Topics covered and not covered on the consciousness exam

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Topics covered on the Consciousness exam (Leiden university - 2019)

Descartes’ theory on the relationship between conscious mind and body
Materialist approaches to consciousness The relationship between epiphenomenalism and functionalism
Qualia
Mary, color scientist
Philosophers’ zombie
Milner & Goodale on the relationship between conscious perception and action
Global Workspace Theory of Baars
The concept of a “Cartesian Theatre”
Dennett’s multiple-drafts theory
Libet’s stimulation of the brain of patients
Libet’s theory of conscious experience
How rich, complete are internal representations of the visual environment
The sensorimotor theory of O’Regan and Noë
Split-brain patients
Hume’s concept of the self
Bundle theory of the self
William James and the “stream of consciousness”
Libet and the relative timing of conscious willing and overt action
Wegner and the relationship between consciously perceived will and voluntary action
The neural correlates of conscious experience in monkeys and humans
Phantom pain and Ramachandran’s technique
The binding problem
Crick & Koch and how the brain solves binding problem
Blindsight  Sensory substitution in blind people
Darwin’s theory of natural selection
Darwin and Lamarck
Consciousness as “health”
Humphrey’s evolutionary theory of consciousness
Are animals conscious?
Can animals speak?
Alternatives to Strong AI
Turing test
Searle’s Chinese Room thought experiment
The impact of unconscious signals
Hallucinations
Visual forms in drug-induced hallucinations
Psi phenomena
Parapsychological studies and methodological shortcomings
Impact of Altered State of Consciousness
How drugs affect cognitive processes
Hobson’s AIM model of sleep
The Retro-Selective Theory of Dreams
Out-Of-Body Experience
Near-Death Experience

Topics not covered:

Orwellian and Stalinesque revisions (p. 83)
Filling the gaps (p. 88-94)
Multiple personality (p. 107-112)
Memes (p. 233-236)
Quantum consciousness (p. 285-289)
Lucid dreams (p. 394-399)
Mystical experiences (p. 414-417)
Chapters 25-27

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Consciousness- Questions and Answers

Online Practice Questions - Consciousness - Blackmore (2^nd edition)

What's the problem? CH.1

1.1 What is meant by the 'mind-body problem'?

1.2 Which philosophical movement emphasizes the view that there is only matter?
            A: epiphenomenalism
            B: dualism
            C: materialism
            D: panpsychism

1.3a What is meant by the philosophical movement 'dualism'?
1.3b Who is a known proponent of dualism?
1.3c From which two movements does dualism exist?

1.4 From which three parts does the subconscious exist according to Freud?

1.5 What are two well-known names that are linked to behaviorism?
            A: Wundt and Skinner
            B: Skinner and Watson
            C: Wundt and Watson
            D: James and Skinner

What is it like to be a...? CH.2

2.1 Block makes a distinction between which two forms of consciousness?
            A: phenomenality and access awareness
            B: qualia and access awareness
            C: phenomenality and subjectivity
            D: qualia and subjectivity

2.2a What are qualia?
2.2b In what way can the added value of qualia be investigated?

2.3 What does the thought experiment of a zombie involve?

2.4 In which four ways can scientists respond to Chalmers' idea that there is a hard problem when we talk about consciousness?

2.5 What are three possible reasons for ignoring the difficult problem?

How do conscious and unconscious activities differ from each other? CH.3

3.1a From which two visual systems can a distinction be made according to Milner and Goodale?
3.1b Milner and Goodale state that a distinction can be made on the basis of fundamentally different tasks performed by the brain. Which categories do they think play an important role in this?

3.2 In which categories can operations be classified in general?

3.3 Which two representational theories exist and what do these theories mean?

3.4 Who designed the 'global workspace theory' (GWT)?
            A: Libet
            B: Milner and Goodale
            C: Perch
            D: Castello

How can the mind be seen as theater? CH.4

4.1 What is meant by the theater as a metaphor?

4.2 What does 'global workspace theory' (GWT) mean (in terms of the mind as theater)?

4.3 What does the 'neural global workspace' model mean?
            A: The model states that we become aware of an event when neurons
            firing for a certain period of time.
            B: The model represents your joy, worries, ambitions, your sense of personal identity
            and free will are nothing more than the coming together of nerve cells.
            C: The model states that conscious experiences are similar to brain activity.
            D: The model states that unconscious processes are being fought for access
            get to the limited capacity of the memory.

