The Human Mind Flashcards
(147 cards)
1
Q
The Human Mind
Describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (in particular, the five primary components).
A
2
Q
The Human Mind
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. ______________
2. Reciprocal altruism
3. Reputation management
A
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. Kin selection
2. Reciprocal altruism
3. Reputation management
3
Q
The Human Mind
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. Kin selection
2. _______________
3. Reputation management
A
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. Kin selection
2. Reciprocal altruism
3. Reputation management
4
Q
The Human Mind
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. Kin selection
2. Reciprocal altruism
3. _______________
A
Identify the three main evolutionary drivers of human social behavior:
1. Kin selection
2. Reciprocal altruism
3. Reputation management
5
Q
The Human Mind
What are the four main drivers in our evolutionary ancestors’ behaviors or abilities that Steven Pinker describes as the major factors that allowed a human-level tier of intelligence to arise?
A
- Stereoscopic, colored, detailed vision (driving extensive mental modeling for grasping the concepts within a 3D world)
- Group living (driving social intelligence, language, shared intentionality, etc.)
- Skilled, precision hands (providing new abilities and tasks for the brain to tackle)
- Hunting (providing high-calorie, protein-rich meat to sustain brain development and use)
6
Q
The Human Mind
What are the three common myths surrounding human nature which Steven Pinker argues against in Enlightenment Now?
A
- The ‘blank slate’
- The ‘noble savage’
- The ‘ghost in the machine’
7
Q
The Human Mind
What is the Latin term for the theory that ignores the prewired nature of the human brain and instead posits that individuals are born without built-in mental content (and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception)?
A
Tabula rasa
(the blank slate)
8
Q
The Human Mind
Give a few reasons the blank slate (tabula rasa) theory of the development of human nature might be flawed and insufficient.
A
- Extensive cerebral pre-wiring for morality, social ability, language, etc.
- Strong genetic tendencies for moral preferences, IQ, alcoholism, etc.
9
Q
The Human Mind
What is the (errant) myth of the noble savage?
A
That Homo sapiens are inherently good and are corrupted by society
(The pre-wiring / environmental influences are much more complicated than this; we have no reason to think that humans without society would suddenly live in harmony.)
10
Q
The Human Mind
What is the (errant) myth of the ghost in the machine?
A
That we are a dual-system made of ethereal riders observing the world from within these fleshy, biochemical machines; i.e., the spirit-body duality
(in reality, we are much more likely to be solely these biochemical machines.)
11
Q
The Human Mind
_____________ occurs when, faced with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, people may choose to discredit, dismiss, misinterpret, or place little significance on the contradictory information.
A
Belief perseverance
12
Q
The Human Mind
The ____________ effect is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure (including after repeating it yourself; e.g., baring a religious testimony).
A
The illusory truth effect is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure (including after repeating it yourself; e.g., bearing a religious testimony).
13
Q
The Human Mind
What term refers to our tendency to rationalize conclusions that support our beliefs?
What term refers to the process of making these rationalizations?
A
Belief bias
Motivated reasoning
14
Q
The Human Mind
The _________ effect is the tendency to believe more strongly in a position when that position is challenged.
A
The backfire effect is the tendency to believe more strongly in a position when that position is challenged.
15
Q
The Human Mind
What term refers to the fact that the way an argument and/or fact is presented can drastically change how we react to it?
A
The framing effect
16
Q
The Human Mind
The _________ hypothesis is the tendency to believe in a fair universe in which justice is served, simply because we hope it to be so.
A
The just world hypothesis is the tendency to believe in a fair universe in which justice is served, simply because we hope it to be so.
17
Q
The Human Mind
What term refers to the fact that we sometimes tend to prefer to do the opposite of what someone is trying to coerce us to do?
A
Reactance
(a pushback against manipulation and/or perceived constraints on our liberty)
18
Q
The Human Mind
Name the term given to the fact that once you understand something, you assume it is obvious to everyone.
A
The curse of knowledge
19
Q
The Human Mind
What term refers to the fact that we tend to judge others’ actions by their character and our own actions by our situation?
A
Fundamental attribution error
20
Q
The Human Mind
What term refers to the psychological tendency we have as Homo sapiens in which an individual’s level of knowledge on a topic is often inversely correlated with how confident they are in their opinions on that topic?
A
The Dunning-Kruger effect
21
Q
The Human Mind
True/False.
Under certain fMRI studies attempting to identify how we as humans think about belief, subjects showed three main neual areas of belief: (1) one area when thinking about their own beliefs, (2) one area when thinking about others’ beliefs, and (3) one area when thinking about their professed divinity’s beliefs.
A
False.
Under certain fMRI studies attempting to identify how we as humans think about belief, subjects showed two main neual areas of belief: (1) one area when thinking about others’ beliefs and (2) one single area when thinking about both their own beliefs and their professed divinity’s beliefs.
