Phil/Psych 446

Seminar in Cognitive Science

Week 3: The World

Key Ideas

Psychological experiments vs. thought experiments: Galileo.

Attention.

Cartesian theatre vs. global workspace.

Blind spots and filling in.

Discussion Questions

1. Is attention a bottleneck, filter, spotlight, or competitive mechanism?

2. Is consciousness a cause or effect of attention, or both?

3. Evaluate these metaphors for consciousness: theatre, workspace, multiple drafts? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

4. How much of consciousness is an illusion? Cool illusion.

5. How does the mind/brain fill in gaps?

6. Is consciousness a biological accident, or an evolved function?

7. Are conscious states effects, causes, or both?

 

Video on consciousness and memory.


Phil/Psych 446

Computational Epistemology Laboratory.

Paul Thagard

This page updated Sept. 21, 2007