Task 1 Flashcards
What is 3rd person data about?
It is about objectively measurable variables - neural processes, behavior, environmental interactions
What is 1st person data?
Subjective reports of conscious experience
What type of method does 1st person data heavily rely on?
introspection
Why is the study of conscious experience difficult?
We’re trying to scientifically investigate phenomena, that are only accessible to the individual and are very subjective. In other words, we’re trying to explain 1st person data by 3rd person methods
What are four problems about reporting 1st person data?
1) Introspection changes the experience
2) It is impossible to access all experiences at a given time
3) Illusions might occur
4) Some subjective experiences are impossible to express in language
Some subjective experiences are impossible to express in language. What is the scientific term for this phenomenon?
Difficulty of Formalism
What role does the “Bridging Principle” play in the neuroscientific study of consciousness?
It is something we assume to be correlated with consciousness. We then don’t measure conscious directly, but rather the bridging principle and associate it with other neural processes
Why would it be theoretically better to not have to rely on a bridging principle?
The quality of the scientific findings will always be based on the quality of the bridging principle.
Explain this statement: “The goal of using a bridging principle is to stop using it”
After associating a neural process with the bridging principle, we can now stop using the bridging principle. This is because the bridging principle is said to correlate with consciousness, and thus the newfound neural process can now be called NCC (Neural correlate of consciousness) and the bridging principle is redundant.
What is one argument for that the NCC of visual consciousness is not in V1?
V1 does not have direct connections to the PFC. Using the bridging principle of global availability makes V1 thus invalid.
Define the vegetative state
Patients appear to be awake but have no sign of awareness. They don’t exhibit purposeful behavior in response to external stimuli
Describe the famous experiment by Owen.
When being told to imagine playing tennis (walking through their house), the vegetative subjects showed activity in the motor area (hippocampus) which is almost identical to the activity of healthy controls. Owen is thus arguing for the presence of some consciousness in vegetative patients.
What are some points of criticism against Owen’s study?
- Moral Dilemmas
- Perhaps the physical brain of the patients was still reflexive but the activity was not accompanied by consciousness
- If the patient was conscious and there was no damage to motor pathways, why is there no motor action?
