Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PS3822 - Consciousness > Wk12 - Theories of Consciousness > Flashcards

Wk12 - Theories of Consciousness Flashcards

1
Q

What is a problem with studying ‘consciousness’?

A

Consciousness is hard to define

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How do we know that we are conscious?

A

Because we experience thoughts and feelings

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What did Descartes believe about the existence of things?

A

Don’t believe anything exists until you have proof that it exists.

Everything is open to doubt until you have proof that it exists.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What quote is used to relate to Descartes beliefs about existence?

A

I think therefore I am

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a problem with the conscious feeling of pain?

A

We don’t know how the physical processes involved in feeling pain translate to the conscious experience of feeling something

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Why is consciousness difficult to study? (2)

A

Because everything is subjective. Consciousness has a subjective nature.

We can never be thinking about the true ‘now’. The conscious experience quickly becomes a memory. We are conscious of that memory.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How does consciousness link with religion?

A

Consciousness integrates with a belief in God

People’s perception of ‘God’ may have to change. The study of consciousness questions whether there is a soul etc. Is there something external to physical matter?

We always have to doubt things when studying consciousness. Any certainty about a God may have to go.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the 3 general theories of consciousness?

A

Monist theories

Dualist theories

Panpsychism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are 3 types of monists?

A

Mentalists

Materialists

Neutralists

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What do monists believe?

A

There is only one kind of ‘stuff’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What do dualists believe?

A

There are two kinds of ‘stuff’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What do mentalists believe?

A

There is no real matter or physical presence to anything - everything is just an idea or perception

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What would mentalists say about seeing a pencil?

A

They would say that the physical pencil didn’t actually exist - we just all perceive that a pencil is there

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is a limitation of the mentalist theory of consciousness?

A

Physical objects have enduring qualities that we all agree on. For example, everyone can universally agree that it is a pencil they are seeing, not an elephant.

This agreed upon quality suggests that there is more than just a perception and it suggests that there is a real pencil.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What can the mentalist theory not explain?

A

Cannot explain physical enduring qualities of objects

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What do materialists believe about the one kind of ‘stuff’ that exists?

A

There is only matter.

The physical universe is causally closed. Everything physical has to be caused by something else that is physical.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What do materialists believe about a soul?

A

There is no soul. There is nothing non-physical that exists.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What do materialists believe about a mind?

A

There is no mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What do materialists believe about free will?

A

There is no free will. Everything is physically determined by laws governing the interactions between matter and energy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the most scientific theory of consciousness and why?

A

Materialist monist

Everything that is physical is testable. It is possible for there to be an answer to everything. Deterministic point of view. Physical causation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a limitation of the materialist monist viewpoint?

A

Cannot explain consciousness.

Cannot explain how matter relates to how something feels.

Cannot explain our subjectivity of experience.

22
Q

What do neutral monists suggest about the one kind of ‘stuff’?

A

Stuff is neither mental nor physical. Stuff is something which cannot be named. Everything is something other than mental or physical.

23
Q

What is a limitation of the neutralist point of view?

A

Copout. Doesn’t really explain anything. There is not a name for the something that the ‘stuff’ is.

24
Q

What did Descartes believe about mind and matter?

A

Mind and matter are separate

25
Q

What theory did Descartes believe?

A

Dualism

26
Q

What is the idea of dualism?

A

There is both physical and non-physical matter which interact to explain the experience of things

27
Q

What does Cartesian Dualism refer to?

A

The idea of separation between mind and matter

28
Q

Where did Descartes suggest that physical and non-physical matter interact?

A

The pineal gland

29
Q

What is a limitation of dualism?

A

There is no information for HOW physical (matter) and non-physical (mind) substances interact to explain conscious experience

We don’t know how something physical can interact with something mental.

The argument that physical things can only be affected by physical things - If thoughts can affect brain cells then they must be using some sort of energy or matter, which are both physical stuff not purely mental. If thoughts affect physical things, surely it must have physical means to do that?

30
Q

What is the basis of panpsychism?

A

Everything in the universe is conscious, including animals, rocks, machines, molecules.

All material things have associated awareness or mental properties or a certain level of consciousness.

31
Q

What is usually the most common theory?

A

Dualism

32
Q

Which researchers caused a surge of interest in consciousness?

A

Francis Crick and Kristoph Koch (1990s)

33
Q

What else is Francis Crick famous for? How does this relate to the legitimacy of consciousness as a research topic?

A

Discovered DNA. He had credibility. People would listen to him.

34
Q

Why wasn’t consciousness taken seriously by scientists for a long time?

A

Consciousness is not easily defined, studied, nor tested.

35
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that consciousness has reliable interactions with the physical world?

A

Injury or drug use can alter consciousness

There is a relationship between the intensity of a physical sensory stimulus and the subjective perception of that stimulus

36
Q

What is an example of the relationship between the intensity of a physical sensory stimulus and our subjective perception of that stimulus?

A

Greater physical luminance of a light = brighter perceived light

37
Q

What law explains the idea that there is a relationship between the intensity of a physical sensory stimulus and our subjective perception of that stimulus?

A

Fechner’s law

38
Q

What does Fechner’s law state?

A

Subjective sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus intensity

There are definite interactions between things that we can measure as being physical and something that is being experienced

39
Q

Why do we always have to think about the brain when studying consciousness?

A

We can see a direct relationship between physical stimuli, activity in brain, and subjective experience of stimulus.

We know that physical things that happen to the brain have a big effect on conscious experience.

We know that the brain is related to consciousness in a direct way.

40
Q

What two types of problems is consciousness composed of?

A

Easy problems

Hard problems

41
Q

What problems come under ‘easy’ problems?

A

Those that are susceptible to the standard methods of cognitive science (e.g., can look for the biological mechanisms underlying consciousness)

Testable

42
Q

Is Fechner’s law an easy problem or a hard problem?

A

An easy problem. We can see a direct relationship between luminance and the perceptions of brightness

43
Q

What are examples of easy problems?

A

Looking at changes in consciousness of brain damaged patients or patients who take drugs

Looking at the biological mechanisms underlying discrimination of stimuli, the focusing of attention, and the difference between sleep and waking etc.

44
Q

What do hard problems refer to?

A

Conscious subjective experience is extremely hard to measure. Differs between everyone.

We don’t know what it is like to be an organism, or to be in a certain mental state.

How can we see how conscious experiences relate to whatever physical processes might be bringing them about?

45
Q

What is the hard problem?

A

The hard problem is the question of how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience

We know the biological mechanisms for why we feel pain. But how we experience pain is not fully explained.

We cannot explain how we get from neural activity to consciousness (neurons –> magic –> consciousness)

46
Q

What are the biological mechanisms that cause a feeling of pain?

A

Sensory stimulus

Signal goes into spinal cord

Signal goes through the thalamus and to the pain region

There are movements of ions (Cl- and K+) moving around and there are differences in brain oscillations etc.

47
Q

What is a quale?

A

A quale is the subjective, personal experience of something. It is the elements that make up a conscience experience.

48
Q

What are examples of quales?

A

You can have the quale of the smell of fresh coffee

You can have the quale of the experience of the colour red when you see the colour red. The red that we experience is the quale of red.

49
Q

Can qualia differ between people? Give an example.

A

Yes. People have different genotypes for seeing the wavelength of the colour red, leading to differences in the intensity of the redness.

50
Q

What is the hard problem?

A

How do the biological mechanisms in the brain give rise to qualia?

PS3822 - Consciousness (4 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions