Cognitive Neuroscience Ch. 1 & 2 questions with
correct answers
cognitive psychology Correct Answer-is the study of mental processes
such as "attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving,
creativity, and thinking." a branch of psychology concerned with mental
processes (as perception, thinking, learning, and memory) especially
with respect to the internal events occurring between sensory stimulation
and the overt expression of behavior—compare behaviorism.
cognitive neuropsychology Correct Answer-The study of brain-damaged
patients to inform theories of normal cognition. The approach of using
patients with acquired brain damage to inform theories of normal
cognition is called neuropsychology and remains influential today.
Cognitive neuropsychology is now effectively subsumed within the term
"cognitive neuroscience," where the latter phrase is seen as being less
restrictive in terms of methodology.
cognitive neuroscience Correct Answer-aims to explain cognitive
processes in terms of brain-based mechanisms. It is a bridging discipline
between cognitive science and cognitive psychology, on the one hand,
and biology and neuroscience, on the other. It has emerged as a distinct
enterprise only recently and has been driven by methodological
advances that enable the study of the human brain safely in the
laboratory.
challenges to cognitive neuroscience Correct Answer-
,mind-body/mind-brain problem Correct Answer-Philosophers as well as
scientists have long been interested in how the brain can create our
mental world. How is it that a physical substance can give rise to our
sensations, thoughts and emotions? This has been termed the mind-body
problem, although it should more properly be called the brain-body
problem, because it is now agreed that the brain is the key part of the
body for cognition.
dualism Correct Answer-One position is that the mind and brain are
made up of different kinds of substance, even though they may interact.
This is known as dualism, and the most famous proponent of this idea
was Rene Descatrtes. Rene believed that the mind was non-physical and
immortal whereas the body was physical and mortal.
dual aspect theory Correct Answer-Spinoza argued that mind and brain
were two different levels of explanation for the same thing, but not two
different kinds of thing. This has been termed dual-aspect theory and it
remains popular with some current researchers in the field. The belief
that mind and brain are two levels of description of the same thing.
reductionism Correct Answer-An alternative approach to the mind-body
problem that is endorsed by many contemporary thinkers is reductions.
This position states that, although cognitive, mind-based concepts (e.g.
emotions, memories, attention) are currently useful for scientific
exploration, they will eventually be replaced by purely biological
constructs (e.g patterns of neuronal firings, neurotransmitter release) The
belief that mind-based concepts will eventually be replaced by
neuroscientific concepts.
, Penfield Correct Answer-Bewteen 1928 and 1947, Penfield and
colleagues carried out a series of remarkable experiments on over 400
living human brains. The patients in question were undergoing brain
surgery for epilepsy. To identify and spare regions of the brain involved
in movement and sensation, Penfield electrically stimulated regions of
the sorted while the patient was still conscious. The procedure was not
painful (the surface of the brain does not contain pain receptors), but the
patients did report some fascinating experiences. when stimulating the
occipital lobe one patient reported, "a star came down roward my nose."
Upon stimulating a region near the central sulcus. another patient
claimed, "I heard the music again, it is like the radio." She was later able
to recall the tune she heard was absolutely convinced that there must
have been a radio in the operating theatre. Of course, the patients had no
idea the electrical stimulation was being applied---they couldn't
physically feel it or see it. As far as they were concerned,an electrical
stimulation applied to the brain felt pretty much like a mental/cognititve
event.
Philosophers (Artistotle, Plato, Descartes) Correct Answer-The most
famous proponent of dualism is Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes
believed that the mind was non-physical and immortal whereas the body
was physical and mortal. He suggested that they interact in the pineal
gland, which lies at the center of the brain and is now considered part of
the endocrine system. According to Descartes, stimulation of the sense
organs would cause vibrations in the body/brain that would be picked up
in the pineal gland, and this would create a non-physical sense of
awareness. There is little hope for cognitive neuroscience if dualism is
true because the methods of physical and biological sciences cannot tap
into the non-physical domain (if such a thing were to exist).
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