(I.e., our gods tend to be manifestations of our own moral beliefs.)
https://www.pnas.org/content/106/51/21533
22
Q
The Human Mind
A(n) ____________ is a distortion in thought or decision-making due to emotional factors. As a result, the person will likely engage in one of two different behaviors: 1) They may believe in something that has a positive emotional effect, even if there is evidence to the contrary. 2) They may be reluctant to accept hard truths that are unpleasant and cause mental suffering.
A
Emotional bias
23
Q
The Human Mind
Some physicians initially blame obese patients for their own condition. The physician’s initial judgment is that the patient is large due to laziness or overeating and not due to some medical or psychological condition. These physicians are exhibiting __________ error.
A
Fundamental attribution
24
Q
The Human Mind
What is the term for argumentation that uses emotionally-biased reasoning to make decisions or produce justifications that are desirable rather than ones that accurately reflect the evidence?
(Note: this is an apologetic way of confirming one’s bias and reducing cognitive dissonance.)
A
Motivated reasoning
25
# The Human Mind
What is negativity bias?
'The notion that, even when of equal intensity, **things of a more negative nature** (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) **have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than neutral or positive things**.'
(Wikipedia definition)
26
# The Human Mind
What does Skinner's pigeon experiment on superstition show us? The individual pigeons received treats randomly, but the pigeons started to assume that some random action they had performed just before receiving the treat has caused the treat to appear. So, the pigeons developed compulsive actions (like looking over their left shoulder, spinning three times, or pecking a spot repeatedly) because they thought their actions produced the treat.
Animals tend to ascribe motive or intent to natural processes (e.g. finding 'proof' for supernatural beliefs by ascribing cause to random occurrences in life)
27
# The Human Mind
Which lobe of the brain has been shown to be especially linked up to feelings of disgust and moral dislike?
The **insula** lobe
(So, gustatory/olfactory senses of disgust map onto similar parts of the brain as moral disgust!)
28
# The Human Mind
What portion of the brain is involved in connecting our emotional reactions to our logical reasoning so we can act morally in the world?
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex
| (**vmPFC**)
29
# The Human Mind
If the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is damaged, how does this affect moral actions?
One would be able to understand/logic morals but would lose all emotional reaction, crippling their ability to turn this logic into action
30
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
According to Jonathan Haidt, brains evaluate instantly and constantly (mostly via conscious processes); social/political judgments depend heavily on long intuitive processes.
**False**.
According to Jonathan Haidt, brains evaluate instantly and constantly (mostly via ***un******conscious***processes); social/political judgments depend heavily on***quick***intuitive***flashes***.
31
# The Human Mind
Is most of our concern over how others think about us conscious or unconscious?
## Footnote
*(I.e., is social awareness/fear/anxiety/concern/attention attended to more by conscious or unconscious processes?)*
Unconscious
32
# The Human Mind
What part of the brain is most involved in tasks involving 'cool,' logical reasoning?
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (**dlPFC**)
33
# The Human Mind
What happens neurologically when partisan politicos are 'released' from uncomfortable truths about their candidate or party?
Dopamine is released in the ventral striatum
## Footnote
*(partisanship is addictive)*
34
# The Human Mind
What two neurobiological mechanisms help explain Jonathan Haidt's 'hive switch?'
1. Oxytocin
2. Mirror neurons
35
# The Human Mind
What effects does oxytocin release have on an individual's in-group affinity and out-group dislike?
1. In-group affinity **increases**
2. Out-group dislike **remains unchanged**
36
# The Human Mind
In the context of Jonathan Haidt's research, what does it mean that human mirror neurons are linked to the insular cortex, amygdala, and limbic system?
Mirror neurons are highly involved in **empathy** and **collective effervescence**
37
# The Human Mind
A person can experience a pleasurable loss of self when parts of which cerebral lobe are silent?
The **parietal** lobes
38
# The Human Mind
Religious experiences have been recreated when parts of which cerebral lobe are stimulated?
The **left** **temporal** lobe
39
# The Human Mind
We are biologically programmed to detect signs of predators, prey, and allies, even in events that have no hidden agent.
What is this biological phenomenon termed in the context of identifying the hand of God where it does not exist?
**Hyperactive agency detection**
(overly ascribing agency to occurrences)
40
# The Human Mind
Agent detection is the inclination for animals, including humans, to presume the purposeful intervention of a sentient or intelligent agent in situations that may or may not involve one.
## Footnote
**Why might a hyperactive agency detection device be evolutionarily beneficial?**
The high cost of failing to detect agents and the low cost of wrongly detecting them
41
# The Human Mind
List some of the pre-wired psychological mechanisms that lead *Homo sapiens* towards confirming their experiences as being religious in nature.
Hyperactive agent detection,
confirmation bias,
the Texas sharpshooter fallacy and cherry picking experiences,
belief perseverance,
groupishness and the amity-enmity complex and kin selection,
etc.
42
# The Human Mind
Mental answers to prayer most likely come from what source?
The subconscious
43
# The Human Mind
What term refers to the psychological phenomenon by which individuals are more likely to indulge in immoral behavior after first doing something positive?
