performance =
the action or process of performing a specific task or function
determinism =
the belief that every event is an unavoidable and necessary consequence of prior
circumstances
Dennett about determinism =
determinism does not mean that the world can be fully understood and explained by humans
Game of Life (Conway, 1970s) =
computerized simulation of ‘how life works’ with specific rules that are metaphors → simple
rules can have big, complicated consequences
Hard-determinism =
no free will or choice in life
Soft-determinism =
there is free will or choice but it is possibly constrained by external or internal factors
Philosophical viewpoint of determinism =
if we understand the causes of behavior, we can predict behavior
Causa sui =
self determination
the mind-body problem =
material world vs immaterial world; the body (brain) is tangible and can be studied; the mind
is intangible
dualism perspective =
mind and body are different
,interactionistic (= cartesian) dualism =
parallelistic dualism =
monism perspective =
mind and body are the same
mentalistic monism =
solipsism =
I am the only human being that actually exists, everything else is a part of my imagination
materialistic monism =
the mind is a construction of the brain (most supported theory)
,regulatory approach (motivation) =
homeostasis; need → behavior; drive
purposive approach =
mental representation; goals → behavior; the pursuit of valuable outcome
motivation =
a process that energizes, directs, and regulates behavior
the hedonic axiom =
organisms are driven to avoid aversive outcomes and to attain pleasant outcomes
hedonic continuum =
what is aversive and what is pleasant → neutral point is difficult to pinpoint
need =
necessary condition for well-being, innate property of an organism
goal =
mental representation of a pleasant outcome, which has an influence on evaluations, emotions
and behavior
reward =
incentive/reward or reinforcer
homeostasis =
works via negative feedback loops but only when other cues don’t work
(people prevent disturbances in homeostasis when there is food, eating as social habit and
when there are visual cues)
feedback loop for eating =
eating → cck hormone by small bowel → brain; reward value of food lowers and satiety is
higher
feedback loop for eating 2 =
eating → detection of oxidation speed in the liver → detection of free fatty acids in
hypothalamus
homeostatic vs hedonic =
hedonic can override the homeostatic pathway during periods of
relative energy abundance by increasing the desire to consume foods that are highly palatable
, classical conditioning processes =
acquisition (CS + UCS); extinction (CS only, decline of CR); generalization (other (neutral)
stimuli that resemble the CS also can cause the CR); discrimination (ability to differentiate
between a CS and other stimuli which have not been paired with the UCS)
spontaneous recovery =