COG170 COGITO FUNDAMENTALS EXAM STUDY
GUIDE 2026 – COMPLETE CONCEPT REVIEW &
PRACTICE MATERIALS (LATEST EDITION)
Section 1: Foundations & Philosophy of Mind (Questions 1-25)
1. The "Hard Problem of Consciousness," as defined by David Chalmers, addresses:
A) How the brain processes visual information.
B) How physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective, first-person experience. ✓
C) The problem of other minds.
D) The neural correlates of sleep and dreaming.
2. Which philosophical position argues that mental states are identical to physical brain
states?
A) Dualism
B) Functionalism
C) Identity Theory ✓
D) Behaviorism
3. The Turing Test is primarily a test of:
A) A machine's ability to feel emotions.
B) A machine's computational speed.
C) A machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from a human. ✓
D) A machine's sensory processing capabilities.
4. "The mind is to the brain as software is to hardware." This analogy best aligns with:
A) Substance Dualism
B) Identity Theory
C) Functionalism ✓
D) Eliminative Materialism
5. Who is credited with the thought experiment of the "Chinese Room" to argue against
"strong AI"?
A) Alan Turing
B) John Searle ✓
C) Daniel Dennett
D) Noam Chomsky
,6. Descartes' concept of res cogitans refers to:
A) The physical body.
B) The thinking, non-physical substance (mind). ✓
C) The pineal gland.
D) Automatic bodily functions.
7. Philosophical zombies, in thought experiments, are used to argue against:
A) The existence of artificial intelligence.
B) Physicalist theories of consciousness. ✓
C) The validity of introspection.
D) The concept of unconscious processing.
8. Which philosophical approach proposes that talk of mental states will be eliminated and
replaced by neuroscientific explanations?
A) Identity Theory
B) Property Dualism
C) Functionalism
D) Eliminative Materialism ✓
9. The "mind-body problem" is fundamentally the question of:
A) How the mind controls voluntary muscles.
B) The relationship between mental phenomena and physical substance. ✓
C) Which part of the brain houses the soul.
D) How to optimize cognitive performance.
10. Property Dualism asserts that:
A) There are two distinct substances: mind and body.
B) There is only physical substance, but it can have both physical and non-physical (mental)
properties. ✓
C) Mental properties do not exist.
D) All properties are functional.
11. Methodological behaviorism, as championed by John B. Watson, focuses on:
A) Introspective reports of conscious experience.
B) The evolutionary purpose of behavior.
C) Observable stimuli and responses, rejecting introspection. ✓
D) The underlying neural mechanisms of behavior.
12. The "Brain in a Vat" thought experiment primarily challenges our certainty about:
A) The laws of physics.
,B) The reliability of our sensory experiences and knowledge of the external world. ✓
C) The ethical treatment of laboratory specimens.
D) The speed of neural transmission.
13. In the context of AI, "symbol grounding" refers to the problem of:
A) Connecting abstract symbols to real-world referents and meaning. ✓
B) Choosing the right programming language.
C) Reducing computational complexity.
D) Storing symbols in memory.
14. Who proposed the concept of "multiple realizability," a key argument for functionalism?
A) Hilary Putnam ✓
B) René Descartes
C) Patricia Churchland
D) B.F. Skinner
15. Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are:
A) The sole cause of behavior.
B) Identical to brain events.
C) Caused by physical events, but have no causal influence on the physical world. ✓
D) A useful fiction.
16. The "inverted spectrum" thought experiment is used to argue about:
A) Color blindness.
B) The subjectivity and privacy of qualia. ✓
C) Visual processing in the cortex.
D) The speed of perception.
17. Cognitive science is best described as:
A) A subfield of computer science.
B) The study of the brain's anatomy.
C) The interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence. ✓
D) A branch of analytic philosophy.
18. An "embodied" view of cognition emphasizes that:
A) The mind is a disembodied program.
B) The brain alone is responsible for thought.
C) Cognition is deeply shaped by the body and its interactions with the environment. ✓
D) Neural networks are the only valid model.
, 19. The "extended mind" hypothesis (Clark & Chalmers) suggests that:
A) The skull is too small to contain the mind.
B) Tools and external artifacts can sometimes be considered part of the cognitive process. ✓
C) The mind grows new neurons when learning.
D) Consciousness extends beyond the body at death.
20. Which term refers to the "what it is like" aspect of conscious experience?
A) Intentionality
B) Qualia ✓
C) Cognition
D) Syntax
21. Intentionality, in philosophy of mind, is the property of mental states being:
A) Deliberate actions.
B) About or directed at something. ✓
C) Intelligent.
D) Intended to cause an effect.
22. Top-down processing in perception is most influenced by:
A) Raw sensory data.
B) Prior knowledge, expectations, and context. ✓
C) The specific wavelength of light.
D) The firing of retinal ganglion cells.
23. Bottom-up processing in perception begins with:
A) A hypothesis about what we are seeing.
B) Analysis of complex scenes.
C) The stimulation of sensory receptors. ✓
D) Memories of past experiences.
24. The "binding problem" in neuroscience asks:
A) How neurons form synapses.
B) How different sensory attributes (color, shape, motion) are unified into a single percept. ✓
C) How neurotransmitters bind to receptors.
D) How genes are expressed in the brain.
25. A key criticism of strict behaviorism is its difficulty in explaining:
A) Reflex arcs.
