Consciousness and Its Challenges
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Questions and Answers

What is the condition characterized by a failure to notice stimuli on the side opposite a hemispheric lesion?

  • Balint’s syndrome
  • Blindsight
  • Unilateral visual neglect (correct)
  • Extinction

    • In unilateral visual neglect, what does the term 'extinction' refer to?

  • Failure to disengage attention from the target in the good field (correct)
  • Loss of residual visual capability
  • The complete loss of visual perception
  • The inability to shift visual attention to new locations

    • What is the primary reason blindsight patients can detect visual stimuli despite cortical damage?

  • Enhanced sensitivity to stimuli in the affected area
  • Increased reliance on conscious processing
  • Compensation through neural plasticity
  • Functional subcortical visual pathways (correct)

    • Which neurological disorder involves a loss of the ability to voluntarily shift visual attention due to bilateral damage?

    <p>Balint’s syndrome (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the paradox of unilateral visual neglect imply about patients' awareness of their visual environment?

    <p>Patients are aware at some level of the entire visual field but fail to attend to it. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the findings from studies involving monkeys with removed visual cortices suggest about visual processing areas?

    <p>Multiple visual processing areas support unconscious vision. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When babies with contralesional blindness were presented with a single target, what was observed?

    <p>They oriented toward the target presented. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which aspect of unilateral visual neglect allows patients to sometimes report objects in their field of vision?

    <p>Involuntary reflexive responses to stimuli (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the attenuation model propose about information processing?

    <p>Information is suppressed relative to other important signals. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which selective attention model suggests that selection occurs late in the processing stream?

    <p>Response selection model (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the load model explain the timing of early and late selection?

    <p>Early selection occurs when tasks have high perceptual load. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one key feature of the early filter model?

    <p>Information that is not selected is discarded completely. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What phenomenon does unilateral visual neglect primarily illustrate?

    <p>Failure to perceive stimuli on one side of the visual field. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Blindsight refers to which of the following abilities?

    <p>Seeing without being consciously aware of visual stimuli. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What best describes the central idea of the information bottleneck?

    <p>There is a limited capacity for information processing in the brain. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement best defines how selective attention works?

    <p>It focuses mental processing on relevant events while ignoring distractions. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the study of choice blindness suggest about decision making?

    <p>Many intuitions can be illusions and easily influenced by unconscious processes. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which property of consciousness is demonstrated by individuals failing to notice a significant change in their environment?

    <p>Selectivity of consciousness (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is meant by intentionality of consciousness?

    <p>The quality of consciousness being directed towards an object. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does change blindness impact our perception?

    <p>It demonstrates that we often miss significant details even when they are visible. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What phenomenon occurs when individuals report a preference for a photo they did not consciously choose?

    <p>Choice blindness (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the dichotic listening task illustrate about selective attention?

    <p>Selective attention can involve ignoring certain auditory information. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement reflects the transience of consciousness?

    <p>Conscious thoughts are fleeting and constantly changing. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the brain activity before a conscious decision challenge the concept of free will?

    <p>It shows that brain activity can precede conscious choice, questioning voluntary action. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of unity of consciousness in multitasking scenarios?

    <p>It might cause confusion when trying to divide attention. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does unconscious influence play in decision making according to the studies mentioned?

    <p>Unconscious processes can steer decisions, often without our awareness. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Flashcards

    Posner cueing task

    A study that analyzes how attention is guided by internal processes or external cues.

    Homunculus problem

    The issue of multiple processes competing to control attention, with no single locus for control.

    Unilateral visual neglect

    A condition where patients ignore stimuli on one side of their visual field due to hemispheric brain lesions.

    Extinction in neglect

    Failure to notice stimuli in the bad field when attention is focused on the good field.

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    Balint’s syndrome

    A disorder where patients cannot voluntarily shift visual attention due to bilateral brain damage.

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    Blindsight

    Residual visual ability in patients with cortical damage, reliant on subcortical pathways.

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    Visual processing areas

    Multiple areas beyond the V1 support visual perception, even unconsciously.

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    Attention shift requirement

    The ability to shift attention is necessary for conscious awareness of visual stimuli.

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    Selective attention

    The process of focusing mental processing on a limited range of events.

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    Information bottleneck

    When mental processing has a limited capacity, affecting information retention.

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    Early filter model

    Suggests information is discarded early in processing, but not entirely lost.

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    Attenuation model

    Proposes information isn't discarded but suppressed to prioritize important signals.

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    Response selection model

    Suggests selection happens late in processing before a response is made.

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    Load model

    Explains early and late selection based on task difficulty and perceptual load.

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    Dichotic listening task

    A method to study selective attention by having different messages in each ear.

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    GSR study

    Investigated how physiological responses relate to unattended information processing.

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    Brain activity before action

    The brain shows activity before a voluntary decision to move.

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    Choice blindness

    Unawareness of decision-making processes, justifying choices retroactively.

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    Intentionality of consciousness

    Consciousness directed towards specific objects or events.

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    Change blindness

    Failure to notice significant changes due to lack of attention.

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    Unity of consciousness

    The ability to maintain a coherent mind while processing information.

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    Selectivity of consciousness

    Including some objects in awareness while excluding others.

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    Dichotic listening

    A task involving hearing different messages in each ear.

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    Unconscious influence

    The impact of unconscious processes on decision making.

