Lecture 4

Question 1

consciousness chavinism

Answer 1

only creatures that have human brains can have conscious minds

Question 2

functionalism

Answer 2

mental states should be understood based on their functional role or the causal relations they have with other mental states, sensory input and behavioral outputs, rather than their internal constitution or physical realization
- considers the mind as a whole
- takes both science and the mind seriously
- accepts the multiple realizability of mental states

Question 3

Alan Turing

Answer 3

thought that machines could think

Question 4

the functionalistic thought about the idea that mental states have intentionality

Answer 4

mental states are computational and real

Question 5

Turing machine

Answer 5

• can replace symbols by another (or the same) symbol
• can move the tape left or right (unless the computation has finished, then it stops)
• can go to a new internal state (which can be the same as the initial state)

Question 6

Turing test

Answer 6

a computer has to try to convince another person that it is a human being and not a computer
- when a machine succeeds in deceiving a person it passes the test
- passing the test means it is capable of thinking (thinking = computing)

Question 7

mental holism

Answer 7

the idea that mental states and processses cannot be understood or analyzed in isolation, but rather must be considered as part of a larger interconnected system, where the meaning or content of individual mental states depends on their relationships with other mental states within the system

Question 8

cognitivism

Answer 8

the view that mental states and processes can be understood as involving the manipulation of internal representations or symbols, akin to computational processes
- from the perspective of cognitivism, computers should be able to think

Question 9

computationalism

Answer 9

cognition consists of a set of discrete mental states that are symbolic representations according to certain rules

Question 10

classical AI

Answer 10

committed to cognitivism, and implements these ideas in artificial systems

Question 11

functionalism vs MBIT

Answer 11

MBIT
reduction:
- what is the causal role analysis of X?
- whatever fulfils that role is X
- this is MBIT’s interpretation of supervenience

Functionalism
reductive explanation:
- what is the causal role analysis of Y?
- whatever fulfils that role realizes Y
- this is an alternative interpretation of supervenience

Question 12

Shakey the robot

Answer 12

a machine able to move from A to B by taking pictures and planning a route
- not biologically realistic due to humans able to think faster

Question 13

filling cabinet method

Answer 13

you put all the information in the system that is needed (MT) before you let the system interact with the world
- biologically unrealistic as humans are not wired that way

Question 14

serial processing

Answer 14

another issue with machine functionalism as it is not biologically realistic that it processes information in a serial manner

Question 15

John Searle

Answer 15

argued that a computer that has the appropriate set of rules to manipulate symbols will not be able to actually understand anything
- Chinese room experiment
- syntax doesn’t lead to semantics

Question 16

language problem with the Turing test

Answer 16

animals are unable to read and write and can therefore not pass the test
- this does not mean that they can’t think

Question 17

last problem with functionalism

Answer 17

it is a brain-centric theory about the conscious mind
- the mental “software” runs on the “hardware” that is the brain