COGSCI 180 MIDTERM REVIEW
Why did people start questioning personal identity? - Answer -Industrial Revolution
allowed for social mobility
- need for individual talent
What disciplines does this course draw from? - Answer -- philosophy
- neuroscience
- psychology
Early philosophers were either _____ or _____. - Answer -- idealists
- dualists
Idealists - Answer -view that everything is mind
Dualists - Answer -view that mind and body are very different
- Rene Descartes
Which view is more popular in recent years? Idealism, materialism, or dualism? -
Answer -materialism
Materialism - Answer -view that mental states are physical
- Ex: behaviorism, mind brain identity theory, functionalism, computational theory of
mind
Plato's Forms - Answer -higher realm of ideal perfection
- truth, beauty, moral goodness
Mind-Body Problem - Answer -what is the relationship between the body and the brain?
- distinction between physical and mental properties
Monism - Answer -there is only one kind of substance in the world
- materialism
Transcendental Idealism - Answer -idealism + empiricism, emphasizing importance of
sensory experience
- Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant - Answer -stressed importance of observance
Descartes - Answer -- how can anyone know that they actually exist? how do we know
its not just a dream?
- designed evil genius thought experiment
, Brain-in-a-vat Thought Experiment - Answer -are we brains in a vat being controlled by
an evil scientist? you cant rule out the possibility and if you are a brain in a vat then
everything you know is wrong. A brain in a vat couldn't explain that it's a brain in a vat.
Skepticism thought experiment.
Behaviorism - Answer -mind is black box that you can't say anything verifiable about,
so mind shouldn't form a part of any scientific discussion
- we should only study relation between stimuli and behavioral responses
Mind-Brain Identity Theory - Answer -states and processes of mind are identical to
states and processes of the brain
- pain and mental images ARE brain processes, not just correlated with them
- self and free will are epiphenomenal
Functionalism - Answer -- emphasis on function to understand how things produce their
effects
- what makes something a thought, desire, pain is its function
- identity of mental state determined by causal relations to sensory stimulations
- allows high-level understanding
Computational Theory of Mind - Answer -- materialist view
- human mind is computational system realized by neural activity in the brain
Physical Symbol System Hypothesis - Answer -- Herbert Simon and Allen Newell
- a physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for general
intelligent action
1. anything capable of intelligent action is a pss
2. pass sufficient for intelligence, machines can be constructed that are intelligent
Chinese Room Argument - Answer -- tries to show computational theory of mind and
pass wrong
- symbols manipulated to produce right outputs, but no genuine understanding
Turing Test - Answer -- criterion for whether machine is displaying real intelligence
- if you communicate w machine and can't tell difference between it and a human being,
then machine genuinely intelligent
phenomenal consciousness - Answer -how and why we experience the world as we do
Hard Problem of Consciousness - Answer -The problem of determining how
physiological processes, such as ion flow across nerve membranes, cause different
perceptual experiences.
T/F: Eastern philosophical traditional do not have clear distinction between material and
spiritual. - Answer -T
Why did people start questioning personal identity? - Answer -Industrial Revolution
allowed for social mobility
- need for individual talent
What disciplines does this course draw from? - Answer -- philosophy
- neuroscience
- psychology
Early philosophers were either _____ or _____. - Answer -- idealists
- dualists
Idealists - Answer -view that everything is mind
Dualists - Answer -view that mind and body are very different
- Rene Descartes
Which view is more popular in recent years? Idealism, materialism, or dualism? -
Answer -materialism
Materialism - Answer -view that mental states are physical
- Ex: behaviorism, mind brain identity theory, functionalism, computational theory of
mind
Plato's Forms - Answer -higher realm of ideal perfection
- truth, beauty, moral goodness
Mind-Body Problem - Answer -what is the relationship between the body and the brain?
- distinction between physical and mental properties
Monism - Answer -there is only one kind of substance in the world
- materialism
Transcendental Idealism - Answer -idealism + empiricism, emphasizing importance of
sensory experience
- Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant - Answer -stressed importance of observance
Descartes - Answer -- how can anyone know that they actually exist? how do we know
its not just a dream?
- designed evil genius thought experiment
, Brain-in-a-vat Thought Experiment - Answer -are we brains in a vat being controlled by
an evil scientist? you cant rule out the possibility and if you are a brain in a vat then
everything you know is wrong. A brain in a vat couldn't explain that it's a brain in a vat.
Skepticism thought experiment.
Behaviorism - Answer -mind is black box that you can't say anything verifiable about,
so mind shouldn't form a part of any scientific discussion
- we should only study relation between stimuli and behavioral responses
Mind-Brain Identity Theory - Answer -states and processes of mind are identical to
states and processes of the brain
- pain and mental images ARE brain processes, not just correlated with them
- self and free will are epiphenomenal
Functionalism - Answer -- emphasis on function to understand how things produce their
effects
- what makes something a thought, desire, pain is its function
- identity of mental state determined by causal relations to sensory stimulations
- allows high-level understanding
Computational Theory of Mind - Answer -- materialist view
- human mind is computational system realized by neural activity in the brain
Physical Symbol System Hypothesis - Answer -- Herbert Simon and Allen Newell
- a physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for general
intelligent action
1. anything capable of intelligent action is a pss
2. pass sufficient for intelligence, machines can be constructed that are intelligent
Chinese Room Argument - Answer -- tries to show computational theory of mind and
pass wrong
- symbols manipulated to produce right outputs, but no genuine understanding
Turing Test - Answer -- criterion for whether machine is displaying real intelligence
- if you communicate w machine and can't tell difference between it and a human being,
then machine genuinely intelligent
phenomenal consciousness - Answer -how and why we experience the world as we do
Hard Problem of Consciousness - Answer -The problem of determining how
physiological processes, such as ion flow across nerve membranes, cause different
perceptual experiences.
T/F: Eastern philosophical traditional do not have clear distinction between material and
spiritual. - Answer -T