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    Count gorilla study

    A study showing missed details (like a gorilla) when focused elsewhere.

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    Transience of consciousness

    The fleeting nature of thoughts and awareness.

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    Study Notes

    Consciousness

    • Cartesian Theatre: A mental screen where things appear presented to the mind's eye. Impossible to share experiences with others.

    • Hard Problem of Consciousness: Difficulty explaining subjective experience.

    • Phenomenology: How things seem to a conscious person, in terms of quality of experience. Three mysteries include the homunculus problem, problem of other minds, and mind-body problem.

    Homunculus Problem

    • Difficulty explaining consciousness by suggesting another internal self to do the experiencing.

    • Essentially a mini version of yourself inside your head making decisions for you. This process would continue indefinitely.

    Free Will

    • The common assumption individuals are in control of their decisions.

    • The idea of free will may be an illusion affected by reinforcements and punishments.

    • Science may undermine personal choice. Accepting that free will isn't a personal choice is conceptually challenging.

    Problem of Other Minds

    • Difficulty in perceiving the consciousness of others.

    • The subjective experience of the world around us causes a barrier to understanding others' consciousness.

    Qualia

    • Subjective experiences of our mental life.

    • Qualia cannot be directly accessed by others; hence, impossible to understand another person's experience.

    • Impossible to understand the same experiences.

    • Philosopher's zombie - hypothetical nonconscious being. Their actions are like ours, but inside, they lack an experience.

    Materialism

    • Philosophical position: Mental states are a product of physical systems.

    • Consciousness can be explained by a characteristic of the brain.

    Anthropomorphism

    • Attributing human qualities to non-human things, for example appreciating what a puppy feels.

    Mind-Body Problem

    • The issue of how the mind relates to the brain and body.

    • The process by which the mind and body affect each other is not clear.

    Studies:

    • Online surveys compared minds between different targets with different capacities of experience and agency, eg babies, chimps, robots, humans, etc.

    • Brain activity measured to determine conscious decisions to move their hands and choice, measured in milliseconds.

    • Studies on choice blindness, adults choosing between photos, showed unconscious choices leading to explanations for the choice.

    • Studies on unconscious influence on decision-making, such as choosing beverages.

    • Participants counting basketball passes and noticing events in their awareness, like a gorilla passing through.

    • Dichotic listening tasks, selectively focusing on one message, while filtering another message.

    • Cocktail party phenomenon, selecting a message of special interest among other conversations.

    • Participants asked not to think of a white bear for a period of time, noticed that idea more frequently.

    • Participants reported their thoughts when participating in an experience sampling technique.

    Properties of Consciousness

    • Intentionality: Being directed towards an object.

    • Unity: Resisting division.

    • Selectivity: Focusing on certain things.

    • Transience: Changing over time.

    Change Blindness

    • People unaware of significant events happening in full view.

    • The lack of attention leads to these happenings being undetected.

    Minimal Consciousness

    • A low level of awareness.

    Full Consciousness

    • Awareness of the experience and the ability to report that.

    Self Consciousness

    • Focusing on the self as an object.

    • Usually when introspective, regarding thoughts, feelings or personal qualities.

    Studies:

    • Candy and mirror experiment to see if children's greed is decreased by presence of a mirror.

    • Students less likely to cheat when a mirror is present.

    Daydreaming

    • A state of consciousness with seemingly purposeless thoughts and flow.

    Mental Control

    • Attempts to change conscious states of mind, like thought suppression.

    Rebound Effect

    • The tendency of a suppressed thought to reappear more frequently.

    Dynamic Unconscious

    • Active system of hidden memories, instincts and desires.

    Repression

    • A mental process that keeps thoughts inaccessible by removing them from consciousness.

    Cognitive Unconscious

    • Mental processes not directly experienced, but which affect thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior.

    Subliminal Perception

    • Thoughts or behavior changed by stimuli a person doesn't consciously notice.

    • Occurring too briefly and weakly in experience for awareness.

    Selective Attention

    • Focusing on a range of events, such as selecting one thought through a stream of thoughts, exemplified in a Gorilla-suit-man task.

    Information Bottleneck

    • Information processing capacity is limited, only important information is processed.

    • Early filter model, selecting important information early.

    • Attenuation model, suppressing information.

    Response Selection Model

    • Selecting occurs late in the processing stream before responding.

    Load Model

    • Attention selection depends on task difficulty.

    • Easy tasks use early selection. Difficult tasks use late selection.

    Shifting Attention

    • Attention guided by voluntary and involuntary processes (internal or external stimuli).

    Unilateral Visual Neglect

    • Inattention to stimuli on the opposite side of a brain-lesion's location.

    Extinction

    • Failure to pay attention to a target in the non-affected vision.

    Balint's Syndrome

    • Attentional disorder, problems in visually bringing important parts of the vision into the centre of awareness.

    Blindsight

    • Residual visual ability after disabling cortical vision areas.

    • Unconscious visual processing areas are present.

    Studies:

    • Babies in contralesional field with single and multiple targets. This shows the conscious need to shift attention to be aware of things.

    • Humans and monkeys trained to look at targets, regardless of lesion-affected vision.

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    Description

    Explore the complex topics of consciousness, including the Cartesian Theatre, the Hard Problem, and the intricacies of free will. This quiz delves into philosophical inquiries about subjective experiences and the nature of the mind. Test your understanding of these profound concepts!

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