B) Mental processes like planning and imagination. ✓
GUIDE 2026 – COMPLETE CONCEPT REVIEW &
PRACTICE MATERIALS (LATEST EDITION)
Section 1: Foundations & Philosophy of Mind (Questions 1-25)
1. The "Hard Problem of Consciousness," as defined by David Chalmers, addresses:
A) How the brain processes visual information.
B) How physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective, first-person experience. ✓
C) The problem of other minds.
D) The neural correlates of sleep and dreaming.
2. Which philosophical position argues that mental states are identical to physical brain
states?
A) Dualism
B) Functionalism
C) Identity Theory ✓
D) Behaviorism
3. The Turing Test is primarily a test of:
A) A machine's ability to feel emotions.
B) A machine's computational speed.
C) A machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from a human. ✓
D) A machine's sensory processing capabilities.
4. "The mind is to the brain as software is to hardware." This analogy best aligns with:
A) Substance Dualism
B) Identity Theory
C) Functionalism ✓
D) Eliminative Materialism
5. Who is credited with the thought experiment of the "Chinese Room" to argue against
"strong AI"?
A) Alan Turing
B) John Searle ✓
C) Daniel Dennett
D) Noam Chomsky
,6. Descartes' concept of res cogitans refers to:
A) The physical body.
B) The thinking, non-physical substance (mind). ✓
C) The pineal gland.
D) Automatic bodily functions.
7. Philosophical zombies, in thought experiments, are used to argue against:
A) The existence of artificial intelligence.
B) Physicalist theories of consciousness. ✓
C) The validity of introspection.
D) The concept of unconscious processing.
8. Which philosophical approach proposes that talk of mental states will be eliminated and
replaced by neuroscientific explanations?
A) Identity Theory
B) Property Dualism
C) Functionalism
D) Eliminative Materialism ✓
9. The "mind-body problem" is fundamentally the question of:
A) How the mind controls voluntary muscles.
B) The relationship between mental phenomena and physical substance. ✓
C) Which part of the brain houses the soul.
D) How to optimize cognitive performance.
10. Property Dualism asserts that:
A) There are two distinct substances: mind and body.
B) There is only physical substance, but it can have both physical and non-physical (mental)
properties. ✓
C) Mental properties do not exist.
D) All properties are functional.
11. Methodological behaviorism, as championed by John B. Watson, focuses on:
A) Introspective reports of conscious experience.
B) The evolutionary purpose of behavior.
C) Observable stimuli and responses, rejecting introspection. ✓
D) The underlying neural mechanisms of behavior.
12. The "Brain in a Vat" thought experiment primarily challenges our certainty about:
A) The laws of physics.
,B) The reliability of our sensory experiences and knowledge of the external world. ✓
C) The ethical treatment of laboratory specimens.
D) The speed of neural transmission.
13. In the context of AI, "symbol grounding" refers to the problem of:
A) Connecting abstract symbols to real-world referents and meaning. ✓
B) Choosing the right programming language.
C) Reducing computational complexity.
D) Storing symbols in memory.
14. Who proposed the concept of "multiple realizability," a key argument for functionalism?
A) Hilary Putnam ✓
B) René Descartes
C) Patricia Churchland
D) B.F. Skinner
15. Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are:
A) The sole cause of behavior.
B) Identical to brain events.
C) Caused by physical events, but have no causal influence on the physical world. ✓
D) A useful fiction.
16. The "inverted spectrum" thought experiment is used to argue about:
A) Color blindness.
B) The subjectivity and privacy of qualia. ✓
C) Visual processing in the cortex.
D) The speed of perception.
17. Cognitive science is best described as:
A) A subfield of computer science.
B) The study of the brain's anatomy.
C) The interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence. ✓
D) A branch of analytic philosophy.
18. An "embodied" view of cognition emphasizes that:
A) The mind is a disembodied program.
B) The brain alone is responsible for thought.
C) Cognition is deeply shaped by the body and its interactions with the environment. ✓
D) Neural networks are the only valid model.
, 19. The "extended mind" hypothesis (Clark & Chalmers) suggests that:
A) The skull is too small to contain the mind.
B) Tools and external artifacts can sometimes be considered part of the cognitive process. ✓
C) The mind grows new neurons when learning.
D) Consciousness extends beyond the body at death.
20. Which term refers to the "what it is like" aspect of conscious experience?
A) Intentionality
B) Qualia ✓
C) Cognition
D) Syntax
21. Intentionality, in philosophy of mind, is the property of mental states being:
A) Deliberate actions.
B) About or directed at something. ✓
C) Intelligent.
D) Intended to cause an effect.
22. Top-down processing in perception is most influenced by:
A) Raw sensory data.
B) Prior knowledge, expectations, and context. ✓
C) The specific wavelength of light.
D) The firing of retinal ganglion cells.
23. Bottom-up processing in perception begins with:
A) A hypothesis about what we are seeing.
B) Analysis of complex scenes.
C) The stimulation of sensory receptors. ✓
D) Memories of past experiences.
24. The "binding problem" in neuroscience asks:
A) How neurons form synapses.
B) How different sensory attributes (color, shape, motion) are unified into a single percept. ✓
C) How neurotransmitters bind to receptors.
D) How genes are expressed in the brain.
25. A key criticism of strict behaviorism is its difficulty in explaining:
A) Reflex arcs.
B) Mental processes like planning and imagination. ✓
