Conscious and Unconscious Processes and Making Decisions and Social Neuroscience

MIND-BODY OR MIND-BRAIN PROBLEM

Biological explanations of behavior; What is the relationship between the mind and the brain?

DUALISM

the belief that mind and body exist separately

PINEAL GLAND

the smallest unpaired structure he could find in the brain; Descartes proposed that mind and brain interact at a single point in space

LAW OF CONSERVATION MASS AND ENERGY

Matter can transform into energy, and energy can transform into matter, but neither one emerges from nothing, disappears into nothing, or changes except because of influence from other matter or energy; A decisive objection is that dualism conflicts with one of the cornerstones of physics.

MONISM

the belief that the universe consists of only one kind of substance

MATERIALISM

the view that everything that exists is material, or physical

ELIMINATIVE MATERIALISM

mental events don't exist at all, and any folk psychology that includes the concept of mind or mental activity is fundamentally mistaken

MENTALISM

the view that only minds really exist and that the physical world could not exist unless some mind were aware of it.

IDENTITY POSITION

the view that mental processes and certain kinds of brain processes are the same thing, just described in different terms

EASY PROBLEM

pertain to such questions as the difference between wakefulness and sleep and what brain activity occurs during consciousness

HARD PROBLEM

concerns why consciousness exists at all

CONSCIOUS

awareness of one stimulus and not another

FLASH SUPPRESSION

strong response to the flashing stimulus decreases the response to the steady stimulus, as if it were a fainter light; Suppose you clearly see a yellow dot. Then, although the dot remains on the screen, other dots around it flash on and off. While they are flashing, you do not see the stationary dot.

MASKING

A brief visual stimulus is preceded and followed by longer interfering stimuli.

BACKWARD MASKING

researchers present just the brief stimulus and a longer one after it

PRIMARY VISUAL CORTEX

the stimulus usually activates the ___

PREFRONTAL CORTEX AND PARIETAL CORTEX

which amplify the signal and reflect it back to the visual cortex

DAMAGE TO THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX

a visual stimulus has to last longer before it becomes conscious, relative to other people

GAMMA WAVES

evokes activity precisely synchronized in several brain areas, In the frequency of about 30 to 50 Hz (cycles per second), known as ___

BINOCULAR RIVALRY

shifts, are gradual, sweeping from one side to another; Because your brain cannot perceive both patterns in the same location, your perception alternates between the two.

2 SECONDS

average person, time of each perception lasts

HAPPY FACE

holds attention longer for someone in a happy mood

SCOWLING FACE

holds attention longer for someone in a sad mood

PHI PHENOMENON

perceptual researchers noted long ago: If you see a dot in one position alternating with a similar dot nearby, it will appear that the dot is moving back and forth.

LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

marked by decreased overall activity and especially by decreased connectivity between the cerebral cortex and subcortical areas such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal ganglia.

INITIAL RECOVERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

depended on increased connectivity between subcortical and cortical areas, and later increases in alertness depended on increased activity in the cortex.

LOSS OF CONNECTIVITY

no stimulus can spread its activity, and the person is conscious of nothing.

MINIMALLY CONSCIOUS STATE

respond to at least a few stimuli, although they cannot talk.

VEGETATIVE STATE

alternate between sleep and greater arousal, but even in their most aroused state they show no purposeful behaviors.

ATTENTION

isn't synonymous with consciousness, but it is closely related.

INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS OR CHANGE BLINDNESS

If something in a complex scene changes slowly, or changes while you blink your eyes, you probably will not notice it unless you are paying attention to the particular item that changes.

BOTTOM-UP PROCESS

depends on the stimulus; If you are sitting on a park bench, gazing off into the distance, when suddenly a deer runs past you, it grabs your attention.

TOP-DOWN PROCESS

is intentional; You can control your attention.

STROOP EFFECT

the difficulty of ignoring words and saying the color of ink.

SPATIAL NEGLECT

a tendency to ignore the left side of the body, the left side of objects, much of what they hear in the left ear, and much of what they feel in the left hand, especially in the presence of any competing sensation from the right side.

NEGLECT PATIENTS

main problem is loss of attention rather than impaired sensations.

FRONTAL ORIENTING FIELDS

Within part of the prefrontal cortex; adjacent to the motor cortex, one set of cells responded when the left side was ahead, and a different set responded when the right side was ahead.

POST PARIETAL CORTEX

are graded, but responses in the frontal cortex produce an all-or-none outcome.

ALL OR NONE OUTCOME

like a scorekeeper who announces which team has won the game.

CELLS IN THE BASAL GANGLIA

gradually learn which choice is better.

CELLS IN THE VENTROMEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX

also participate on decisions, apparently by modifying the responses of the basal ganglia.

KORSAKOFF'S SYNDROME

suffer damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex among other areas.

ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX

responds based on how an expected reward compares to other possible choice.

IOWA GAMBLING TASK

People can draw one card at a time from four piles. They always win $100 in play money from decks A and B, or $50 from C and D.

SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE

the study of how genes, chemicals, and brain areas contribute to social behavior, is a relatively new area of study, but one that excites growing enthusiasm.

OXYTOCIN

stimulates contractions of the uterus during childbirth, stimulates breasts to produce milk, and tends to promote maternal behavior, social approach, and pair bonding in many mammalian species; called the 'love hormone.' (love-enhancing or love-magnifying hormone)

EMPATHY

the ability to identify with other people and feel their pain almost as if it were your own.

FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA (FRONTOTEMPORAL LOBE DEGENERATION)

in which parts of the frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex gradually degenerate; aka frontotemporal lobe degeneration.