Lecture 10

Question 1

What were some developments in 19th century German thinking?

Answer 1

– higher cognitive functions are mediated by the CNS
– perception can be measured using methods developed in other branches of science.
– the idea of a threshold:

Question 2

Define vitalism vs. mechanism

Answer 2

Vitalism: living things share a vital force that cannot be explained by the physical sciences (Müller)
•”Willed behavior is instantaneous.”
• Mechanism: same laws apply to living and non-living things (Helmholtz)
• Principle of conservation of energy

Question 3

What’s perception?

Answer 3

active, unconscious, automatic, logical processes

Question 4

Besides perception, what was another important aspect of Helmholtz’s theory of perception?

Answer 4

Unconscious inference