## Footnote
*(e.g. stealing something small from the food bank after volunteering there the entire day)*
**Moral licensing**
| (a.k.a. self-licensing)
44
# The Human Mind
Dunbar's number indicates the roughly estimated maximum size of human groups in which social cohesion can be maintained in the group in order to perform in high-stakes, survival situations.
## Footnote
**What is Dunbar's number?**
150
45
# The Human Mind
What are the big five personality traits?
**_OCEAN_**
**O**penness
**C**onscientiousness
**E**xtraversion
**A**greeableness
**N**euroticism
46
# The Human Mind
What are the two major facets of **openness** (of the Big Five personality traits)?
1. Openness to experience
2. Intellect\*
* (\*I score very high in an interest in abstract ideas.)*
47
# The Human Mind
What are the two major facets of **conscientiousness** (of the Big Five personality traits)?
1. Industriousness
2. Orderliness\*
* (\*I score very high in orderliness.)*
48
# The Human Mind
What are the two major facets of **extraversion** (of the Big Five personality traits)?
1. Enthusiasm
2. Assertiveness
49
# The Human Mind
What are the two major facets of **agreeableness** (of the Big Five personality traits)?
1. Compassion\*
2. Politeness
* (\*I score very high in compassion.)*
50
# The Human Mind
What are the two major facets of **neuroticism** (of the Big Five personality traits)?
1. Withdrawal
2. Volatility
51
# The Human Mind
What are the five Kubler-Ross stages of grief (include the extra two in parentheses)?
(Shock)
**Denial**
**Anger**
**Bargaining**
**Depression**
(Testing)
**Acceptance**
52
# The Human Mind
What are the two stages of the Kubler-Ross stages of grief that are sometimes added in addition to the usual five?
**Shock**
(Denial)
(Anger)
(Bargaining)
(Depression)
**Testing**
(Acceptance)
53
# The Human Mind
According to Steven Pinker, what is the connection between intelligence, beliefs, and desires?
**Intelligence** is our ability to identify goals based on our **desires** and act upon our **beliefs** (read: worldview and understanding of how things work) in order to accomplish those goals.
54
# The Human Mind
In a general sense, what is the importance of beliefs in our lives?
Beliefs are the amalgamations of all the learned 'facts' we hold true that shape the way we approach the world
## Footnote
*(e.g. our understanding about our place in the world, how the world works, what we need to do to reach a certain goal, etc.)*
55
# The Human Mind
Describe the basic components of the computational theory of mind (i.e. desires, beliefs, thinking, perceptions, trying to accomplish some goal) as inscribed operations performed by our neural circuitry.
_Beliefs_ - **memory** inscriptions
_Desires_ - **goal** inscriptions (in memory)
_Thinking_ - **computation**
_Perceptions_ - **sensory** inscriptions
_Trying_ - **executing operations** towards one of the goal inscriptions
56
# The Human Mind
How does the computational theory of mind help us get away from the infinite regress of the 'ghost in the machine' *(as in, we explain our intelligence by ascribing thought processes and review of the process to a smaller, equally intelligent being inside our heads [(who then needs a smaller, equally intelligent being, etc.)])* as an explanation for human intelligence?
A la the ideas of Jerry Fodor and Dan Dennett, our beliefs, goals, thoughts, perceptions, and actions are **all performed individually by smaller, stupider, more specialized, less-capable components**, all the way down from the interactions between various CNS, PNS, and non-neural organs to the 'on-off' (gross oversimplification) state of individual neurons.
## Footnote
*(I.e. you build up from individual neurons through more and more complicated patternings into various systems to accomplish all these goals and then into interacting organs to smooth the process into a quasi-unified whole.)*
57
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
The computational theory of mind is simply a description of how our brains operate via a series of inscribed symbols (representations of our perceptions of the world) and a series of processes (inner 'demons') which access those symbols.
True.
58
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
The representations of the world present in our minds are often only a shadowy remembrance of how things actually are.
**True**.
## Footnote
*This is shown by our gross inability to recall specific details of most anything in the physical world with ease and our tendency towards generalizing in describing almost any topic.*
59
# The Human Mind
How long does short-term memory typically last?
How about phonological working memory?
20 - 30 seconds
1 - 5 seconds
60
# The Human Mind
How many discrete chunks can typically be held at once by short-term memory?
4 - 7
61
# The Human Mind
Which structure of the brain takes short-term memory and converts it to long-term?
The hippocampus
62
# The Human Mind
According to Steven Pinker, what are the four major formats the brain uses in converting sensory information and thought into representations the brain can manipulate, store, and retrieve?
(I.e. what are the four major formats that your mind's "eye" can use in thinking about different concepts?)
**Visual** ('seeing' internally)
**Phonological loops** ('hearing' internally)
**Grammatical** ('saying' or formulating words internally)
**_Mentalese_\*** (manipulating *_concepts_* internally)
*\*Note: this is the _lingua franca_ of highly processed information that allows for communication between different areas of the brain. Obviously, the brain is not sending visual, auditory, or written messages back and forth.)*
63
# The Human Mind
What might be an example of the hierarchical trees by which our brains can simplify and store complex information about, say, the concept of what a Grizzly bear is *(note: some information will be generalizations and likely inacurrate)*?
