Special Topic III Flashcards
Why are people bad at abstract reasoning?
Better at real-world/concrete situations because they’re familiar
Social Exchange Theory
Important for people to cooperate in a way that is beneficial to them
Important to detect/punish cheating
Cosmides & Tooby
Wason task performance improves when presented in “cheating” terms, even when not otherwise familiar context
Global Workspace Theory
Identifies consciousness with long-lasting, widespread neuronal activation/circuits (fronto-parietal)
Allows “global access” to various contents
If things are conscious, we have full access to them (we can talk about it and see it and stuff)
Fits intuitions we have about consciousness
Unconscious processed should be:
Localized
Very brief
Major NCC prediction
P3b (ERP component) should only occur consciously
First sustained, widespread component
Known to involve fronto-parietal circuits
Observable across large portions of the cortex
Global Workspace people think P3b is a neural correlate of consciousness
When you’re aware of a stimulus, we should see P3b
When you’re unaware of stimulus, weak or no P3b
BUT recent evidence suggests P3b not a neural correlate of consciousness
Could get P3b with stimulus you’re not aware of
Silverstein et al
Oddball paradigm
Get clear subliminal P3b and later slow wave
P3b cortically widespread (not localized)
Pitts et al
Don’t get P3b even with conscious stimuli if stimulus is not task-relevant
P3b is more about attention, not consciousness
Higher-order thought (HOT) theory
Mental content becomes phenomenally conscious only when also have another thought about it (a higher-order thought)
Ex: “I am seeing red”
This is usually unconscious
Possible advantages of HOT
Fits idea that to be conscious of x also implies that we are aware of being in that state
Problems with HOT
Others argue that being aware of x does not entail that we’re aware of being in that state
Seeing red doesn’t entail you’re thinking “I’m seeing red right now”
Integrated Information Theory
Argues consciousness is a function of integrated information
How many possible mental states there are and how inegrated they are
Attempts to quanitfy this with (“phi”)
IIT possible advantages
May enable objective measures of awareness
Suggests quasi-panpsychic approach (everything is conscious)
Some results suggest phi correlates with states of awareness (phi asleep < phi awake)
IIT disadvantages
Measuring phi very difficult
Maybe IIT is measure of intelligence/complexity, not awareness per se
Suggests quasi-panpsychic model (if dislike this)
Tripartite Theory
Argues two kinds of consciousness:
Phenomenal (1st-order): being aware of x
Reflective (2nd order): thinking about 1st order content
So, can have 1st order without 2nd order but not reverse
3 states:
Unconscious
Only 1st
Both 1st and 2nd
TT controversy
Most think objective vs. subjective methods are the same thing
