Contextualizing Positionality, Intersectionality, and Intelligence in the Anthropocene.

The geological epoch of the Anthropocene has challenged traditional definitions of what intellectual abilities are necessary to creatively problem-solve, understand, and address contemporary societal and environmental crises. If we hope to make meaningful changes to how our society addresses these complex issues and pave the way for a better future for generations to come, we must advance traditional theories and measures of higher-order abilities to reflect equity and inclusion. To this end, we must address global issues by integrating the complexities of intersectional identities as they impact our understanding of what constitutes intelligence in individuals, groups, and diverse communities.

A micro-genesis account of longer-form reinforcement learning in structured and unstructured environments.

We explored the possibility that in order for longer-form expressions of reinforcement learning (win-calmness, loss-restlessness) to manifest across tasks, they must first develop because of micro-transactions within tasks. We found no evidence of win-calmness or loss-restlessness when wins could not be maximised (unexploitable opponents), nor when the threat of win minimisation was presented (exploiting opponents), but evidence of win-calmness (but not loss-restlessness) when wins could be maximised (exploitable opponents).