**_Bear_**:
**Organism** (as opposed to inanimate object) \>
**Animal** (as opposed to prokaryotes, fungi, bugs, etc.) \>
**Land mammal** (as opposed to sea creatures, reptiles, amphibians, etc.) \>
**Northern mountain/forest dwelling** \>
**Large, brown quadriped** \>
**Sharp teeth and claws** \>
**Dangerous**
64
# The Human Mind
In general terms, how does one's brain take on the highly complex task of processing, storing, and retrieving information (1) in a variety of modes/importances, (2) in accordance with one's understanding of the world, and (3) in order to accomplish tasks to reach one's goals?
**_Division of labor_**
I.e. delegation of progressively simpler tasks to progressively stupider subassemblies
*(all the way down to individual neurons)*
65
# The Human Mind
In a general sense how do our individual brains handle the **massive** amounts of information absorbed every second in the form of sensory information *(e.g. where our muscles/joints are as we take a sip of our drink, the taste and temperature of the drink, the colors and shapes of letters we just read on the page of a textbook, the meaning of the words made by the letters, the colors/shapes/textures/lighting of the setting around us, the tactile sensation of the clothes we wear, the auditory noise of a passing car, the words a friend just spoke to us, etc.)* and package it into a worldview that can be used to form complex responses to external stimuli?
Massive **conceptualization**
## Footnote
*(Nearly all information is immediately forgotten or relegated to the 'unimportant' tabs of our brain --- the important stuff is turned into concepts so we can forget the details while still maintaining an accurate-enough worldview. Hence, why you can recite the gist of the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood,' but you can't repeat the words verbatim as you heard or read.)*
66
# The Human Mind
Describe the theories of 'information integration' and 'passive consciousness' for how consciousness may arise in the human brain.
**Information integration**: it is the amalgamation of our various sensory perceptions, processing, and the background function of the various CNS organs that all come together to form a unified whole that our brains interpret as 'being.' Maybe adding in other sensory and processive functions would create a radically different form of this central perception called consciousness.
**Passive consciousness**: 'being' may simply be an illusion in which we are simply watching the results of the above description (of various sensory perceptions, processing, and the background function of the various CNS organs). In a deterministic sense, what we call the 'self' may just be the illusion that we are acting when really our minds are just observing and recording everything that occurs.
67
# The Human Mind
What finding related to anesthesia supports the idea that consciousness arises as a result of integrating information from a wide array of discriminable states?
"Anesthetics seem to **cause** **unconsciousness** ***when they block the brain’s ability to integrate information***."
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/322/5903/876.full.pdf?casa\_token=cW96B83RH98AAAAA:apQsNb5Gcwo8CuH20zufmkl7zjLvHMO7uCypSJyyGcugmfeymgzL1UFRQzyIp0Vf9rNtoe1Dsmk4axE
68
# The Human Mind
There may be an association between loss of consciousness and anesthetic inhibition of what portion(s) of the brain related to information integration?
A **posterior lateral corticothalamic complex**
(centered around the inferior parietal lobe)
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/322/5903/876.full.pdf?casa\_token=cW96B83RH98AAAAA:apQsNb5Gcwo8CuH20zufmkl7zjLvHMO7uCypSJyyGcugmfeymgzL1UFRQzyIp0Vf9rNtoe1Dsmk4axE
69
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
The default position of our CNS neurons is off, with incoming stimuli being summed spatially and temporally in order to either stimulate some action potentials or else inhibit any firing.
**False**.
The default position of our CNS neurons is ***firing***, with incoming stimuli being summed spatially and temporally in order to either ***increase the rate of*** ***firing*** or ***decrease the rate of firing***.
70
# The Human Mind
At the core of the concept, what is it about our CNS neurons that gives them any 'special powers' in creating experience and complex function?
Their patterns of connectivity
71
# The Human Mind
**Logic gates** (e.g. those found as the basis of neuronal interfunction in our central nervous systems) operate on which three basic logical relations that underlie simple inferences?
'And'
'Or'
'Not'
72
# The Human Mind
Assuming a simple logic gate in which two neurons (A and B) synapse onto a third (C), what does the threshold of neuron C need to be in order for the logic gate to accomplish an 'And' function?
Greater than each individual incoming stimuli from A and B but less than their sum
(that way, both A and B need to fire in order to trigger C, thus creating a mechanism of A **AND** B)
73
# The Human Mind
Assuming a simple logic gate in which two neurons (A and B) synapse onto a third (C), what does the threshold of neuron C need to be in order for the logic gate to accomplish an 'Or' function?
Less than either individual incoming stimuli from A and B
(that way, only either A or B need to fire in order to trigger C, thus creating a mechanism of A **OR** B)
74
# The Human Mind
Assuming a simple logic gate in which one neurons (D) synapses onto a second (C), what does the input of neuron D need to be in order for the logic gate to accomplish a 'NOT' function?
