Lecture 3

Question 1

Dualism

Answer 1

Idea by Descartes
Physical Body= Earth matter
Mind= Soul
Interact through a middle gland in the brain

Question 2

Dualism Critiques

Answer 2

• How can the soul interact with matter?

- Why is the mind affected by physical effects (electrocution, chemicals)

Question 3

Eye Image Processing

Answer 3

• Retina flips image upside down
  Brain does not flip these images right side up
  Interprets down as up and up as down

Question 4

Computational Theory of the Mind

Answer 4

Belief- Information Representations in the Brain
Thinking- Transformation from one information representation to another
Desire- Cybernetic Feedback loop
Wanting to move from current state to goal state

Question 5

Brain ≠ Computer

Answer 5

Computer- Digital (1s and 0s) Brain is Analogue (continuous processing)
Computer serial processing(one at a time), brain is parallel processing
Computer made of reliable parts, Brain made of noisy neurons
Computer for computational and mathematical problems Brain for common sense, moving, seeing, speaking

Question 6

Brain ~ Computer

Answer 6

Both information processing systems

Question 7

Multiple levels of Analyses

Answer 7

Neurobiology (Hardware)
Cognitive information processing (Software)
Phylogenetic Origins (History)
Ontogenetic Origins (development)
Evolutionary Foundations (Design)

Question 8

Corpus Callosum

Answer 8

Connects the two hemispheres of the brain and delivers information between them

Question 9

Split Brain Patient Experiments

Answer 9

• Flash two different images in each eye
• Ask subjects to articulate the two images
• Images in the right visual field can be described but those in the left cannot
• Spacial superiority found in the left visual field

Question 10

Michael Posner Study

Answer 10

Flashed A and a at patients to see their interpretation
Shows that we perceive the images seen on our retinal eye first
Then we interpret what these images mean which requires processing time

Question 11

fMRI

Answer 11

Where does language come from?
Control: Take an MRI of an individual who repeats the word walk
Experiment: Take an MRI of an individual who says walk and converts it to walked