AOS 2 - Theories of the brain

Question 1

What is the brain vs heart debate?

2 Points

Answer 1

1. For thousands of years, debated whether mental processes and perceptions were located within the
   heart or the brain.
2. Heart hypothesis (all mental processes are located in the heart)

VS

Brain hypothesis (all mental processes are located within the brain)

Question 2

Conclusion of the brain vs heart debate?

2 Points

Answer 2

Alcmaeon, a Greek philosopher, identified the brain as the centre of mental processes

(around 500 B.C.)

Question 3

What is the Mind-body problem?

Answer 3

Whether our bodies and minds are separate entities or whether they are one in the same

For centuries, it was believed that the mind and the body were separate entities - mind could control the
body, but body couldn’t control the mind

Question 4

Conclusion of the Mind-body problem?

Answer 4

In the 17th century, René Descartes proposed that the mind and the body interact with each other through the
pineal gland (small structure located deep in the brain)

Question 5

What is Phrenology?

3 Points

Answer 5

Study of the relationship between the surface features of the skull and a person’s characteristics

Strong characteristics = bump on skull

Pseudoscience - no scientific evidence to support it