COGSCI 180 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS 2026-2027
ALREADY GRADED A+
1. what event in history caused a shift in how people viewed personal identity?-
: the industrial revolution
- social mobility became possible
- individual talents became important
2. what three disciplines does this course focus on?: philosophy, neuroscience, psychology
3. idealists (early philosophers): view that everything, including the material world, is actually the mind
4. what was George Berkeley known for in philosophy?: idealist, everything you can know
for sure is actually mental, everything else is colored by perception
5. What was Rene Descartes known for in regards to mind-body?: "I think therefore I
am" famous dualist
6. dualists (early philosophers): - view that the mind and body are radically ditterent things
- Plato (the Forms)
7. what is the mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the mind and body? what is the
relationship between mental properties and physical properties?
8. materialists (recent philosophy): view that mental states are just physical states
- behaviorism: studying the relation between observable stimuli and observable behavioral responses
9. disturbances in the subjective experience of oneself: - cotard's delusion
- body integrity identity disorder
10. disruption in the narrative self: - alzheimer's disease
- retrograde and anterograde amnesia
11. disruption in the agentive self: schizophrenia
12. dissociation from the self: - post-traumatic stress disorder
- depersonalization disorder
- dissociative identity disorder
- autism spectrum disorder
13. disruption in the sense of being grounded in one's body: - out-of-body experiences
- doppelgänger ettect
14. The Mind-Body Problem: - what is the relationship between the mind and body/brain? (mental and
physical)
15. Monism: there is only one kind of substance in the universe
- materialism: everything that exists — including mind — is physical
- idealism: everything — including the material world — is mind (George Berkeley)
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10
,COGSCI 180 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS 2026-2027
ALREADY GRADED A+
- transcendental idealism: subtype of idealism that integrates idealism with empiricism, which emphasizes the
importance of sensory experience (Kant)
16. Dualism: theory that the mental and the physical — or the mind and body/brain — are, in some sense,
radically ditterent kinds of thing
- Descartes (mind-body dualism): our human senses are unreliable, evil genius thought experiment (must have a
mind)
- brain in a vat theory
17. Mind-brain identity theory (materialist view): - states and processes of the mind are identical
to states and processes of the brain
- the self and free will are NOT epiphenomenal (a secondary ettect) like materialism/idealism thinks
OPPOSITION - functionalism: what makes something a mental state is its role in its cognitive system (allows multiple
realizability)
18. Computational theory of mind (materialist view): - human mind is a computational system
that is realized by neural activity in the brain
- physical symbol system hypothesis (Simon and Newell): any physical symbol system has the necessary and suflcient
means for general intelligent action (can include machines)
OPPOSITION - John Searle's Chinese Room argument: describes a situation in which symbols are manipulated to
produce exactly the right
19. neuroanatomical orientations: - anterior: located near/toward the fornt
- posterior: located near/toward the back
- dorsal: in a direction toward the top of the head/the back
- ventral: in a direction towards the bottom of the skull/front surface of the body
- lateral: toward the side of the body
- medial: toward the middle of the body
20. sections of the brain: - coronal/frontal: a slice through the brain parallel to the forehead
- sagittal/lateral: a slice through the brain perpendicular to the ground and parallel to the temporal lobes
- transverse/axial section: a slice through the brain parallel to the ground
21. cerebral cortex: - part of brain that distinguishes us from other beasts
- convolutions increase surface area of the brain, increasing the amount of info that can be stored
- includes the neocortex and limbic cortex
2/
10
ALREADY GRADED A+
1. what event in history caused a shift in how people viewed personal identity?-
: the industrial revolution
- social mobility became possible
- individual talents became important
2. what three disciplines does this course focus on?: philosophy, neuroscience, psychology
3. idealists (early philosophers): view that everything, including the material world, is actually the mind
4. what was George Berkeley known for in philosophy?: idealist, everything you can know
for sure is actually mental, everything else is colored by perception
5. What was Rene Descartes known for in regards to mind-body?: "I think therefore I
am" famous dualist
6. dualists (early philosophers): - view that the mind and body are radically ditterent things
- Plato (the Forms)
7. what is the mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the mind and body? what is the
relationship between mental properties and physical properties?
8. materialists (recent philosophy): view that mental states are just physical states
- behaviorism: studying the relation between observable stimuli and observable behavioral responses
9. disturbances in the subjective experience of oneself: - cotard's delusion
- body integrity identity disorder
10. disruption in the narrative self: - alzheimer's disease
- retrograde and anterograde amnesia
11. disruption in the agentive self: schizophrenia
12. dissociation from the self: - post-traumatic stress disorder
- depersonalization disorder
- dissociative identity disorder
- autism spectrum disorder
13. disruption in the sense of being grounded in one's body: - out-of-body experiences
- doppelgänger ettect
14. The Mind-Body Problem: - what is the relationship between the mind and body/brain? (mental and
physical)
15. Monism: there is only one kind of substance in the universe
- materialism: everything that exists — including mind — is physical
- idealism: everything — including the material world — is mind (George Berkeley)
1/
10
,COGSCI 180 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS 2026-2027
ALREADY GRADED A+
- transcendental idealism: subtype of idealism that integrates idealism with empiricism, which emphasizes the
importance of sensory experience (Kant)
16. Dualism: theory that the mental and the physical — or the mind and body/brain — are, in some sense,
radically ditterent kinds of thing
- Descartes (mind-body dualism): our human senses are unreliable, evil genius thought experiment (must have a
mind)
- brain in a vat theory
17. Mind-brain identity theory (materialist view): - states and processes of the mind are identical
to states and processes of the brain
- the self and free will are NOT epiphenomenal (a secondary ettect) like materialism/idealism thinks
OPPOSITION - functionalism: what makes something a mental state is its role in its cognitive system (allows multiple
realizability)
18. Computational theory of mind (materialist view): - human mind is a computational system
that is realized by neural activity in the brain
- physical symbol system hypothesis (Simon and Newell): any physical symbol system has the necessary and suflcient
means for general intelligent action (can include machines)
OPPOSITION - John Searle's Chinese Room argument: describes a situation in which symbols are manipulated to
produce exactly the right
19. neuroanatomical orientations: - anterior: located near/toward the fornt
- posterior: located near/toward the back
- dorsal: in a direction toward the top of the head/the back
- ventral: in a direction towards the bottom of the skull/front surface of the body
- lateral: toward the side of the body
- medial: toward the middle of the body
20. sections of the brain: - coronal/frontal: a slice through the brain parallel to the forehead
- sagittal/lateral: a slice through the brain perpendicular to the ground and parallel to the temporal lobes
- transverse/axial section: a slice through the brain parallel to the ground
21. cerebral cortex: - part of brain that distinguishes us from other beasts
- convolutions increase surface area of the brain, increasing the amount of info that can be stored
- includes the neocortex and limbic cortex
2/
10
