Consciousness

Question 1

Pinker: 3 possible meanings to consciousness (1997)

Answer 1

sentience (ability to have emotional reactions, subjective experience)
access to information
self awareness

Question 2

What did Humphrey (1983) say about the construction of the narrative self?

Answer 2

that it’s adaptive because it helps us navigate the social world
it’s a consequence of having developed theory of mind

Question 3

What did Velmans (2009) says about the outside world?

Answer 3

that what we think of as the ‘outside word’ is actually a stream of visual consciousness inside of physical skull

Question 4

What did Chalmers say about attempts to explain consciousness?

Answer 4

say that they focus on easy problems

Question 5

Are we really free to do what we feel?

Answer 5

at least some of our conscious decisions are already prepared pre-consciously

Question 6

What does Wegner and Wheatley (1999) think about normal introspection?

Answer 6

think normal introspection leads to the illusion of a force of the will

Question 7

What did Libet (1983) measure?

Answer 7

measured readiness potentials in the pre motor cortex before people were aware of the conscious decision to act

Question 8

Wegner and Wheatley (1999) I-spy experiment

Answer 8

confederate and ppt both controlled a mouse pointer
music played and they looked through objects until they stopped at one
ppts rated whether they consciously willed the stop or confederate
made to believe they have conscious control over stopping

Question 9

brain areas associated with consciousness?

Answer 9

no single area
parietal lobe essential for spatial awareness

Question 10

Baars and Franklin: global neural workspace theory (2007)

Answer 10

most info is unconscious and processed locally
info that is selectively attended is integrated into globe workspace
(broadcasted across the brain to other processors)
info of global workspace are contents of consciousness

Question 11

Dehaene and Naccache’s theory: 3 states of consciousness

Answer 11

conscious state
pre-conscious state
subliminal state

Question 12

What is visual activation and selective attention like in conscious state?

Answer 12

+ visual activation
+ selective attention

Question 13

What is visual activation and selective attention like in pre-conscious state?

Answer 13

+ visual activation
- selective attention

Question 14

What is visual activation and selective attention like in subliminal state?

Answer 14

• visual activation
  + selective attention

Question 15

Which hemisphere may be home to the ‘narrative self’?

Answer 15

the left hemisphere