Units Flashcards
(92 cards)
Phenomenology
How things seem to the conscious person
Consciousness
A persons subjective experience of the world and the mind includes being awake and vivd dreaming
Problem of other minds
The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others
How are minds judged?
Agency and experience
Agency
The ability to plan or have self control
Experience
Ability to feel pain and pleasure
Mind/body problem
The issue of how the mind is related to the brain
Where did Descartes think that the mind was connected to the brain? A.hypothalamus B.pituitary gland C.pineal gland D. Hippocampus
C but this is false because the pineal gland has no nerve function (part of endocrine system) today psychologists believe “the mind is what the brain does”
What are the 4 basic properties of consciousness?
- Intentionality (being directed towards an object) ex. Painting of people on bridge
- unity(resistance of division) attending to two tasks at once produces higher error
- selectivity(the capacity to include some objects but not others) focus on one this tune everything else out
- transience(the tendency to change) ->stream of consciousness ex. Cube that changes direction
Minimal consciousness
A low level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behaviour (when someone pokes you during sleep and you roll over)
Full consciousness
Consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state
Self consciousness
A distinct level of consciousness in which the persons attention is drawn to the self as an object (brings a tendency to evaluate yourself and notice your short comings)
->recognition of self in mirrors by humans and other animals
Think aloud
In which people are asked what’s on their mind in order to find out their conscious content
Experience sampling technique
In which people are asked to report their conscious experiences at particular times(ex. Participants asked to record current thoughts at random times throughout the day)
Current concerns
What a person is thinking about repeatedly
Mental control
The attempt to change conscious states of mind
Thought suppression
The conscious avoidance of a thought
Rebound effect of thought suppression
The tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression
Daydreaming
A state of consciousness in which a seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts comes to mind (fMRI research shows a widespread of brain activation known as the default network)
Ironic processes of mental control
Mental processes that can produce ironic errors because monitoring for errors can produce errors itself( if you distract someone while trying to relax it makes them more anxious than when they are not trying to relax)
Dynamic consciousness
An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the persons deepest instincts and desires and the persons inner struggle to control these forces
Repression
A mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness
Freudian slips
Errors in speech or lapse of consciousness that Freud believed gave evidence of the unconscious mind
Cognitive unconsciousness
The mental processes that give rise to a persons thoughts, choices, emotions and behaviours even though they are not experienced by the person