Phil/Psych 447, Phil 673

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. What is the significance of Libet's half-second delay?

5. How much of consciousness is an illusion? Optical illusions.

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

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

Links

Recent interview with Daniel Dennett.

Schröder, T., Stewart, T. C., & Thagard, P. (forthcoming). Intention, emotion, and action: A neural theory based on semantic pointers. Cognitive Science.

Recent experiments on free will.

The weirdest people in the world?


Phil/Psych 447

Computational Epistemology Laboratory.

Paul Thagard

This page updated Sept. 25, 2013