4.4 What is the idea of the multiple drafts model?

4.5a What does Dennett's 'myth of double transduction' theory entail?
4.5b Does this theory involve a Cartesian theater (CT)?

What do attention and timing have to do with consciousness? CH.5

5.1 What idea do bottlenose theories have about attention?

5.2 What is the difference between 'theories of theories' and 'follow-up theories' of attention?

5.3 Who introduced the concept of 'covert attention scanning'?
            A: Libet
            B: James
            C: Helmholz
            D: Dennett

5.4 What is meant by 'the half-second delay of consciousness'?

5.5 What does the 'subjective time displacement phenomenon' mean?

What is meant by 'the great illusion'? CH.6

6.1a What does the 'great illusion' of visual experiences mean?
6.1b What two ideas are about visual experience?

6.2 James states that while looking around, not everything we see can be absorbed in us and that there are holes in the consciousness. What three views are there about filling these holes? Match the vision with the right understanding (for example: A - II).

            Visions:
            A: The brain actually fills in all the details so that there is a complete picture in the
            brain arises.
            B: The brain does not need to fill in holes.
            C: The holes are filled to a higher level of the visual system and this is
            more conceptual in nature, instead of a picture being filled out.

            Terms:
            I: 'symbolic filling-in'
            II: 'skeptical vision'
            III: 'isomorphic filling-in'

6.3 What is meant by 'change blindness'?

What do 'the self' and 'the multiple self' mean? CH.7

7.1a Which two ideas exist about how it is that we feel that there is a 'self' that constantly has all kinds of experiences?

7.1b Which two theories can be linked to this?

7.2 What happens in a 'split brain operation'?

7.3 What are characteristic functions of the right and left hemispheres, respectively?

7.4 What evidence has been provided for the idea of Sperry about the 'interpreter' in the left hemisphere?

Which theories about the self are there? CH.8

8.1 Which aspects belong to the 'empirical self' described by James?
            A: the material self, the social self and subjective experiences
            B: the material self, subjective thoughts and the social self
            C: the social self, subjective experiences and subjective thoughts
            D: the material self, subjective thoughts and subjective experiences

8.2 From which three 'selves' does Damasio make a distinction?

8.3 What is meant by the 'pearl vision' of Strawson?

When is there a question of free will? CH.9

9.1 Damage to which area of the prefrontal cortex can lead to a lack of spontaneous activity and to stereotypic actions?
            A: the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC)
            B: the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC)
            C: the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC)
            D: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)

9.2 What does 'readiness potential' mean?

9.3 What were important criticisms about Libet's experiment?

9.4 Wegner states that free will is an illusion created in three steps. Which three steps are these?

9.5 Which criteria must a free choice satisfy according to Wegner?

How do the brain and consciousness interact with each other? CH.10

10.1 In which three groups can drugs be subdivided?

10.2a What does the 'representational theory of consciousness' mean?
10.2b Who has invented the above theory?

10.3 What is the opinion of dualists on the localization of pain?

In what way can consciousness be seen as a unit? CH.11

11.1 What does the 'binding problem' mean?

11.2 What is Zeki's opinion about the unity of consciousness?

11.3 Which part of the brain plays the most important role in multisensory integration?
            A: amygdala
            B: hypothalamus
            C: thalamus
            D: superior colliculus

11.4 Edelman and Tononi distinguish between two different forms of consciousness. Which are these?

11.5 What does the 'dynamic core' mean?

What is the influence of brain damage on consciousness? CH.12

12.1 Which two forms of memory loss generally exist?

12.2a What is the most common cause of the characteristic memory loss in Korsakoff's syndrome?
12.b What form of memory usually remains intact in patients with this syndrome?

12.3 Match the concept with the correct description. For example: A - I.

            Terms:
            A: anosagnosis
            B: Anton's syndrome
            C: hemifield neglect

            I: syndrome in which people do not realize that certain parts of their body
            to become paralyzed
            II: people who think that the left side of what they see does not exist
            III: people who are blind, but who are convinced that they can see

12.4 Name a number of ways in which 'blind vision' can be tested.

What is the connection between evolution and consciousness? CH.13

13.1 Name a number of differences between Darwinism and Lamarckism.

13.2 By whom was the genetics first developed?
            A: Darwin
            B: Flanagan
            C: Mendel
            D: Lamarck

13.3 What is the tenor of panadaptionism?

13.4 Which four visions exist on the relationship between consciousness and evolution?

What views on the function of consciousness are there? CH.14

14.1 What is the vision of panpsychism about the relationship between consciousness and evolution?

14.2a Which three concepts belong to Humphrey's vision?
            A: emergent property, surface feature and inner eye
            B: emeregent property, re-entry and inner eye
            C: surface feature, re-entry and memes
            D: inner eye, emergent property and memes

14.2b According to Humphrey, what is the function of consciousness?

14.3 From which factors does group selection of neurons depend on the theory of 'neural darwinism' of Edelman?

14.4 What is Dawkins idea about 'memes'?

How can the consciousness of animals be investigated? CH.15

15.1 On the basis of which three cases can be determined whether an animal suffers pain according to Dawkin?

15.2 Which test is typically used to investigate whether a particular animal has an awareness?

15.3 Which concept is consistent with the following description: 'having convictions, desire and mental states and attributing mental states to other people'?
A: 'self-awareness'

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Book Summary of Consciousness: An Introduction - by Susan Blackwell

What is the problem of consciousness? - Chapter 1
Summary edition an supporting materials
Summary of chapter 2 to 26

What is the problem of consciousness? - Chapter 1

What is the world made of?

The problem of consciousness is related to some of the oldest questions of philosophy: what does the world consist of? Who am I? It relates to the mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the physical and the mental?

Despite the fact that we are learning more and more about the functioning of the brain, consciousness remains a mystery. In the past, they used the term 'élan vital' to explain how non-living things could be made alive. Nowadays this concept is no longer used, since we know that biological processes are responsible for this. Some scientists believe that the same will also happen with the term consciousness. Once we understand how brain processes create a sense of consciousness, then we might not need to use this term anymore.

Consciousness requires some sort of dualism: objectivity vs. subjectivity, inner vs. outer, mind vs. body...

For example: Take a pencil in your hand and look at it. You see the pencil from your own unique perspective, which you cannot share with others. The pencil is part of the outside world, your experience with the pencil is part of your inner world.

Philosophical theories

The way philosophers view the consciousness problem can generally be divided into monist theories, which suggest that there are one kind of things in the world, and dualist theories, which suggest that there are two kinds of things. Some theories state that the mental world is fundamental and some theories state that the physical world is fundamental.

Monism

Monistic theories assume that the world consists of only one kind of matter (body or mind). Some monistic theories state that everything consists of the mind, according to these theories we only have ideas and perceptions of a pencil. We do not know if a pencil really exists. People who assume this are called mentalists or idealists. Berkeley supported this principle. The disadvantage of this perspective is that we can never know for certain whether objects with fixed characteristics exist.

Materialists are also monists. They believe that there is only matter. An example for this is the identity theory, which states that mental experiences are the same as physical experiences. Another example is functionalism, which assumes that mental experiences are the same as functional experiences.

Epiphenomenalism assumes that physical processes cause mental events, but that mental events have no effect on physical events. Huxley was a supporter of this idea. He did not deny that consciousness or subjective experiences existed, but stated that they have no (causal) connection with physical processes. He used the concept of 'conscious automata' to indicate that people and animals with their mental experiences have no influence over their bodies. Behaviorism is based on this idea. A criticism of epiphenomenalism is that if the consciousness has no effect at all, we would never be able to speak about it.

Neutral monism claims that the world consists of different sensory perceptions. The world consists of only matter, but it is neither physical nor mental. The mind is not reduced to matter, but matter itself exists. It is assumed that there is an interplay between the mind and the brain.

