A social science trust taxonomy with emergent vectors and symmetry.

Introduction: Trust is foundational to all social science domains, but to date, there is no unifying theory or consistent measurement basis spanning the social sciences. This research hypothesized that trust forms the basis of an ontology that could unify the social science domains. The proposed ontology comprises a Cartesian plane with axes self-trust and other-trust. Self-trust manifests in dominant behaviors, and other-trust manifests in cooperative behaviors. Both axes are divided into five discrete categories, creating a matrix of 25 cells. All words in the lexicon are allocated into one of these 25 cells. Methods: This research started with an existing 14,000-word lexicon of dominance and affiliation. The lexicon was extended by manually identifying and including socially descriptive words with information regarding self-trust, other-trust, dominance, and cooperation. The taxonomy was optimized using the Gradient Descent machine learning algorithm and commercially curated synonyms and antonyms. The t-test was employed as the objective (or loss) function for Gradient Descent optimization. Word vectors were identified using groups of four words related as synonyms and antonyms. Results: Over 30,000 words were identified and included in the lexicon. The optimization process yielded a t-score of over 1,000. Over 226,000 vectors were identified, such as malevolent-mean-gentle-benevolent. A new form of symmetry was identified between adjectives and verbs with a common root; for example, the words reject and rejected are horizontally reflected. Discussion: The word vectors can create a metrologically compliant basis for psychometric testing. The symmetries provide insight into causes (verbs) and effects (adjectives) in social interactions. These vectors and symmetries offer the social sciences a basis of commonality with natural sciences, enabling unprecedented accuracy and precision in social science measurement.

An atlas of personality, emotion and behaviour.

A novel two-dimensional matrix taxonomy, or atlas, of personality, emotion and behaviour is presented. The two dimensions of the atlas, affiliation and dominance, are demonstrated to have theoretical foundations in neurobiology and social psychology. Both dimensions are divided into five ordinal categories, creating a square matrix of 25 cells. A new catalogue of 20,669 English words descriptive of personality, emotion, behaviour, and power is also presented. The catalogue is more comprehensive than previous catalogues, and is novel in its inclusion of intrapersonal, group, and societal behaviours. All words in the catalogue were scored according to the atlas, facilitating visualisation in two dimensions. This enabled a contiguous and novel comparison of existing psychological taxonomies, as well as broader societal concepts such as leadership, ethics, and crime. Using the atlas, a novel psychological test is developed with improved sensitivity and specificity.

Imprinting, latchment and displacement: a mini review of early instinctual behaviour in newborn infants influencing breastfeeding success.

UNLABELLED: Instinctive behaviours have evolved favouring the mother-infant dyad based on fundamental processes of neurological development, including oral tactile imprinting and latchment. Latchment is the first stage of emotional development based on the successful achievement of biological imprinting. The mechanisms underpinning imprinting are identified and the evolutionary benefits discussed. CONCLUSION: It is proposed that the oral tactile imprint to the breast is a keystone for optimal latchment and breastfeeding, promoting evolutionary success.