Workings of the Mind - Exam 1

Hard to study consciousness because

-There is no accepted definition in either science or philosophy despite many attempts to define it

-Consciousness studies is a new and multidisciplinary subject (we can study it in terms of neuroscience, philosophy, psychology)

The mysterious gap

The "chasm" between the inner and the outer worlds. The passage from the physics of the brain to the corresponding facts of consciousness is unthinkable

The unexplanatory gap

metaphysical gap between physical phenomena and conscious experience

phenomenal consciousness

subjective experience, involved qualia (qualitative character is subjective experience, mental aspect)

state and contents of consciousness

consciousness is generally a background state that allows specific contents of subjective experience to appear in our minds

structure of phenomenal consciousness

subjective experiences are clearest in center of consciousness, spotlight of selective attention is surrounded by periphery and background

reflective consciousness

formulate conscious thoughts that are about other experiences and use these to judge and guide our behavior

introspection

form of reflective consciousness, form verbal description of our experience to communicate it to outsiders

self awareness

form of reflective consciousness, connect current experience with our own self representation, realize that the experience is our own

Unconscious vs nonconscious

unconscious has potential to be conscious while nonconscious has no potential

zombies

intelligent behavioral system that operate in absence of consciousness

memory

ability to store and retrieve memory overtime

-Residue of events, the enduring changes that experience make in our brains and leaves behind when it passes

-Remarkably complex and fragile

memories

-combining information that we already have with new information that comes through our senses

-Are constructed, not recorded

3 functions of memory

Encoding - process which we transform what we perceive, think, feel into enduring memory

Storage - process of maintaining information in memory over time

Retrieval - process of bringing to mind information that has previously been encoded and stored

elaborative encoding

process of actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory

-Associated with increased activity of lower part of frontal lobe and inner part of left temporal lobe

-More activity in these areas = more likely someone will remember information

visual encoding

process of storing new information by converting it into mental pieces

-occipital lobe

organizational encoding

process of categorizing information according to their relationship among a series of items

-Effective way to enhance their subsequent recall

-Activates upper surface of left frontal lobe

sensory memory

holds sensory information for a few seconds or less

iconic memory

fast decaying store of visual information: 2 seconds or less, usually .5

echoic memory

fast decaying store of audible information: 5 seconds

short term memory

Holds nonsensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute

-Limited not only by how long, but also how much information @ 7 items (letters, words, numbers)

rehearsal

process of keeping information in short term memory by mentally repeating it

chunking

combining small pieces of information into larger clusters

working memory

active maintenance of information in short term storage

-Subsystems that store and manipulate visual images or verbal information

-Central executive that coordinates subsystems

-Depends on regions of frontal lobe, controlling and manipulating information

-Plays important role in many aspects of our cognitive lives

long term memory

holds information for hours, days, weeks, years (no known capacity limits)

Hippocampal region is critical in putting new information into the long-term store

anterograde amnesia

inability to transfer new information from short term memory into long term memory

retrograde amnesia

inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a certain date (usually an injury or operation)

consolidation

memory becomes stable in the brain

-Shortly after encoding, memory is fragile, but overtime, it is resistant to disruption

seconds/minutes - car crash : can't remember

days/weeks/months/years - info from hippocampus to more permanent sites at cortex

how? Recalling, thinking, and talking contributes, Sleep plays major role

reconsolidation

memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, requiring them to be consolidated again

retrieval cues

external information that is associated with stored information to help bring it to mind

-Info may be available in memory but inaccessible

encoding specificity principle

retrieval cue can serve as effective reminder when it helps recreate the specific way the info was initially encoded

state dependent retrieval

tendency for info to be better recalled when the person in in the same state during encoding and retrieving

transfer appropriate processing

memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding context of situation matches

retrieval induced forgetting

process which retrieving an item from long term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items

Trying to recall : heightened activity in left frontal lobe

Success in recall : heightened activity in hippocampus

-Also activated parts of brain used to process senses

explicit memory

consciously/intentionally retrieve past experiences

Hippocampus is needed for explicit, but not implicit

implicit memory

past experience influence later behavior and performance even though people are not trying to recall it or aware that they are remembering

priming

enhanced ability to think of stimulus, such as word or object, as a result of recent exposure to stimuli

procedural memory

gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice or knowing things

semantic memory

network of facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

episodic memory

collection of past personal experiences that occurred at particular time and place

nervous system

a complex network for receiving sensory data, making decisions, controlling movement and generally managing the body

the brain is the control center

spinal cord

thick nervous tract that acts as a conduit between brain and body

important factor in nervous system

central nervous system

includes brain and spinal cord, is encased in bone for protection

blood brain barrier

stops certain substances passing into the central nervous system from rest of body

peripheral nervous system

neurons stretched out into nerve fibers, which connect spinal cord to the rest of our body

afferent neurons

carry sensory information towards the central nervous system

efferent neurons

carry instructions from the central nervous system to our muscles or glands

interneurons

neurons that only connect to other neurons (found predominantly in brains and spinal cord)

glial cell

surrounds the various neurons, outnumbering their neuronal counterparts by ten to one, these cells hold the entire matrix of the brain in place

synapnse

where two neighboring neurons come together

synaptic cleft

minute gap where one cell can send chemical signals to the other

action potential

tipping point at which neurons decide to communicate with each other

dendrites

mass of branching structure in the leafy section

information is harvested and sent down to cell body

cell body

neuron's control center (determines overall properties, shape and behavior of neuron)

pools together the data from each branch of dendrites to create an overall signal which passes through axon hillock

axon hillock

brimming with charge-sensitive proteins, determines whether cell fires or not

axon

cell's trunk, aka nerve fibers

nerve fiber

aka axon, vary in width and length, serve to transfer the charge from one end of cell to the other

ions

charge in the brain in the form of molecules

myein sheath

covering of biological insulation, fatty sheaths that give the brain the white color, reduce the risk of short-circuits caused by other axons, speed the charge on its way, ensure it doesn't fizzle out

node of ranvier

small gaps in the myelin sheath, have no myelin but are packed full of protein, allowing saltatory conduction

saltatory conduction

electrical signal to recharge and continue to the next node

synaptic terminal

the roots of the neuronal tree

neurotransmitters

special chemicals, whose task it is to amplify or modulate electrical signals beings passed to neighboring neurons

the implications of unconscious perception

The evidence of unconscious perception shows that some popular ideas of consciousness to be wrong.

Traditional - information comes into consciousness, "I" experience and act upon it

-Extreme view assumes perception is always conscious and that sensory information can only lead to action once it passed through the theaters of consciousness

-Found a lot of reasons for rejecting this view, and subliminal perception provides one morel

Sensory information enters the system, whereupon two distinct things can happen to it. Goes into consciousness and is acted on consciously or it bypasses consciousness and is acted on unconsciously

-Rejecting notions of homunculus watching events on mental screen, it retains essential idea that things are either "in" or "out" of consciousness