By contrast, pan psychism states that all material things in the universe have (primitive) consciousness or mental qualities. This can be interpreted in two ways:

that everything in the universe has consciousness,
that everything is of a mental nature, whether this is conscious or unconscious.

Dualism

Dualistic theories state that the world consists of two things (body and mind). The most famous dualist is René Descartes. He believed that both mind and body both exist and that they interact through the pituitary gland. He tried to base his ideas on certain knowledge. He stated that in principle everything could be unreal (for example the fact that you are sitting on a chair). The only thing he knew for sure is that he was thinking and therefore he was certain that he existed.

The theory of Descartes is a form of substance-dualism, which is the opposite of characteristic dualism. Characteristic dualism states that the same thing (for example a person) can be described by means of mental terms or physical terms, but that one description can not be reduced to the other. For example, if you have pain, this can be described in mental or physical terms. Substance dualism deals with the question of how the body and mind interact, while it involves two different substances. The mind would therefore affect the body, but also vice versa.

The problem of substance-dualism is how the mind interacts with the body when the two are made of different substances. Physical events and their processing by the brain are the reason for gathering experiences in the world (thoughts, images, decisions, etc.). In the other direction, thoughts and feelings must be able to influence physical matter.

However, almost all scientists today agree that the idea of dualism can not be true. For example, Ryle is a big opponent of dualism. He states that the mind is not an entity that performs or causes things.

Today, therefore, there are only a handful of dualists. Examples are Popper and Eccles, who drew up the modern theory of dualistic interactionism. According to this theory, synapses in the brain can be influenced by mental and emotional aspects. So who you are has influence (and control) on how your brain works. However, it is not clear how this happens. The more recent theory of Libet also remains without substantiation. According to this theory, subjective experiences and free will are driven by a 'mental field of consciousness' that does not use neural routes and connections. It seems that all variants of dualism get stuck in mystery and therefore can not be explained scientifically.

Consciousness in psychology

The term "psychology" already appeared in the 18th century to describe the philosophy of mental life, but it was towards the end of the 19th century when psychology was seen as a science. At that time, different approaches existed to study the mind. Some psychologists were interested in bodily processes, while other psychologists were more interested in subjective experiences of people. There was, however, no great distinction between these two visions.

William James stated that psychology should be concerned with, among other things, cognitions, desires, reasoning and mistakes. These are all concepts that have to do with consciousness. James, who worked from a monistic approach, had nothing to do with dualism and stated that consciousness can be manipulated by damaging the brain or by using alcohol. He therefore argued that psychology should also deal with the brain. He thought the research into consciousness was important and came with 'the flow of consciousness'. He uses this notion to describe that thoughts, ideas, images and feelings, as it were, always 'flow' through our minds. Because of his emphasis on consciousness, he thought it important that mental events be investigated. He based his ideas about consciousness on research results about attention, memory and observations.

Psychophysics deals with the relationship between concrete stimuli and individual experiences. Weber and Fechner, for example, were concerned with the relationship between sound pressure and perceiving loudness (the Weber-Fechner Act) and Helmholtz measured for the first time the speed of conduction between nerve cells ('velocity of thought'). These theories emphasized that what happens in the nervous system is unconscious and that our conscious experiences are dependent on the subconscious.

Freud stated that we are led by the subconscious. According to his theory, this subconscious consists of three parts:

'Id': the biological desires and needs,
'Ego': all kinds of defense mechanisms
'Superego': suppresses all unacceptable desires and needs that, according to Freud, would be expressed in dreams.

During the end of the 20th century, the subconscious of Freud was replaced by the cognitive subconscious. This subconscious is capable of manifesting all kinds of different forms of learning, thinking and memory without consciousness. This is sometimes called the "new subconscious."

Phenomenology emphasizes subjective experience. For example, Husserl stated that we can only know how things in the world are when we use conscious experiences. For this, no use should be made of scientific approaches. This he also called 'phenomenological reduction' or 'epoché'.

Husserl embroided on the work of Brentano. He stated that every subjective experience is about references and that conscious experiences are about objects or events. Brentano also called this 'intentionality'.

Wundt was a supporter of introspectionism: wanting to describe his own inner experiences in a reliable and precise way. He stated that there are two 'physical elements':