1 introduction Flashcards
How can we characterize Cognition?
entails all processes and structures in our mind that contribute to an organism’s knowledge representation of the world
components e.g.: perception, attention, learning, memory, thinking
What are the goals of Cognitive Science?
figure out internal workings of mind/mental (unobservable) world between stimulus & response
formulate theories on information processing, testing them empirically & make them useful for application
What are the three positions on the philosophical mind-body problem
Cartesian Dualism
Monism
Parallelism
What is Cartesian Dualism?
Descartes, Popper
matter (body, res extensa) & mind (res cogitans) are of a fundamentally different nature & interact
What is the problem of Cartesian Dualism?
How can immaterial processes (plans) cause material things (actions) without violating the laws of physics (conservation of impetus & energy)
(how can mind move body, immaterial energy cannot be measured)
What is monism?
mind & body are identical but look differently (either matter or spirit)
What is the problem with monism?
Why are there different perspectives, only avoids critical question about the relation
no explanation how reduction of one manifestation to the other
qualia problem (clear how red rose is perceived but why is is perceived as red?)
different emotions lead to the same physical reaction
Characterize Parallelism
Fechner, Leibniz
mind & body are different but run in parallel through pre-stabilized harmony
(if I want to use my finder, physical processes run through my finger)
What is the problem about parallelism?
unplausible
intellectually unsatisfying
What is the computational theory of mind?
attempt in philosophy to make cognition part of natural sciences
mental processes are characterized as formal (computational) operations on internal representations of information
computer as a metaphor for mind
provides rich language for formulating theories in cognitive science
What are the advantages of computational theory of mind?
useful language for formulating theories on cognition
What are disadvantages of the computational theory of mind?
can only describe how certain representations can be processed
no formal language of semantics (meaning)/intentionality -> highly relevant for behavior
no explanation/complete theory of cognition
some processes are better described by other mechanisms than formal operations/symbols
Why must a scientific theory be falsifiable?
Scientific theories should make testable empirical predictions
As they shall apply to any case that meets the specified criteria, it is never possible to confirm a theory because there is an infinite amount of situations that would have to be tested. Thus, to be corroborated, cases in which the theory could have been falsified but wasn’t need to be presented
Falsifiable = non-trivial
How is strong evidence in favor of a theory generated?
Strong evidence only complies with theories that match the data precisely
Should not be compatible with a wide range of predictions
there should be a possibility that the results falsify the given theory
Characterize methodological behaviorism.
A way of making theories in which independent variables are in empirically observable relations, e.g. through latent theoretical variables as mediators, with observable dependent variables