\< 0
| (inhibitory towards C firing)
75
# The Human Mind
Assuming a simple logic gate which only allows for **exclusively** _EITHER_ A _OR_ B (with no overlap), what does the configuration need to be?
A combination of an 'Or' logic gate and an 'And' logic gate
76
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
A Turing machine (an extremely early computer) is basically a series of logic gates attached to memory storage.
True.
77
# The Human Mind
Describe how neural logic gates could very easily code in a similar way that computers do (e.g. with binary representations such as 'B' being 01000010).
Our brains do not necessarily operate using binary in 8-bit bytes, but just use the analogy as a description of how these types of processes can work on a neural level for both input and output of something like a 'B.'
*(potential Input and Output shown in image)*
78
# The Human Mind
**Identify which is more useful:**
(1) using neural logic gates ('And,' 'Or,' 'Not,' etc.) in a large series of neural connections so that you can reach a point where the gates are all acting to produce information that reaches an 'On' or 'Off' conclusion (ultimately, 0 or 1)
(2) using neural logic gates ('And,' 'Or,' 'Not,' etc.) in a large series of neural connections in order to make a continuous value system (ultimately, between 0 and 1)
(2) using neural logic gates ('And,' 'Or,' 'Not,' etc.) in a large series of neural connections in order to make a continuous value system, ***thus allowing for generalizations and probabilistic determinations*** (ultimately, between 0 and 1)
79
# The Human Mind
Neural connections are cheap. How does Steven Pinker describe the mechanism by which the human brain is able to make quick associations and recognize patterns based off limited information?
## Footnote
*(NOTE: the image attached shows a simple logic gate in which the neurons that recognize green, leafy, crunchy, etc. (vegetable characteristics) are stimulating a neuron and the neurons recognizing non-vegetable characteristics are not. Meaning, if all of the non-vegetable qualites are present and none of the non-vegetable ones, you recognize a vegetable. Expound upon this.)*
Pinker describes a more advanced system in which all the input nodes are also interconnected!
*(I.e. **_each node predicts the others that are associated with it_**; e.g., greeness predicts crunchiness, crunchiness predicts leafiness, greeness predicts lack of mobility, cruchiness predicts greeness, etc., etc.)*
(Thus, we don't need the whole picture to make inferences, and we can store large amounts of conceptual data regarding various items in smaller areas based on association.)
80
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Our brains likely operate via a system of _hidden-layer_ neural networks, in which inputs and outputs are connected via a series of complicated logic gates (the hidden layers) summing up to certain probabilities that the way we are processing the world is correct, with the whole system refining itself based on experience (to verify the outputs).
True.
81
# The Human Mind
**Food for thought**.
Let's say we had a highly advanced computer with complex neural networks of logic gates at least partially comparable to our brains (so with much, much more interconnection than our silicon chip technology currently allows) were to (**1**) be coded to process all humans as being separate individuals and refer to itself via the pronouns 'I' and 'me' (and all the associated words like 'my,' 'mine,' 'we,' 'us,' 'our,' etc.), (**2**) have sensory receptors recording noise, light, and tactile stimuli, etc. (and extensive overlap and communication between the sensory pathways), (**3**) be coded with certain goals (e.g. avoid harm, seek out energy, help humans, etc.), and (**4**) be structured in such a way by which its neural networks are overlapping and constantly adapting / updating to better respond to the surrounding environment.
**What would distinguish this computer's functioning from conscious experience?**
Who knows!
It has concepts of self and other; it has integrated sensory input; it has drives towards goals; it is responsive and adaptive in as far as the processed information is overlapping.
**What else is there to conscious experience? How far does cognition go? What does it mean to be aware of oneself beyond this?**
82
# The Human Mind
What is the theory of mind?
The ability to attribute (to another or oneself) mental states such as beliefs, intents, desires, emotions and knowledge
83
# The Human Mind
What are the _four_ main factors that determine how easily a memory is recalled?
## Footnote
*(Note this recall process is more like a reforming of the key concepts in storage into a new thought.)*
The **recency** of the stimuli from which the memory was formed
The **frequency** with which the memory has been recalled
The **e****motional valence** of the memory (extraordinary positivity, negativity, or novelty)
The level of **relevance** and **connectivity** of the information being recalled to other stored information
84
# The Human Mind
What are the first three stages of change?
Pre-contemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
85
# The Human Mind
What are the second three stages of change?
Action
Maintenance
Relapse (and recommitment)
86
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the pre-contemplation stage of smoking cessation?
Briefly stress importance of quitting
Leave the door open for future efforts (I.e. don't alienate the patient)
87
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the contemplation stage of smoking cessation?
Discuss their ambivalence
Discuss pros and cons
Validate
Stress that the decision is theirs to make
88
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the preparation stage of smoking cessation?
Identify social support
Identify and discuss barriers
Encourage small initial steps
Validate
89
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the action stage of smoking cessation?
Check-in
Bolster self-efficacy
Check for barriers
90
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the maintenance stage of smoking cessation?
Reinforce internal rewards
Discuss coping with relapse
91
# The Human Mind
How should you approach a patient who is a smoker and is in the relapse stage of smoking cessation?
