COGS 001 Final Exam Questions &
Answers 2025/2026
nature question - ANSWERSWhat is the nature of the mental state, event, process?
causal question - ANSWERSWhat are the causal roles of mental states? How are they caused,
and how do they produce their effects?
generative question - ANSWERSIn virtue of what do mental states obtain? How are mental kinds
built out of simpler processes?
subject - ANSWERSbeing with a mind
mental state - ANSWERSany persisting feature of subject's mental life (i.e. perception, belief,
knowledge)
mental process - ANSWERSchanging or transitioning features of subject's mental state (i.e.
perception, reasoning, decision-making)
Two marks of mental state: - ANSWERS1. consciousness (what it's like to be in a mental state)
2. intentionality (the aboutness of mental state or process)
Two features of intentional states: - ANSWERS1. attitudes (relations we bear to what we're
directed towards i.e. belief, hope, fear)
2. contents (what you're mental state is directed towards)
, Kinds of contents: - ANSWERS1. objects/referents (can be physically perceived)
2. propositions (ways the world might be, in clause introduced by "that")
key representationalist idea - ANSWERSmental intentionality can be understood in terms of the
kind of meaning that symbols have
Representational Theory of Mind - ANSWERS1. What it is for a subject to bear an attitude
towards a content is for the subject to be in a state involving a representation that represents
that subject (mental states)
2. Transitions between mental states (mental processes)
-answers nature question (What is a mental state or mental process?)
Two properties of symbols: - ANSWERS1. syntactic (i.e. letters)
2. semantic (i.e. meaning, physical object)
Isomorphic structure - ANSWERSsymbolic structure that doesn't just represent contents but also
represents changes or relationships between the symbol and its content (ex: thermometer
represents temperature AND an increase in the level of mercury represents an increase in
temperature)
Two categories of symbols: - ANSWERS1. Analog (gradual, continuous progressions)
2. Digital (discrete steps between progressions)
Truth-functional connectives - ANSWERSWords that join sentences together to create complex
sentences whose truth-value is a function of the truth-values of its component sentences.
formal symbol manipulator - ANSWERSa system whose behavior can be adequately
characterized in terms of the formal properties of its symbols, and manipulations of those
symbols as formally described
Answers 2025/2026
nature question - ANSWERSWhat is the nature of the mental state, event, process?
causal question - ANSWERSWhat are the causal roles of mental states? How are they caused,
and how do they produce their effects?
generative question - ANSWERSIn virtue of what do mental states obtain? How are mental kinds
built out of simpler processes?
subject - ANSWERSbeing with a mind
mental state - ANSWERSany persisting feature of subject's mental life (i.e. perception, belief,
knowledge)
mental process - ANSWERSchanging or transitioning features of subject's mental state (i.e.
perception, reasoning, decision-making)
Two marks of mental state: - ANSWERS1. consciousness (what it's like to be in a mental state)
2. intentionality (the aboutness of mental state or process)
Two features of intentional states: - ANSWERS1. attitudes (relations we bear to what we're
directed towards i.e. belief, hope, fear)
2. contents (what you're mental state is directed towards)
, Kinds of contents: - ANSWERS1. objects/referents (can be physically perceived)
2. propositions (ways the world might be, in clause introduced by "that")
key representationalist idea - ANSWERSmental intentionality can be understood in terms of the
kind of meaning that symbols have
Representational Theory of Mind - ANSWERS1. What it is for a subject to bear an attitude
towards a content is for the subject to be in a state involving a representation that represents
that subject (mental states)
2. Transitions between mental states (mental processes)
-answers nature question (What is a mental state or mental process?)
Two properties of symbols: - ANSWERS1. syntactic (i.e. letters)
2. semantic (i.e. meaning, physical object)
Isomorphic structure - ANSWERSsymbolic structure that doesn't just represent contents but also
represents changes or relationships between the symbol and its content (ex: thermometer
represents temperature AND an increase in the level of mercury represents an increase in
temperature)
Two categories of symbols: - ANSWERS1. Analog (gradual, continuous progressions)
2. Digital (discrete steps between progressions)
Truth-functional connectives - ANSWERSWords that join sentences together to create complex
sentences whose truth-value is a function of the truth-values of its component sentences.
formal symbol manipulator - ANSWERSa system whose behavior can be adequately
characterized in terms of the formal properties of its symbols, and manipulations of those
symbols as formally described
