Ch 1-3 Flashcards
The sum of all intelligent mental activities is _
cognition
Cognition includes the acquisition and processing of _ _ about the world in order to make behavioural decisions
sensory information
What is the most sophisticated computing device in the (known) universe?
a) the human brain
b) the Google car
c) the calculator
d) Deep Blue (chess-playing computer)
a) the human brain
because of the lack of understanding of its processes and their intricacies
T or F: the study of cognition is made up of multiple fields and subfields of scientific research
true, because intelligent behaviour is multifaceted
To read a book, I have to:
1. recognize the device to display its content
2. engage my memory of how to operate the device to pull up the correct site, etc.
3. _
4. avoiding processing competing stimuli
5. using knowledge of language and of ideas and concepts related to the text
- focus on the book’s text, recognizing the letters and words as I move my eyes across the page in the right order
Reading a book requires:
perception
attention
short-term memory
long-term memory
language
-
decision making
problem-solving
The field of cognition is primarily concerned with understanding the processes that allow things to go _
right, or correctly
The 1990s was dubbed the Decade of the _
Brain
Do theorists have a strong theory of how the brain works?
no, but some ideas
The _ _ in the field of cognition is gradual, painstaking progress marked by debate and uncertainty
scientific process
Is there a great unified theory of the brain and how it brings about the stuff of thought?
Nope
The study of the mind/cognition is relevant to groups including:
scientists
scholars
_
industry groups
engineers - computer? electrical?
The study of cognition encompasses two major scientific disciplines:
experimental psychology
_
neuroscience
The goal of basic research into cognition is to understand who we humans are and…
what makes us tick/why do we do the things we do and how do we do them
Applied research of cognition is concerned with…
the end goal of developing an application or solution to a problem
e.g., understanding pathology of autism, enhancing education, etc.
Research in perception can facilitate the design of systems with which people interact, such as machine or computer consoles, a field known as human _
factors
Artificial intelligence/AI is the study of how humans perform cognition to try to…
build machines that can do the same thing
How can one gauge how we understand what the brain does?
assess how well we are able to build artificial devices to produce its behaviour
In 1996, Deep Blue did what to Gary Kasparov?
Deep Blue, a computer, beat Kasparov, world’s best chess champion, in a game of chess
What did Deep Blue’s chess win indicate?
that machines could one day be able to outthink people
Deep Blue’s chess knowledge is based on _ programming
IFFT programming
What does IFFT programming stand for?
if-this-then-that programming is a computer program that a programmer specifies what do to under each condition. If it is a sophisticated program, it can perform great feats
e.g., AI as chatbots, able to carry out conversations to mimic real human interaction
Where do machine applications historically fail?
dealing with novel, constantly changing conditions that it has not dealt with before
Dealing with novel, constantly changing conditions that one has not encountered for requires _ intelligence
flexible
Is flexible intelligence currently only specific to humans? Y or N
Yes
Automated visual object recognition, termed _ vision, is concerned with developing computer programs that can interpret objects, symbols, scans and even faces
computer or machine vision
More than 10 years ago was machine vision a thing?
No, that tech only began in the last 10 years
Saying “OK Google” is an example of - _
human-machine interaction
When computers change their behaviour in order to get better at some task, they are showing they are programmed to _
learn
When computers change their behaviour in order to get better at some task, they are showing they are exhibiting _ _
machine learning
Machine learning that uses techniques that are modelled in the brain have what are called _ _ networks
artificial neural networks
A brain-inspired _ _ can be used to learn about visual information for computer vision that may be applied to voice recognition, weather prediction, or even action planning
computer algorithm
What is the primary driver of recent dramatic progress in artificial intelligence?
a) much larger computer memory stores
b) computer programs that can learn rather than being programmed
c) better computer programmers
d) much faster computers
b) computer programs that can learn rather than being programmed
The self-driving car is an excellent example of _ _
machine learning
A recent computer model, _, produces human-like paragraphs based on a writing prompt
GPT-3
When do researchers assume true human-like artificial general intelligence will arrive?
