Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the definition of "subliminal perception"?
What is the definition of "subliminal perception"?
People can be influenced by visual inputs they didn't consciously perceive.
The N400 brain wave is an event-related brain potential measured using electroencephalography (EEG).
The N400 brain wave is an event-related brain potential measured using electroencephalography (EEG).
True
Which of these is NOT an example of a perceptual illusion?
Which of these is NOT an example of a perceptual illusion?
What are "action slips"?
What are "action slips"?
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How do unconscious processes operate without supervision?
How do unconscious processes operate without supervision?
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What are the two broad categories of brain states that correspond to consciousness?
What are the two broad categories of brain states that correspond to consciousness?
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The thalamus is responsible for controlling arousal and sleep/wake cycles.
The thalamus is responsible for controlling arousal and sleep/wake cycles.
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What is the neuronal workspace hypothesis?
What is the neuronal workspace hypothesis?
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What is the function of the neuronal workspace?
What is the function of the neuronal workspace?
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Which of the following is NOT a function of the neuronal workspace?
Which of the following is NOT a function of the neuronal workspace?
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The workspace supports goal-directed behavior.
The workspace supports goal-directed behavior.
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What is qualia?
What is qualia?
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What are the two types of consciousness discussed in the text?
What are the two types of consciousness discussed in the text?
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Study Notes
Course Schedule and Important Dates
- Last Day of Lectures: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
- InQuizitive and Zaps Lab Deadlines: Monday, December 9th at 11:59 PM
- Final Test: Thursday, December 5th
- Test Format: 40 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, covering Chapters 12-15
- Materials Needed: Pencil/eraser, student ID
Chapter 15 (Part 2): Conscious and Unconscious Thought
- Placebo Effect (Video): Explains how the belief in a treatment's efficacy can have physiological effects, even if the treatment itself is ineffective. This can be used as a control in medical studies for comparison. The placebo effect is real, triggering observable physiological changes.
- Unconscious Guides to Thinking (Video): Blind Sight Focuses on how unconscious processes guide our thinking, even when we aren't aware of them
- Subliminal Messaging & Targeting the Unconscious Mind (Videos): Discusses subconscious influences on our thoughts and behaviors from subtle cues and messages
- Metacognition & Executive Control: Explores the concept of "thinking about thinking," and the conscious control of mental processes
- Global/Neuronal Workspace Hypothesis: Describes how the brain handles complex ideas by linking various brain areas. Ideas become present to consciousness when these areas become linked by special neurons.
Unconscious Guides to Conscious Thinking
- Inner Dialogue: Conscious thoughts can be influenced by unconscious processes.
- Examples: Framming effects, problem-solving sets, misinformation effects affect the conscious "thinking through" process in many situations.
Disruptions of Consciousness
- Brain Damage: Damage to brain areas shows evidence for how unconscious processing works.
- Amnesia and Korsakoff Syndrome: Amnesia can impair explicit memory but keep implicit memory intact. Korsakoff's syndrome exhibits this phenomena influenced by the memories the patient is not aware of.
Blind Sight
- Visual Cortex Damage: Damage to the visual cortex can lead to a lack of visual awareness, but perception may still occur
- Perception without Awareness: People with blind sight can "guess" the location and describe objects, but they deny seeing them.
- Parallel Effects in Perception: This is a significant illustration of perception vs. awareness
Subliminal Perception
- Subliminal Perception: Suggests that people can be influenced by visual or other sensory inputs they do not consciously register.
- Visual Inputs: People are influenced by inputs that remain below the threshold of conscious awareness.
N400 and Subliminal Perception
- Event-Related Brain Potential (ERP): Brain waves that are measured using electroencephalography (EEG) and used in studies of subliminal perception.
- Temporal Patterns: When things that don't match the expected input, the N400 brain wave response increases.
Limits of Unconscious Performance
- Rapid, Efficient, but Limited Processing: Unconscious judgments are fast, efficient, and reasonable.
- Outside of Control: The unconscious is significantly impacted by situational cues, prior experiences, habits, and accessibility to information (often outside of our control)
Action Slips
- Habitual Actions: Cases where unconscious processes lead to actions different from the intentions.
A Role for Control
- Unconscious Processes: Can function without conscious supervision. Examples include perception and implicit memory.
- Speed and Efficiency: Many tasks run simultaneously, increasing speed and efficiency.
- Flexibility Unconscious processes are usually flexible depending on situation.
- Automatic Processes: Certain tasks become automated; some become automatic due to extensive practice
Prerequisites for Control
- Executive Control: Critical to controlling and direct mental processes.
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Executive Functions Examples:
- Inhibiting responses, producing appropriate responses, planning
Metacognition
- Monitoring and Controlling Mental Processes: Metacognition involves self-awareness and monitoring of one's mental processes.
- Metamemory Knowledge: Knowing and understanding your memory (e.g., understanding how deep processing can greatly improve retention).
- Self-Awareness and Understanding: Learning useful strategies such as deep-processing techniques and mnemonics
Mindwandering
- Unguided Thought Processes: Thoughts that are not focused on an immediate task or conscious plan.
- Triggers and Connections: Each thought passively triggers the next in a chain of associations.
- Relevant Situations: Mindwandering is often associated with thinking about past or future events. More likely to occur in unhappy individuals.
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness
- Neural Correlates of Consciousness: Discovering the neural mechanisms of mental experiences.
- Specific Mental Events: Investigating brain activity during different mental events and functions.
- Biological Basis of Mental Events: Whether neural events are the roots of mental processes
The Many Brain Areas Needed for Consciousness
- Multiple Brain Regions: Consciousness relies on various brain areas, not a single location.
- Overall Alertness: Brain states associated with general vigilance.
- Conscious Content: Content (e.g., visual and memory patterns) relies on specific neural areas
The Neuronal Workspace
- Conscious Experiences: How the brain creates and represents conscious experiences.
- Widespread Brain Activity: Multiple brain areas work together to create a unified representation of an idea.
- Linked in Workspace Neurons: Various elements get linked together, making a unified perception.
The Function of the Workspace and Competition
- Integration of Information: Workspace neurons integrate activities of various processing modules.
- Selective Attention: Attention allows selective linking of neural activity in different areas.
- Competition and Focus: In situations when several elements are relevant or compete for attention, the competition decides which elements are most important or impactful
Limits of Unconscious Processing
- Inflexible Decisions: Unconcious decisions or behaviors are not heavily shaped by the context.
- Goal-Directed Behavior: Conscious thought is guided by goals, and the workspace enables shifting and realigning your actions based on those goals or objectives.
- Detect Conflicts Using Comparisons: The workspace lets you compare activities across different areas and identify conflicts to resolve them effectively.
The Role of Phenomenal Experience
- Comparison across Streams The workspace allows comparisons between different brain processes.
- Conflict Avoidance: The workspace helps the executive function prevent conflicts and adjust mental activity.
- Sustaining Neural Activity: The workspace facilitates extended focus on goals and plans and allows you to act on them.
Consciousness: What is Left Unsaid
- Mind and Body Interaction: Mind and body are correlated and impact each other, but the precise way they are interrelated is not yet fully understood.
- Unsolved Question: The interaction and nature of consciousness and physical processes remains a central mystery.
Qualia
- Subjective Experiences: Qualia refers to subjective experiences (e.g., taste, colors) that cannot be communicated directly to another person.
- Individual Perception: Access and sensitivity to information, is a form of qualia.
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Description
This quiz focuses on key concepts within psychology, particularly examining the term 'subliminal perception'. Additionally, it discusses brain waves like the N400 and their significance in understanding human perception through EEG.
