Belief & Consciousness Flashcards
Name 2 aspects of belief
- a reasoned component
“I have evidence” - an intuitive, automatic component
“It feels right”
“It all fits”
“It somehow happened”
What about belief cannot be found in imaging
The correctness of a belief is
not to be found inside the brain
Action-opinion theories of belief
beliefs are best understood as dispositions to behave or act in certain ways based on those beliefs. This perspective emphasizes the practical or behavioral implications of beliefs, suggesting that beliefs are intimately tied to actions or behaviors they motivate or justify.
What is cognitive dissonance
State of discomfort/distress when our beliefs are challenged
When is cognitive dissonance particularly challenging
beliefs about ourselves as
* Good
* Kind
* Competent
Dissonance induction & disagreement activate areas implicated in…
- negative arousal (Anterior Insula)
- conflict monitoring (Anterior Cingulate Cortex)
Dissonance reduction & resolution associated with following areas and which activity?:
> Decreased activity in the Anterior Insula and Amygdala
Increased activity in the reward system (Ventral Striatum)
Describe the descending consciousness states:
- Fully awake
- Dreamy
- Deep asleep
- Coma
When stimuli are conscious, ~300ms after stimulus onset there is …
high gamma (>40hz) frequency spike
What is necessary and sufficient for Consciousness?
- Enabling structures, e.g. thalamus.
- Content specific regions, e.g. Inferotemporal cortex for C visual object recognition.
- The “inner core” of the highly interconnected prefrontal-parietal network supports a broader, integrated role in consciousness
Speculations on main [evolutionary?] purpose of consciousness:
generate (innovative) structured / patterned solutions to novel/complex problems, via analysis of attentionally boosted relevant information