the next few decades
The study of the physical brain and related systems is _
neuroscience
Modern tools allow researchers to measure the activity of the intact brain while the animal is awake and _
behaving
Modern tools for brain research have brought us further than the old days of post-_ _ of brains
post-mortem dissection of brains
Non-invasive brain techniques measure brain activity of _ of increasingly smaller portions
brain regions are studied
More invasive brain techniques allow for the specific measurement of _ _, whether the being is awake and behaving
individual neurons
Some brain techniques allow researches to _ or _ portions of the brain and observe effects on cognitive processes
active or deactivate
Cognitive psychology is studying intelligent behaviour itself using _ _
behavioural experiments
Non-experimental methods include _ _, in which researchers watch the behaviour of people or other organisms in their typical habitat
naturalistic observation
Cognitive psychology depends on measuring _ , in order to develop theories of the underlying neurophysiological processes
behaviours
The two typical measurements that are studied in cognitive psychology are
reaction time
_
accuracy
Computation modeling for the study of cognition is the use of computer-based models to …
simulate brain processes or functions
Why was it difficult to study cognition before?
people assumed that it could not be measured in an observable way
The question or debate of how mental events such as thoughts, beliefs and sensations are related to, or caused by, physical mechanisms taking place in the body is the - _
mind-body problem
What was a response to the mind-body problem, historically?
dualism
Dualism views the mind and body as consisting of fundamentally…
different kinds of substances or properties
the mind is completely separate from the body, one not being physical, the other physical
The view that there is only one kind of basic substance in the world is _
monism
vs. dualism
A type of monism is /, the position that the only kind of reality is physical reality
physicalism/materialism
According to physicalism/materialism, cognition is a _ phenomenon, and mental states can ultimately be explained as being based in the processed of the _ brain
[repeated words]
physical phenomenon; physical brain
According to physicalism/materialism, the idea of a non-physical mind is…
an illusion (as opposed to dualism’s idea of mind vs body)
The view that the only kind of reality is mental is called _
idealism
Idealism is a type of _-ism, as is physicalism/materialism
monism
The brain (and all physical reality) is really a _ _, according to idealism
mental construct
cue The Matrix
_ monism holds there is only one kind of substance, of which the mind and body are composed. It is, however, not physical or mental
neutral monism
Frank Jackson (1986)’s famous thought experiment looked at the physiological processes in _ _ to determine the relevance of the various monistic and dualistic theories of the mind and body
seeing colour
According to Frank Jackson (1986), a colour blind scientist would understand what yellow or pink is if they are a _-ist
materialist/physicalist
There is nothing to explain once all the physics, chemistry and physiology has been accounted for
According to Frank Jackson (1986), a colour blind scientist would NOT understand what yellow or pink is if they are a _-ist
dualist
The scientist may know all of the physical facts of the colour and its physiological processes, but not understand the mental component, which requires experiencing yellow or pink colour
The idea of a soul or spirit is a commonly held view for a _-ist
dualist
Dualism probably arose from the Greek philosopher _ around 350 BCE
Plato
Plato argued that the mind was based on an _ _, which is more real than the physical world
immortal soul
Rene Descarte (17th C) proposed that the mind and body form two different types of substance but that…
these could interact with one another
Descartes believed that, much like the ancient Greeks, that the _ _, a structure in the centre of the brain, is the site of the mind-body interaction
pineal gland
_-ism suggests that the processes of the physical body, including the brain, affect the workings of the mind and that, conversely, the mind’s thoughts and decisions lead to action in the body
Dualism
According to dualism, the mind and body are _ and the nature of their interaction is not well explained
separate entities
T or F: most scientists who study the brain and behaviour subscribe to the idea that the products of the mind - intelligent behaviour - may ultimately be understood in terms of the workings of the physical brain, without any immateriality
true, most don’t believe there is immateriality at play
_ materialism suggests that science operates based on physical methods, measurements and explanatory mechanisms that cannot test non-physical theories
Pragmatic materialism - all physicality, no immateriality
Does pragmatic materialism claim that the mind and body are identical?
no, but they do suggest that physicality is at play for both
Pragmatic materialism suggests that _ _ can be explained based on physical processes
observable behaviour
Do pragmatic materialists believe that our inner consciousness (“the feeling of red”) is explained by physical processes?
no, not necessarily
Pragmatic materialism suggests that we don’t have a full understanding of how the brain works and how its function relates to behaviour, but that an understanding is possible with the advancement of science
true
Why do pragmatic materialists believe that we will one day have a full undersstanding of the physical brain and how its function relates to behaviour?
