Relatie tussen bewustzijn en aandacht + theorieën

Question 1

Spotlight metaphor

Answer 1

Baars: attention acts like a searchlight with which we grope in the dark. We see what falls within the spotlight. (Attention = selection mechanism

Question 2

filter theorie

Answer 2

To what extent does filtering of information take place at an early or late stage? (Attention = selection mechanism).

Question 3

Perceptual load theory

Answer 3

Bottleneck: only limited capacity is possible due to consciousness. (Attention = selection mechanism)

Question 4

Premotor theory

Answer 4

Selective spatial attention ensures that attentionfor a certain position in space is already prepared by just looking at it or reaching (instead of moving, you make the move in your head)

Question 5

Inattentional blindness

Answer 5

Being blind to obvious striking events because you are focusing on something specific. Or change blindness: not seeing anything change between two scenes because the blind spots in your field of vision fill the field as you expect to see.

Question 6

james’s theory

Answer 6

To focus your attention on something, you must be conscious about it

Question 7

Tononi and Koch

Answer 7

selective attention is necessary, but not sufficient to shape a conscious perception

Question 8

allport

Answer 8

Attention or consciousness is not a separate function, it’s one whole concept.

Question 9

Attention schema Graziano

Answer 9

Attention is a neural competence mechanism that depends on a person’s goals, expectations and condition. By being aware of this internal attention model, top-down control takes place in the brain.

Question 10

sperling and block

Answer 10

You can have P-C, but if you don’t have A-C, there is no cognitive access to perception

Question 11

Block’s A and P-C

Answer 11

Phenomenal or P-consciousness: this is the experience of a certain state, what it is like to experience that state. In contrast, access consciousness, or A-consciousness: the ability to speak rationally and reasonably and perform actions. Block asked himself the question “is it possible to experience and tell about it as a whole or can it be seen separately?

Question 12

Selection and filtering

Answer 12

inked to the filter theory, spotlight theory, perceptual load theory. (Attention causes consciousness)

Question 13

covert attention

Answer 13

focusing on something without moving our eyes

Question 14

overt attention

Answer 14

the attention that becomes visible because of our eye movements

Question 15

Top down

Answer 15

Top down = also called endogenous orientation: internal processes ensure the selection of attention

Question 16

Bottom up

Answer 16

Bottom up = also called exogenous touch: what enters through our senses, so more externally

Question 17

Exogenous attention

Answer 17

: attention that is directed by means of something that happened in the area.

Question 18

Endogenous attention:

Answer 18

consciously choosing where you focus your attention. And don’t let yourself be distracted

Question 19

Pop out effect

Answer 19

deviations that stand out, making it easier to observe. Often many endogenous or top down processes are required. But throughexogenous, bottom-up processes you see what stands out

Question 20

Neuroanatomy attention

Answer 20

How attention works in our brain: a lot via the visual system. Dorsal system: ‘where’ route, action, grabbing, catching, moving. Ventral system: ‘what’ route, perceiving to recognize things without interacting with them. Other areas of interest: frontal and parietal lobes, subcortical structures such as thalamus and superior colliculi

Question 21

Spatial attention and neglect

Answer 21

brain damage (often superior parietal lobe). Part visual field is no longer consciously perceived. Consequence: stimuli is not recognized properly or not seen at all.

Question 22

Descartes’ interactionism

Answer 22

interaction takes place in the pineal gland. William Benjamin Carpenter proposed that physiological activity in one direction generates sensational consciousness, while in the other direction, sensations, emotions, and will-forces release the nerve power with which the relevant part of the brain is charged. Both could not explain how this exactly takes place.

Question 23

Libet’s Conscious Mental Field Experiment

Answer 23

Libet’s Conscious Mental Field (CMF) works in both directions. In one direction, it offers “the mediator between the physical activities of nerve cells and the emergenceof subjective experience.” In the other ‘a causal ability to influence or alter the functions of a neuronal nervous system

Question 24

Baars’ global workspace theory

Answer 24

consciousness is a functional biological adaptation. Facilities such as: accessing, disseminating and exchanging information, exercising global coordination and control flow through this functional biological pathway.

Question 25

Neuronal Global workspace theory

Answer 25

Consciousness has a precise role inthe brain in terms of: selecting, amplifying and propagating relevant thoughts. It also provides a summary of the environment so that an individual can act

Question 26

Eliminativism

Answer 26

consciousness does not exist; only material basis.

Question 27

Epiphenomenalism

Answer 27

consciousness is a side effect in the process of converting sensory information into behavior

Question 28

HOP / HOT theory:

Answer 28

HOP = higher order perception and HOT = higher order thoughts. Being aware of a mental state means that you can monitor first order mental states in a quasi-perceptual way. In HOT: a mental state is conscious when a person has a higher order thought aboutthe effect their current state has

Question 29

Chinese Room argument (AI  Searle)

Answer 29

The same, according to Searle, is true of computers, which are merely symbol-processing machines, without any understanding of their own actions. Strong artificial intelligence is therefore impossible.One answer to the problems raised by Searle comes from AI researchers John McCarthy and Robert Wilensky, who say that while no part of the system understands Chinese, the system as a whole can have a fluid conversation. While a processor alone may not be able to perform a particular task (understanding Chinese, drawing square roots), a full computer with the right program and input can.

Question 30

Descartes’ theory on the relationship between conscious mind and body
- descartes dualisme

Answer 30

escartes is known for his praise: “I think, therefore I am!”. He said consciousness could be located  pineal gland. Descartes dualism  there are external things which makes our body andthere are more internal things, like thinking, which make our mind (= substance dualism). Also defined as: the body is material (extended) and our consciousness is non-material (nonextended). It doesn’t mean that when you understand the brain, you also understand consciousness  because the brain is material and consciousness is nonmaterial

Question 31

dual aspect theory

Answer 31

Opposite to this is property dualism (dual aspect theory): the world consists only of a substance; and must be expressed in properties. So alsocalled objective and subjective descriptions (properties). More tendency towards only physical substances: otherwise mental substances are not possible.