Module 2-3

Question 1

Mind-body problem

Answer 1

The question of how mental events such as thoughts, beliefs and sensations are related to physical mechanisms taking place in the body

Question 2

Dualism

Answer 2

The view that the mind and body consist of fundamentally different kinds of substances or properties.
-while the body may be made of a physical material, the mind is not

For much or recorded history, most people subscribed to some form of dualism.

Question 3

Monism

Answer 3

The view that there is only one kind of basic substance in the world, whether exclusively physical or exclusively mental.

Question 4

Physicalism-materialism

Answer 4

The only kind of reality is physical reality.

Ex. Ideas forming in your brain are driven by physical processes

Question 5

Idealism

Answer 5

The view that all of reality is mental in nature.

—) the ideas forming in your brain are all mental processes

Question 6

Neutral monism

Answer 6

The view that the mental and physical are identical and all lf reality is made of this one kind of thing.

—) something else directing mental and physical experiences, we dont know what. Neither just physical or mental

Question 7

3 types of monism

Answer 7

Idealism, neutral monism, materialism

Question 8

Plato and dualism

Answer 8

Plato argued that the mind was based on an immortal soul that was, in some sense, more “real” than the physical world

Question 9

René Descartes

Answer 9

He proposed that the mind and body formed two different types of substance but that these could interact with one another (he identified pineal gland)

Question 10

True or false: dualism recognizes that the mind and body have a strong relationship with one another

Answer 10

True. Peope were aware that the processes of the physical body affects the workings of the mind. However, according to dualism, the mind and body are still separate kinds of entities.

Question 11

Structuralism

Answer 11

A school of psychology whose approach relied on introspecting on one’s own conscious mental states in order to understand the mind.

-breakinf down complext processes into simpler elements
-identify the basic elements of thought. Are do they combine together to form complex thoughts?
-relied on introspection and self-report: not reliable across people, some are rlly good introspecters and some are not. introspection does not live up to its ideal as a scientifically valid method. Hard to replicate too.

Question 12

Cortical blindness

Answer 12

Condition where individuals with damage to tje visual cortez will report having no visual experience, despite having working eyes

Question 13

Blindsight

Answer 13

Condition where individuals think they are blind but they are still able to behaviorally respond to a visual stimulus

Question 14

Think-aloud protocol

Answer 14

Research method that involves participants verbally describe their thought process as they are performing a specified task

Question 15

Dualism: interactionism

Answer 15

The mind and brain interact to induce events in each other

-subscribes to the idea that we have a soul
-rene descartes saying pineal gland is the principal seat of the soul

Question 16

Dualism: epiphenomenalism

Answer 16

Mental thoughts are caused by physical events, but thoughts do not affect physical events

-one way interaction

Question 17

Phrenology

Answer 17

Process that involved obersving and feelin the skull to determine an individual’s psychological attributes.

-parts of the brain correspond to mental functions and personality
-false assumption that the highly developed functions have larger brain areas

Question 18

Functional specialization

Answer 18

Modern cognitive neuroscience indentifies brain area or networks that support a particular brain function

Question 19

Skin conductance

Answer 19

-Skin conducts electricity when it sweats
-to measure emotional arousal
-then can test how emotional arousal impacts cognitive tasks

Ex veterans with PTSD and veterans without PTSD: higher skin conductance in people with PTSD when hearing combat sounds

Question 20

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 20

EEG measures activity in a large group of neurons at certain times. Estimate of when brain is active

-good timing (temporal resolution)
-not good location info (spatial resolution)

Question 21

Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI)

Answer 21

Structural MRI: anatomy of brain, used to degect structural anomalies

Functional fMRI: info about activity in the brain. Indirect measure as it measures blood flow and not neural activity. Active brain areas need oxygen. Magnet detects changes in ocygenated blood.

-good spatial resolution
-bad temporal resolution (timing of brain activity) + indirect measure so based on assumption that increase in blood flow = more activity

Question 22

Brain stimulation

Answer 22

Can inhibit or increase activity

-main form in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Induces tempory change in brain activity: may improve memory

-good to test causality, but not very clear + broad effects so hard to localize effects

Question 23

Parahippocampal place area (PPA)

Answer 23

For thinking about spacial layouts

Question 24

Supplementary motor area (SMA)

Answer 24

For performing or imagining movement

Question 25

Multi-voxel pattern analysis

Answer 25

A data-analysis that uses machine learning to decode what task or stimulus a participant is engaging in, based on the distribution of activity across the brain

Question 26

What lobe is responsible for attention and somatosensory processing

Answer 26

Parietal lobe

Question 27

What lobe is responsible for meaning of sensory informayion and language

Answer 27

Temporal lobe

Question 28

What love is responsible for executuve control and planning

Answer 28

Frontal lobe

Question 29

True or false: dualism is related to the idea of a soul or spirit

Answer 29

True. And in the western world it was first formally articulated by the greek philosopher Plato around 350 B.C

In the 17th century, the french philosopher descartes made the distinction between mind and matter more precise: he proposed that the mind and body formed 2 different kinds of substance but could interact with one another