, including 3 books, 22 chapters, and 140 articles in peer reviewed journals covering statistics, neuropsychology, and clinical psychology. He has reviewed manuscripts for 45 journals and book publishers and has authored 145 papers/posters that were presented at major scientific meetings. Dr. Tryon has mentored 87 doctoral dissertations to completion. This is a record number of completed dissertations at the Fordham University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and likely elsewhere.

His academic lineage is as follows. His mentor was V. Edwin Bixenstein who studied with O. Hobart Mowrer at the University of Illinois who studied with Knight Dunlap at Johns Hopkins University who studied with Hugo Munsterberg at Harvard University who studied with Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig.

Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychotherapy: Network Principles for a Unified Theory is Dr. Tryon’s capstone publication. It is the product of more than a quarter of a century of scholarship. Additional material added after this book was printed is available at www.fordham.edu/psychology/tryon. This includes chapter supplements, a color version of Figure 5.6, and a thirteenth “Final Evaluation” chapter. He is on LinkedIn and Facebook. His email address is wtryon@fordham.edu.

This blog and all others by Dr. Warren Tryon can be found on his Fordham faculty webpage.