Evaluate trigger for relapse
Reassess motivation and barriers
Plan stronger coping strategies
92
# The Human Mind
Human neural networks come pre-wired to do what?
**Learn**
| (make associations)
93
# The Human Mind
Define intelligence.
'Using knowledge of how things work to attain goals in the face of obstacles.'
Steven Pinker's *The Human Mind*
94
# The Human Mind
What are the main purposes which language has evolved to perform?
1. Sharing of knowledge
2. Coordination of skills towards common goals
95
# The Human Mind
Despite the wide variety of angles, lightings, distances, and other perspectives from which we see everyday objects (as well as the variety of forms that cups or briefcases or other objects may take), how is it that the human brain can remember up to 10,000 of these objects (without storing images of them in every scenario, of course; that would take up far too much bandwidth)?
1. They are simplified into simple structures called geons (e.g. squares, cones, etc.)
2. Our brain remembers objects from a few perspectives only, and then mentally rotates the object being perceived until it matches the expected position
96
# The Human Mind
The mental images we form in our brains are most reliant on which cerebral structure(s)?
The **occipital** **lobes**
## Footnote
*(Individuals who lose portions of these lobes will typically lose some of their mental image capacity.)*
97
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Both the images we perceive through our retinas and the images we create in our minds' eyes map topographically across the occipital lobes (with the fovea being near the center and the retinal periphery near the periphery).
True.
98
# The Human Mind
Describe an example experiment using monkeys that demonstrates the topographic nature of the occipital lobes.
Monkeys undergoing PET scan while observing an image of a bullseye ***showed a bullseye overlaid in the PET activity of their occipital lobes***
99
# The Human Mind
Imagining small structures in your mind's eye tends to activate which part of your occipital lobes?
Imagining large structures in your mind's eye tends to activate which part of your occipital lobes?
The center which correlates more with the fovea
The periphery which correlates more with the retinal periphery
100
# The Human Mind
What reason does Steven Pinker give as a possible justification that our brain may be constantly and purposefully hampering our ability to form clear, detailed images in our minds' eyes?
To avoid confusion and to avoid a decline in ability to perform reality-testing
## Footnote
*(You wouldn't want to get lost in the visions/hallucinations you created for yourself and lose touch with reality.)*
101
# The Human Mind
What reason does Steven Pinker give as a possible justification for why we tend to immediately forget the details of the dreams we have?
Our brains may be eliminating them purposefully to avoid confusion of autobiographical information and/or a declined ability to perform reality-testing
## Footnote
*(You wouldn't want to get lost in the visions/hallucinations you created for yourself and lose touch with reality and who you really are.)*
102
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary advantage does mental imagery bring us?
An ability to manipulate logical scenarios, problem-solve, and think creatively in a risk-free environment
103
# The Human Mind
How might it be that we are able to conjure up images of bananas or cows or deserts or most any other basic images in our minds' eyes?
## Footnote
*(In other words, how do we choose what image we see?)*
Possibly by activating the neural networks associated with a particular image (e.g. a bear) and then that activation roughly stimulates the corresponding portions of our occipital lobes
104
# The Human Mind
What reasons does Steven Pinker offer in *The Human Mind* as reasons we have not evolved to be scientifically minded, purely rational beings?
**1.** We are best equipped to master our local environments, not to figure out what bacteria are or how to make it to the moon
**2.** Science is resource- and time-consuming. Rapid inferences and pattern identification are more useful in the short-term
**3.** We are built for evolutionary fitness, not for finding truth. The truth is not always immediately relevant to survival and reproduction
105
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Our brains are highly skilled categorizers because our brains do not have the capacity to remember details of every person we meet or situation we encounter.
**False**.
## Footnote
*Though are brains are highly skilled at categorizing, it is not for lack of space. If needed, the trillion synapses in our brains are more than enough to record every object and event we encounter in the 2 billion seconds we live.*
106
# The Human Mind
What skill do we as *Homo sapiens* gain by being evolutionarily endowed with the ability to categorize?
The skill of **inference**
## Footnote
*(We can infer facts about a creature or object based on past experiences with members of the same category.)*
107
# The Human Mind
What in our brain's hardware determines whether we categorize two objects (or people or events) together?
The _number and type of characteristics_ they share in a **neural network**
## Footnote
*(E.g. bears and wolves are both large, carnivorous, four-legged, dangerous, forest-dwelling mammals; so, I would categorize them as 'animals to watch out for and avoid while camping.' If I saw a different animal that matched this description, I would probably be wise to avoid it too.)*
108
# The Human Mind
Do people administered testosterone perform better or worse or the same on math problems as individuals not administered testosterone?
**The same**, _but they self-assess their math work as being better than do those not administered the testosterone_.
## Footnote
*It appears that testosterone decreases one’s sensitivity to risk. Likely by modulating / blunting activity in the amygdala*
109
# The Human Mind
What effect does testosterone have on the CNS and one's risk-assessment?
