Consciousness Flashcards
What does Chalmers believe about the explanatory gap?
That it will never be bridged as physical theory can be explained without consciousness, and other theories (e.g. dualism) rely on immeasurable “magic” to describe consciousness.
What do Crick and Koch suggest though a neuroscientific approach to reductionism?
That certain 35 - 75 Hz neural oscillations in the cerebral cortex correlate with awareness and could provide a basis for consciousness or suggest a binding mechanism.
Describe Baars’ global workspace theory.
Contents of consciousness are contained within a global workspace which acts as a ‘communal blackboard’ for the rest of the system and explain contrasts between conscious and non-conscious cognitive functioning.
What is the category mistake of the ghost in the machine?
The idea that there must be ah intelligent inner pilot guiding the complex movements of the human body.
Give the main positive of Descartes’ legacy.
He allowed medical science o advance more easily without offending church’s dogma.
Give the main negative of Descartes’ legacy.
Established the mind-body problem that has become a mental health - vs. medical model, affecting mental disorders.
How did William James define psychology?
The science of mental life/the mind.
What did William James believe were the most important type of phenomena in psychology?
Feelings, cognition, decisions etc., the condition they occur under, and their purpose.
In pragmatism/functionalism, what are the components of Me?
He bodily/material self, the social self and the spiritual self.
In pragmatism/functionalism, what differentiates I and Me?
Me is the observed self and is changing and I is the observer which stays constant.
In pragmatism/functionalism, how is will defined?
A state of mind which everyone knows of oneself and which no definition can make plainer.
Where does logical positivism come into neobehaviourism?
It asserts that primacy of observation in assessing truth, and believes arguments are only meaningful when based on observable data, which is consistent with the behaviourist understanding that rules of behaviour are all we can certain of (e.g. Watson).
Give the 2 basic premises of neobehavioralism.
The most effective way to discover basic theoretical principles is to study a phenomenon in it’s simplest form and that understand that behaviour helps us understand human action.
What did Tolman believe was molecular behaviour?
Physiological reactions.
What did Tolman believe was molar behaviour?
The functional consequences of a given act (and the real psychological explanation of behaviour).
What model of animal learning did Tolman believe in?
Hypothesis-testing.
What is the key factor of Hull’s goal gradient hypothesis?
The habit: the tendency for a given stimulus to evoke the same response on successive occasions (through aquifer response readiness activated by drive).
Who was a radical behaviourist and devout empiricist?
Skinner.
What did Skinner believe was key to scientific explanation?
“Demonstration of functional relationships.”
How did Skinner believe behaviour was controlled?
The environment controls individual behaviour, which is lawful.
What 5 things did Freud believe drives us?
Irrational forces, unconscious motivations, biological drives, instinctual drives, and psychosexual events.
What 2 things did Freud believe drives behaviour?
Aggression and sexuality (libido).
What did Freud believe “bad dreams” exist to do?
To fulfil wishes we want to conceal by censoring them and showing them in a disfigured state.
Give 3 reasons infantile sexuality can be considered a dangerous solution.
1) It distorts our view on relationships, neurotic conflicts and ignores cultural factors.
2) It ignores the interacting of different things.
3) It leads to an analyst assuming there are final (biologically driven) limitations of therapy that do not exist.
Give the 5 key aspects of Freudian therapy.
Free association, interpretation, resistance, transference, and dream analysis.
Give the first principle that evolutionary psychology has drawn from biology.
That the brain functions as a computer creating behaviours appropriate to the environment.
Give the second principle that evolutionary psychology has drawn from biology.
Neural circuits are designed by the nervous system to solve problems that our ancestors faced.
Give the third principle that evolutionary psychology has drawn from biology.
Most of our circuitry is unconscious, meaning we think problems we solve are simple when we actually use complex circuitry to do this.
Give the fourth principle that evolutionary psychology has drawn from biology.
Different neural circuits are specialised for different adaptive problems.
Give the fifth principle that evolutionary psychology has drawn from biology.
Our modern skulls house a Stone Age mind.
Define existentialism in humanistic psychology.
Every individual has free will and is a responsible agent determining their own development.
Define phenomenology in humanistic psychology.
Knowledge arises through sensed and minds.
What is the congruent version of Rogers’ concept of self?
Our self-image and our actions/behaviours are consistent and balanced.
How could Rogers’ unconditional positive regard during childhood create incongruence in his concept of self?
People adapt themselves to be loved and accepted and so sacrifice aspects of their ‘true’ selves.
What attitudes are necessary in a client-centred therapist?
Genuiness, UPR and empathetic understanding.
What does client-centred therapy attempt?
Help people reorganise their subjective world and actuality the self.
