a course recapping where weve been and where youre going

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A Course Recapping

Where we’ve been and where you’re going…


Monism vs. Dualism

• We started by considering two different theories in philosophy regarding the nature of the mind:– Monism -

– Dualism -


Monism vs. Dualism

• Sensory Systems and Perception– We took a “reductionist”

approach to perception• perception is a result of the

actions of neurons within various sensory systems


Reductionist Approach

Neurons Networks of Neurons Perceptions


Some Themes in Sensation and Perception

• Sensory systems extract information about the world from the energy around you– acoustic, electromagnetic, mechanical,

chemical– sensory receptors transduce this information



• Sensory systems have precise underlying organization:– visual system is organized retinotopically– auditory system is organized tonotopically– somatosensory system is organized

somatotopically



• Perception is a constructive process– Your brain applies rules to synthesize “best

guess” perceptions: e.g. size constancy, color constancy



• Perception seems to require “top-down” processes

Surfaces and background

Pattern on Retina

brightness and line orientation

COMPARE possible identities

identity

BOTTOM-UP TOP-DOWN


Perception is Closely Tied to Attention (a cognitive function)


Some Themes in Attention

• Psychologists use an “information theory” approach to studying perception– how much information gets processed

simultaneously?– Is it processed in parallel? Serial?


Some Themes in Attention

• Attention is the interface between the operations of the sensory systems and the conscious mind

• You tend to be unaware of what your not attending to


From Attention to Memory

• Attention is the gateway to “further processing”, namely encoding sensory memory into longer lasting short-term and long-term storage


Some Themes in Memory

• There are, in some respects, different “kinds” of memory– memory can be differentiated on the basis of

timecourse– memory can be differentiated on the basis of

the kind of information encoded



• Sensory memory is a very brief “snapshot” of the what’s in the sensory systems– decays in under 1 second– isn’t processed for meaning– doesn’t require attention



• Short-term or “Working” memory has a finite capacity– holds a few items (7 +/- 2 ?) “in mind”– requires attentive rehearsal– spatial information and verbal/subvocal

information are maintained in somewhat independent systems



• Long-term memory holds vast amounts of information for periods of years– requires no attentive rehearsal



• Long-term memory is really a collection of different systems that store different kinds of information:– Semantic Memory - factual knowledge– Episodic Memory - autobiographical memories– Procedural Memory - how to do things



• Memory is Fallible Because it is Reconstructed– memories are assembled from bits of

information rather than simply “played back”– false-memories can be “inserted” and previous

memories can be distorted



• Not all memory is entered into awareness– Virtually all the contents of LTM at any one

time– Repressed memories– Explicit vs. Implicit Memory


Consciousness

• Consciousness– Perhaps the most mysterious phenomenon

we’ve discussed– Information can be identified, remembered, and

acted upon without awareness• although not all “subliminal” information does alter

cognition or behavior


Consciousness

• And so we end with Philosophy:

– The Hard Problem: what makes networks of neurons aware?


The Final Exam


The Final Exam

• Very similar to mid-term– yes/no, true/false, multiple choice (answer every part of

every question !)


The Final Exam


every question !)• Cumulative in that understanding of sensation and

perception is assumed


The Final Exam


every question !)• Cumulative in that understanding of sensation and

perception is assumed• Like mid-term, it is a “thinky” test - requires

careful reasoning to draw conclusions that follow from experimental results, make predictions based on hypothesis, etc.

a course recapping where weve been and where youre going

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