Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Flashcards
What are two of Descartes’ challenges to materialism?
- mind’s capacity to report thoughts through speech
- flexibility in reasoning
Machines should not be able to do these both
What factors helped consciousness become something to be studied in the lab?
- better definition of consciousness
- experimental manipulation and minimal differences
- recognition of value of subjective experiences rather than only objective observations
Problem of other minds
Only one mind is certain to exist for each individual, their own, and so it is difficult to understand others’ experiences
Philosophers on dualism and materialism
Chalmers - dualism
“the hard problem of consciousness can’t be solved purely by neuroscience”
Dennett - materialism
“the factory is empty”
Chalmers’ easy and hard problems of consciousness
Easy problem - how does the mind work physically?
- could be explained through mechanisms and science
Hard problem - how do physical mechanisms produce subjective experiences?
- neuroscience does not provide satisfactory explanations
Cerebral planes
CAS - FAE
Coronal plane - looking at face
Axial plane - looking from above
Sagittal plane - looking at ears
Types of brain injuries
- traumatic / intracranial injuries
- stroke
- tumour
Types of stroke
haemorrhagic - rupture of blood vessel, leading to leakage
ischemic - blockage of blood vessels
How did conscious perception become experimentable?
- conscious access is sufficient for consciousness
- many illusions are available to study with
- illusions are subjective but reproducible - these are trustworthy
Brain mechanisms for consciousness
- conscious access: bringing information to thoughts
- selective attention: filter applied to avoid information overload
- vigilance: level of excitement to support conscious states
- wakefulness: sleep-wake cycle from subcortical mechanisms
Conditions for conscious access
Vigilance and attention are enabling and necessary but not sufficient for conscious access
Metacognition
Ability to think about your own thoughts and mind
Minimal contrast
Pair of experimental conditions where only one can be perceived
Binocular rivalry
Two distinct images will spontaneously oscillate but can never be perceived simultaneously
Stimuli are constant but reports of change
Psychological refractory period
Delay between perceiving and being conscious while it is being processed
- no perception of delay as consciousness is focused on earlier item
- subjective timing of events constantly off
Inattentional blindness
Mental isolation where we lose awareness of surroundings
Change blindness
Inability to detect which part of an image has changed, with a delay in between each version of the image
Subliminal images and masking
Image presented below threshold of consciousness, even with considerable effort
Usually when presented less than 50±5ms
Participants cannot usually name masked object
Previous hypotheses of consciousness
- only left hemisphere can be conscious as it has language to report with
- only some cortical pathways are conscious
- only information that has reached cortex is conscious as it is the most evolved part of the brain
N400 wave
Increases when stimulus is unexpected in context
- can occur unconsciously
- unconscious stimuli activate left temporal lobe
- conscious stimuli activate various regions
- requires attention
Unconscious ideas
I initiation
I incubation
I illumination
V verification
Crowding
One item remains invisible as other items are constantly fighting for perception
Neural correlate of consciousness
Minimal set of events necessary and sufficient for conscious experience
Functionalist view of consciousness
- mental states are identified by role
- consciousness selected by evolution
- consciousness serves adaptive function
What is the main function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?
Working memory
Coincidence-based and memory-trace conditioning
Coincidence-based: conditioned and unconditioned stimuli overlap temporally
Memory-trace: temporal gap in between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli
Conscious and unconscious inhibition networks
Conscious inhibition network:
left and right IFC, pre-SMA, ACC, etc.
Unconscious inhibition network:
left and right IFC, pre-SMA
Signal detection theory
How to tell whether a signal is detected
d’ - sensitivity
β - decision criterion (to say whether signal present)
Liberal / conservative decision criteria
Functions of consciousness
Bayesian inference / sampling
- brain anticipates input using stored knowledge
Working memory
- coincidence / memory-trace conditioning
Multiple-step algorithms
- sequential decision making
Social learning
- perceptual construction facilitates communication
Meditation claims
T training - improvement of state induction over time
R reproducible - predictable states
E expertise - development of traits
Positives of meditation
- variability in tasks and stimuli
- intensity and duration
- enhanced higher order cognitive functions
- inherent motivation
- complexity
- balance of dullness and arousal
Types of mediation
Focused attention, open monitoring, loving kindness and non-dual awareness
Sciousness and consciousness
sciousness - simple and bare being
consciousness - content of self