It decreases one’s sensitivity to risk, likely by modulating / blunting activity in the amygdala
110
# The Human Mind
An interviewer holding a _____ drink is more likely to hire an interviewee than is an interviewer holding a _____ drink.
An interviewer holding a **_warm_** drink is more likely to hire an interviewee than is an interviewer holding a **_cold_** drink.
111
# The Human Mind
If one has **low** blood \_\_\_\_\_, they’re more likely to cheat and be aggressive in economic games.
If one has **low** blood **_glucose_**, they’re more likely to cheat and be aggressive in economic games.
112
# The Human Mind
If a bad smell is in the immediate vicinity, an individual is more likely to profess __________ political values.
If a bad smell is in the immediate vicinity, an individual is more likely to profess **_conservative_** political values.
113
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
If a judge is hungry, she’s more likely to send someone back to prison than a judge who was recently fed.
True.
114
# The Human Mind
What happens in our brains when we see someone else get injured?
Mirror neurons connect to the **anterior cingulate gyrus** (a center of empathy)
115
# The Human Mind
Seeing a hand of a different skin tone than yours get poked with a needle lights up your mirror neurons and anterior cingulate _____ than seeing a hand with your skin tone get poked.
Seeing a hand of a different skin tone than yours get poked with a needle lights up your mirror neurons and anterior cingulate **_less_** than seeing a hand with your skin tone get poked.
116
# The Human Mind
Implicit bias training doesn’t change one’s biases, but it is good for what?
It encourages us to consciously think about our biases before speaking or otherwise acting.
117
# The Human Mind
On average, our amygdalas light up when a face with a different skin tone than ours flashes on a screen for a few milliseconds. How can this reaction be blunted?
If we’re primed to see those around us as individuals, then the amygdalar reaction is lessened
118
# The Human Mind
Glucocorticoid exposure at a very young age (in-utero and prior to 5 years of age) disrupts neuronal development of the ____________ (this process is typically irreversible and predicts metabolic activity and thinness of this portion of the CNS later in life) as well as increasing one’s \_\_\_\_\_\_-sensitivity.
Glucocorticoid exposure at a very young age (in-utero and prior to 5 years of age) disrupts neuronal development of the **_frontal cortex_** (this process is typically irreversible and predicts metabolic activity and thinness of this portion of the CNS later in life) as well as increasing one’s **_stress_**-sensitivity.
119
# The Human Mind
After birth, babies whose mothers were malnourished during the \_\_\_\_\_\_-trimester tend to hold on to carbs/salt/etc. more tightly than others, predicting metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
After birth, babies whose mothers were malnourished during the **_third_**-trimester tend to hold on to carbs/salt/etc. more tightly than others, predicting metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
120
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Depression in a pregnant woman has no effect on the fetus’s risk of depression throughout their life.
**False**.
Depression in a pregnant woman ***increases*** the fetus’s risk of depression throughout their life.
121
# The Human Mind
If your grandparents were Chinese wheat farmers (an individualistic practice), you’re more likely to be _________ than if they were Chinese rice farmers (a collectivistic practice).
If your grandparents were Chinese wheat farmers (an individualistic practice), you’re more likely to be **_divorced_** than if they were Chinese rice farmers (a collectivistic practice).
122
# The Human Mind
Honor cultures often arise in groups where _______ theft is common (and thus leniency predicts further loss of goods). Being raised in an honor culture predicts higher biological sensitivity/reactivity to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
Honor cultures often arise in groups where **_cattle_** theft is common (and thus leniency predicts further loss of goods). Being raised in an honor culture predicts higher biological sensitivity/reactivity to **_threat_**.
123
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Genes don’t necessarily predict our behaviors as much as they predict our dispositions and sensitivities to certain environmental influences.
True.
124
# The Human Mind
If 3 out of every 100 women in a population develop breast cancer per year, is it valid to say that a particular woman has a 3% risk of developing breast cancer that year?
**Not** **necessarily**.
We don't know what other characteristics the individual has that do or do not increase her chances.
*How old is she? Does she eat well? Does she exercise regularly? Does she smoke? Does she drink alcohol? What race is she? Does she have a family history of breast cancer? Does she have children? How many? Did she breast feed? Is she postmenopausal? When was her menarche? Is she obese? Etc. Etc.*
125
# The Human Mind
What use are emotions to human well-being?
_Emotions_ **drive us towards goals and help us choose which goals to focus our energies on**
(Note: our passions may also serve as guarantors against those who would harm or double-cross us. One is less likely to want to cheat an unstable, volatile individual than a stable pacifist.)
126
# The Human Mind
How do emotions tend to vary among differing human populations?
Emotions are **_conserved_** across human groups.
127
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary use is the emotional connection we feel towards others?
(I.e., why do we 'like' other people?)
We are encouraged to offer favors to others who might offer us favors in return.
128
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary use is anger?
Anger protects us from the vulnerability of niceness. It drives us towards seeking to correct/prevent any wrongs being done to ourselves or those whom we care about.
129
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary use is gratitude?
