Consciousness PDF

lOMoARcPSD|31502042 Superego: Morality (perfect self) Behaviourist Model of Mind: Conditions leading to a response (environmental factors). Humans just react to condition so no good/evil. Williams James: Functionalism, Textbook: “principles of psych”, Founder of psychology Wilhelm Windt: Strucurali...

lOMoARcPSD|31502042 Superego: Morality (perfect self) Behaviourist Model of Mind: Conditions leading to a response (environmental factors). Humans just react to condition so no good/evil. Williams James: Functionalism, Textbook: “principles of psych”, Founder of psychology Wilhelm Windt: Strucuralism, Introspection, First research library John Watson: Behaviourism, classical conditioning (Little Albert experiment) Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis, unconscious mind Rene Descartes: Cartesian dualism Operant conditioning: positive/negative reinforcement 3: Consciousness Textbook: ch. 5 Short intro to consciousness Cartesian Dualism: mind controls body, but body can influence mind (ex: passion) Interaction Problem: How do mind and body interact? Monism - Idealists: only mind exists (physical objects come from mind) - Neutral Monists: neither mind nor body is the single substance of reality (same reality either way). - Materialists: consciousness is function of brain (nothing exists from physical world) The hard problem: How do we have conscious meaning in our life from brain/body activity. How can matter give rise to mind. Consciousness as a private experience: We cannot experience life from someone else’s POV Mind-Body problem: Understanding whether the mind and body are connected or if so, to what extent. Easy problem: perception, learning, memory, attention etc. Qualia: phenomenal private aspects of our mental lives (smell of freshly mown grass, colour of red mcgill sweater) Consciousness definition: Awareness to our existance/thought. Downloaded by bella boot ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|31502042 Unconsciousness: Actions occur w/o awareness (catch ball coming at head, and changing hand shape for the object) Self-Awareness: capacity to become the object of one’s own attention. Self (self-concept, I vs me): I (self that experiences) & me (body that exists in space w/ beliefs and attitudes) EEG: recording electrical activity in the brain as it relates to levels of alertness. Electrooculograms: records electrical poetential b/w front/back of eye. Electromyograms: records electrical activity in muscles. Alpha waves: Physically and Mentally relaxed Beta waves: Active thinking REM sleep, Awake Theta waves: NREM (light sleep), daydreams, creativity, insight Delta waves: REM, slow wave sleep REM Sleep: Dreaming Sleep stages: 1-4 (none REM), 5(REM) - dreamss (whole cycle is 90 mins) Sleep stage 1: light sleep (5-10m/cycle) - A/T waves & halucinations Sleep stage 2: burts of sleep spindles (10-30m/cycle) - K-complexes (65% of sleep) Sleep stage 3/4: Deep sleep (15-30m/cycle) - Slow wave sleep(crucial for rest) - 25% of sleep Sleep stage 5: Extremely deep sleep (10-20m/cycle) - brain activity like being awake (vivid dreams). Hypnograms: graph representing stages of sleep. *Sleep Spindles: NREM sleep that helps with mem consolidation. Bursts of rapid brain-wave activity (look like spikes indicate light sleep) K-Complexes: suppress sleep disruption (light sleep). High amplitude waves(stage 2) Sleep functions: Restoration, Growth/cellular repair, rebuilds brain proteins, boosts # of immune cells(need 9 hours) Functions of Slow Wave sleep: memory consolidation, physically restorative Downloaded by bella boot ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|31502042 Insomnia: difficulty maintaining or initiating restorative sleep Narcolepsy: Falling asleep with no control Sleep Apnea: brain stops remembering to breathe Sleepwalking: getting up and moving while brain is still “sleeping” Night terrors: awakening from sleep terrified RBD: REM sleep behaviourr disorder (dream enactment/ violent movement) Circadian Rythm: 24 hr Body clock regulated by suprachiamsatic nucleus (SCN) in hippocampus. Hypnosis: suggestions delivered to change perception and behaviour Hypnotic analgesia: reduced sensitivity to pain under hypnotic suggestion Dissociation: disconnect b/w thoughts and sense of self Selective attention: awareness to relevance, narrowing focus Innattentional blindness: not paying attention to things that aren’t focus (man in gorilla suit walks across other side of field) Change blindness: Failing to notice a change (talking to stranger who swaps out) Default mode network: brain regions active while person is not focused on outside world *Global workspace hypothesis: consciousness requires info processed from nonconscious parts of the brain which is broadcasted to the other parts of brain (global workspace). Mind wandering: escaping a boring situation (future/goal oriented) 4: Research Methods Textbook ch. 2 L04 lecture slides Readings: Statistical Primer, Research methods, Braitenberg vehicles Braitenberg vehicles: Simple robots given human characteristics when describing actions. Ockham’s razor: the simplest explanation for a phenomena is the best Downloaded by bella boot ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|31502042 Standard deviation: average distance of all data points around the mean Logical empiricism: what truly exists can be measured by objective empirical observations (Bacon & Descartes) Statistical Significance: chance vs effect (diff b/w IV & DV bigger than could be attributed to chance) Empirical structuralism: the goal of science cannot be to verify/falsify a theory. (scientific work intends to increase knowledge of phenomena not refute claims) Epistemological consequences: scientific progress specific to a theory and where said theory can’t be applied. 5: Genetics & Evolution Norton ch. 3.18 & 3.19 - HGE Reading Cognitive (R)evolution: dramatic increase in brain size (2.5% of bodyweight, and 25% energy) change in how we think/operate Consequences of cognitive revolution: less muscle, more time spent looking for food, premature birth, cooking/language, commication & coordination) Nature: Genes determine behaviour Nurture: environment determines behaviour Interactionism: There is genetic component but also learned behaviours (most accurate) Piaget theory of human development: We have some innate knowledge, experiences are combined to concepts of world. (Equilibrium, Assimilation, Accommodation) Nativism: everything is inborn Empiricism: Everything is learned Proximate causation: Close factors (hormonal state, enviro) influencing behaviour (How) Ultimate causation: evolutionary causes of behaviour (Why) Species: group of genetically similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring. Genus: group of related similar species. homo erectus: species of human genus (upright man). homo neanderthalensis: Neanderthals homo sapiens: what we are (Sapien Sapiens) Downloaded by bella boot ([email protected])