based on the success of the physical sciences in explaining natural phenomena, based on physical mechanisms
There are approximately _ billion neurons in the brain
86 billion!, or over 600 trillion neural connections
What is crucial to understanding the intelligent behaviour the brain produces WITHIN?
the brain behaves within multiple contexts - within itself, the body, society, and the world
Which of these is NOT an offered reason as to why studying the physical brain alone might be insufficient to understand cognition?
a) The brain is enormously complex
b) Cognition depends on non-physical mechanisms
c) The brain is embedded in the larger context of the body and the world
d) The brain must be considered within the contexts in which it operates
b) Cognition depends on non-physical mechanisms
Which of these viewpoints is LEAST compatible with the scientific study of cognition?
a) The mind and brain are both the same physical entity, which causes intelligent behaviour
b) The mind and brain are separate entities but the physical brain causes intelligent behaviour
c) The mind and brain are both the same physical entity, but this entity does not cause intelligent behaviour
d) The mind and brain are separate entities and the non-physical mind causes intelligent behaviour
d) The mind and brain are separate entities and the non-physical mind causes intelligent behaviour
Observing the mind directly is one of the tenets of _
structuralism
_ _ (1832 - 1920) introducted structuralism, and Edward Titchener championed it in America
Wilhelm Wundt
_ _ (was a student of Wilhelm Wundt, and championed structuralism when he came to American
Edward Titchener
The structuralists attempted to to the same to the mind as those in scientific fields such as physics and chemistry approached their work by…
breaking down complex processes into simpler elements
Structuralists used a technique called _ _, in which practitioners were trained to carefully consider and describe their own internal conscious experiences in terms of fundamental “elements” of consciousness
analytic introspection
With analytic introspection, the structuralists hoped they would discover the basis principles of how their own _ _ _ combined to form the contents of the working mind
internal conscious experiences
_ was, despite calling himself otherwise, the first psychologist
Wilhelm Wundt
_ was, despite calling himself otherwise, the first psychologist by using a methodological approach to studying consciousness, comparing results with others and trying to replicate
Wilhelm Wundt
Wundt studied
experimentation
attention
memory
_
language
Wundt studied language by creating the first _ _
syntax trees
Wundt was the first to describe the approximate number of items one could remember before it was championed by another researcher
the +/- 7 objects rule
Since _ claimed that results of a study needed to match his own to be considered correct, he was criticized for being a poor scientist
Titchener
Analytic introspection was not successful because:
data could only be seen by one individual and cannot be …, i.e., lend itself well to replication
objectively verified by others
_, an important mechanism of self-correction in science in which different researchers performing the same experiments using the same methods should get the same, verifiable results, assuming the original findings are valid
replication
Introspection was not successful because its approach was not:
replicable
addressing _ _
addressing unconscious awareness
e.g., fluent in a language without explicit knowledge of grammatical rules, i.e., grammar is implicit and not available to consciousness
_ _ , a condition where individuals have damage to the part of the brain that processes visual information before sending it to higher-level processing, can still elicit behavioural responses to visual stimuli, despite participants believe they are completely blind
cortical blindness
Blindsight is a phenomenon in which someone who reports blindness due to cortical damage…
still shows behaviour consisting with SOME perception
According to working scientists, predicted the consensus that valid science of the mind ultimately must depend on…
phenomena that can be externally measured
The - protocol is a research method that involves having participants verbally describe their thought process as they are performing a specific task
think-aloud protocol
Analytic introspection is still used as a secondary measure in order to generate _ that are then tested using other methods
theories
(1842-1910), father of psychology, studied consciousness but did not agree with Wundt’s interest in what conscious is but rather what it’s used for
James
James (1842-1910) was considered the first psychologist, but he actually was a _
philosopher
Empiricism requires the use of _ in studies
observation
If everything has a cause, then the scientific method used is likely _-ism
determinism
If a theory can be falsified, then an experiment is said to have _-ability
testability
Choosing the simplest reason of a variety of options until proven otherwise is referred to as _
parsimony
The four requirements for scientific method are:
empiricism
determinism
testability
_
parsimony
The observation should do something useful, according to _-ists
behaviourists