Gratitude calibrates the desire to reciprocate according to the kindness/magnitude/difficulty of the act done for you.
130
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary use is sympathy?
Sympathy drives us to serve others, thus gaining their gratitude and reciprocation.
(As well as passing on the genes of those near us; e.g., our family.)
131
# The Human Mind
What evolutionary use is guilt?
Guilt discomforts cheaters and encourages them to confess before being found out and publicly shamed.
132
# The Human Mind
Why do many religions incorporate food restrictions into their dogma?
Food restrictions are a way of keeping your tribe from fraternizing with (or defecting to) others.
133
# The Human Mind
Before age \_\_\_\_, we tend to sample whatever foods our parents give us.
After age \_\_\_\_, we tend to stick to what we know, and the rest becomes disgusting;
hence, why different populations are comfortable with wildly different foods and disgusted by wildly different foods.
Before age **_2_** , we tend to sample whatever foods our parents give us.
After age **_3_** , we tend to stick to what we know, and the rest becomes disgusting;
hence, why different populations are comfortable with wildly different foods and disgusted by wildly different foods.
134
# The Human Mind
How do humans solve the omnivore's paradox?
(i.e., the paradox that we can consume a wide variety of foods, and thus we need a method of differentiating the good from the bad)
Before age 2, we tend to sample whatever foods our parents give us. After age 3, tend to we stick to what we know and the rest becomes disgusting.
Thus, we learn what foods are generally safe, and disgust drives us to remain within that general taste palatte.
135
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
Certain tastes/smells/sights/sensations universally disgusting to humans?
True.
136
# The Human Mind
What sort of aesthetics do our minds generally appreciate in our environments? What evolutionary pressures may have influenced this preference (think in terms of growing up on the Savannah)?
Semi-open, explorable areas
(i.e., interesting places that have areas to search for resources, places to hide, and multiple ways to escape)
137
# The Human Mind
Why might it be that human beings tend to enjoy seeing thunderstorms, fire, sunsets, ocean waves, etc.?
These are 'moments of change' that encourage us to stop, take notice, and prepare for what’s coming.
(They encourage contemplation and grounding within the current moment.)
138
# The Human Mind
How does neuroscientist Jeff Hawkins define intelligence?
Intelligence is one's internal working model of the world
139
# The Human Mind
Describe the **internal model --\> prediction --\> observed result --\> internal model tuning** mechanism of human neural networks and intelligence.
Humans use their internal models to make predictions;
Neurons ‘prepare’ to depolarize based on these pre-made expectations (based on past experiences’ effects on neural pathways and probabilities of summing to firing or inhibiting the next neuron(s));
Getting the prediction wrong activates more neurons (calling attention and reinforcement to the problem) than getting it correct.
140
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
The various portions of the neocortex are highly heterogenous and geared towards different tasks (e.g., auditory processing, visual processing, motor activity, etc.).
**False**.
## Footnote
The entire neocortex is structurally very homogenous (i.e., a ‘column’ of neocortex from the visual cortex is very similar to that of the motor cortex) - the columns are just algorithmic bundles of neurons that are involved in prediction-modeling/updating. If you hook generic neocortex up to eyes, you’ll get visual processing; if you hook it up to muscles, you’ll get motor activity; etc. This explains some of the brain’s plasticity.
141
# The Human Mind
**True/False**.
The human cortex is basically just composed of layers of neurons in structurally homogenous columns that are each algorithmically organized to process information and form an internal model of the world that can be used for predictions.
True.
142
# The Human Mind
Our minds are neural networks built to do what?
(**1**) Predict what’s going to happen next and (**2**) respond accordingly
143
# The Human Mind
Why do we undergo such intense grieving periods after the death of a loved one?
As a period of personal reassessment as to how life is changing (and thus how one’s behavior must change);
as a deterrent against the death/loss of a loved one
144
# The Human Mind
The human brain is especially good at confabulating post hoc explanations as to why we felt/did/said what we felt/did/said. What experiment illustrates this point?
**This is evident in the brains of individuals whose cerebral hemispheres are no longer connected** — these individuals can be instructed via one-half their brain to perform an action and then questioned via the other half as to why they did it. *Interestingly the questioned half will fabricate a false explanation for the individual's actions*
145
# The Human Mind
Generally, humans tend to consider themselves above average in any particular trait/skill (e.g., leadership, kindness, rationality, driving, etc.). How do we often justify these beliefs to ourselves?
We tend to identify only our strengths within that particular field (e.g., a fast driver thinks she has great reflexes and makes good time, and a slow thinks he is safely navigating the road in an efficient manner.)
146
# The Human Mind
What factor helps guard against sexual abuse of a daughter by her father?
Him spending lots of time with her when she is an infant (activating the sexual disgust circuits that prevent sibling-sibling and other intra-family sexual attraction)
147
# The Human Mind
Why do we tend to not have sexual feelings for family members?
We tend not to have sexual feelings for those with whom we were raised (i.e., siblings, parents, and others raised with the child); in fact, we tend to be hardwired to feel disgust at the thought of sex with anyone raised with us
