week 3

Question 1

What are the three meanings of consciousness according to Pinker (1997)?

Answer 1

Sentience, access to information, and self-awareness.

Question 2

What is the hard problem of consciousness, as described by Chalmers?

Answer 2

Understanding why subjective experience arises from physical processes.

Question 3

What does sentience refer to in consciousness?

Answer 3

Subjective experience or phenomenological awareness

Question 4

What does access to information mean in the context of consciousness?

Answer 4

The ability to report subjective experiences

Question 5

What is self-awareness in consciousness?

Answer 5

The narrative self, where one recognizes oneself as experiencing feelings and thoughts

Question 6

Who proposed the narrative self is adaptive for social navigation?

Answer 6

Nicolas Humphrey

Question 7

What profound idea did Velmans propose about the outside world?

Answer 7

It is a stream of visual consciousness inside our skulls, constrained by sensory information

Question 8

What are the easy and hard problems of consciousness as defined by Chalmers?

Answer 8

Easy problems relate to functions of conscious systems; hard problems address why experience arises

Question 9

What is the Global Neural Workspace theory?

Answer 9

It states that information integrated in a global workspace becomes the content of consciousness

Question 10

What do Dehaene and Naccache’s theory states about conscious states?

Answer 10

Conscious states require activation in visual areas and top-down attention

Question 11

What are the three states of consciousness in Dehaene and Naccache’s model?

Answer 11

Conscious, Pre-conscious, and Subliminal

Question 12

What is the primary critique of consciousness theories in addressing the hard problem?

Answer 12

They do not explain why integrated cortical information is consciously experience

Question 13

What experiment by Wegner explores the illusion of will?

Answer 13

The “I Spy” experiment

Question 14

What are the conditions that enhance the illusion of conscious will?

Answer 14

Priority, consistency, and exclusivity

Question 15

What did Libet’s readiness potential study show about free will?

Answer 15

The brain initiates actions before conscious decisions are reported

Question 16

What advancement did Soon et al. provide on Libet’s experiment?

Answer 16

Predicting decisions using multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) fMRI

Question 17

What is the WWW model by Brass and Haggard?

Answer 17

It characterizes stages of free decision-making: What, When, Whether

Question 18

What is the definition of qualia?

Answer 18

Introspectively accessible, phenomenal aspects of mental lives

Question 19

What did Melloni et al. find about cortical integration?

Answer 19

It involves synchronization of cortical oscillations

Question 20

What brain areas are associated with consciousness according to Rees (2007)?

Answer 20

Superior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal areas

Question 21

What does selective attention influence according to Baars?

Answer 21

Selective attention integrates information into the global workspace

Question 22

What is the key feature distinguishing consciousness from selective attention?

Answer 22

Attention can occur without consciousness, enhancing or inhibiting unconscious processing

Question 23

What did split-brain studies by Gazzaniga and Sperry reveal?

Answer 23

The left hemisphere controls speech, and split-brain patients adapt to integrate information

Question 24

What is the role of the left hemisphere in split-brain patients?

Answer 24

It is considered the home of the narrative self and superior consciousness

Question 25

What are some of the brain areas activated during shifts in visual awareness?

Answer 25

Superior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Question 26

What is the role of the corpus callosum in consciousness?

Answer 26

It integrates information between hemispheres, critical for unified consciousness

Question 27

What profound message does Velmans’ perspective suggest about visual experience?

Answer 27

Visual experience is as internal as a dream

Question 28

What does the readiness potential indicate about conscious decisions?

Answer 28

Actions are initiated pre-consciously

Question 29

What did Baars and Franklin contribute to consciousness theory?

Answer 29

The Global Neural Workspace theory

Question 30

How is visual consciousness often studied in research?

Answer 30

Through integration and synchronization of information in cortical areas

Question 31

What does the term “qualia” specifically refer to?

Answer 31

Subjective sensory experiences

Question 32

What does the split-brain phenomenon demonstrate about the sense of self?

Answer 32

The narrative self may be localized in the left hemisphere

Question 33

How do theories of consciousness address free will?

Answer 33

They suggest conscious actions may be pre-prepared unconsciously

Question 34

What does the Global Neural Workspace theory highlight about attention?

Answer 34

Attention is necessary for integrating information into conscious awareness

Question 35

What are some indirect measures of consciousness used in studies?

Answer 35

Verbal reports and subjective judgments

Question 36

How do subliminal stimuli compare to conscious stimuli in brain processing?

Answer 36

Both activate networks, but activation is higher during consciousness

Question 37

What happens when cortical oscillations synchronize according to Melloni et al.?

Answer 37

This synchronization likely contributes to consciousness

Question 38

Why is the left hemisphere considered dominant in split-brain patients?

Answer 38

It is responsible for speech and the narrative self

Question 39

What is the “hard problem” of consciousness according to Chalmers?

Answer 39

Explaining why and how subjective experience arises from brain processes