KHA 454 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Onomatopoeia, Mental Chronometry, Finger-Counting
30 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Advanced Topics in Psychology: Week 5
Embodied Cognition- Mike Garry
Why studying movement is important for psychology?
- Motor control
- Leads into embodied cognition
- Movement is not outside of cognition- it is part of it, and it is an area of value
- Encountering a ET fossil:
oUse to possess a brain
oThis provides us a lot of information about what it was capable of
doing:
Consciousness: the priority of psychology is to study conscious
beings and what they are capable of doing
The portion of species with brains is large, but only a fraction
of these are conscious
Or self awareness
Only close primates
Not willing to say that other species (amphibians,
salamanders etc.. mammals maybe yes)
Not a reasonable assumption to assume an ET would be
able to communicate with us
Speech or communication:
If it has a brain can it do this
Potentially
Lots of animals communicate, but not many have
language
oOnly animal to have language is human
oOthers forms of communication but not in the
true language form
Vision:
oHumans are very human dominant
oMany animals are as well
oParticularly mammals
oSome mammals, and many animals, don’t have
eyes
oThis sensory system is not always present and
we cannot assume if they have a nervous system
Hearing:
oThe ability to detect vibrations in the air, many
animals cant hear, despite having a brain
Honeybees
Not sensitive to this form of stimuli
oHearing does not directly follow from having a
brain
Emotion:
oEmotion is a complex psychological experiences
that is tied with consciousness
oVery low probability
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Learning and memory:
oCentral topics in memory
oDefining memory and learning has varying
meaning
Eg. The sea slug that you can define it
just by looking at the structure and
function of one area of their brain
oThis is much more likely to be present and
functioning in most animals
oC. Elegans have 302 neurons
oBut is that why it has a brain? Is that its primary
feature?
Movement:
oBrains evolved for movement: you can assume
if it has a brain it is capable of moving
oAll the other functions are linked to facilitating
movement
In the service of movement
oSea squirts:
Doesn’t need its brain anymore because
once it has found its permanent spot on a
rock, they eat it
oPlants don’t have brains
oIf brains are for movement so this must be a critically important topic
for psychology
Not typically taught at universities despite being central
oWhy isn’t it here?
Turing test? Have to interact with humans and computers and
determine whether you are dealing with a human or not
AI is getting to this level
Programs can often meet the Test for intelligence, but
rarely meets human movement or passes the test
oAPA definition of psychology:
Emphasis is on behaviour
What do they mean by behaviour? No emphasis on action and
movement, despite us moving all the time
-The neglect of motor control in the science of mental life and behaviour
oA fundamental paper in psychology
A growing
oThe study of reaching for, manipulating objects, walk around obstacle,
controlling movements for speaking, writing, smiling, and gesturing
oThe study of this would compliment topics like perception, learning,
emotion, and development
oWhy is motor control neglected
- What questions in motor control are addressed?
oWhat are the necessary and sufficient conditions for generating a
voluntary movement
oExample: why does one choose a certain movement over an other
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Some movements don’t require learning or being taught
oHow do we pick up a pen:
Assume we have appendages
How do you choose which hand to use?
Feet are more lenient with footedness compared to hand
Throwing a ball is the best test for lateralization of the
brain
Because other functions they may have been taught to
overcome left urges within their culture
Can you manipulate the environment so that you can
only use your preferred hand
What is your end goal? How do we pick up a pen?
Writing? Holding position differs to if you were
stabbing
Depends on the purpose
What about the characteristics of the pen itself
Posture changes
oWe want to know HOW but also WHY
How and why distinguish the low order mechanics and the
high-order goals, respectively
Mechanics of what they do satisfy their goal
What are their muscle movements etc. associated with
this
State of the NS indicates the genesis of the act
Movement is a window to goals and intentions
Errors in behaviour reveal information about planning
Spoonerisms
The state of the error system: decision and planning
process
Insight into planning process: this may be considered
more relevant to psychologists typically
And what is happening at higher levels
- Motor control can inform learning:
oLearning is associated with freeing up degrees of freedom
DF is key to this
Limit in early learning stages, how much control is required to
do something
Eg. Start simple tasks (press the key with one finger)
As you learn and develop- gain opportunities to play in flexible
ways
Highly adaptable capacities in terms of its movement
Loosening everything up
oEvolution of learning is visible in behaviour
oMotor learning is a whole separate field
oPiano playing:
Physical skills
oSimilar with cognitive behaviours
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Movement is not outside of cognition- it is part of it, and it is an area of value. Encountering a et fossil: use to possess a brain, this provides us a lot of information about what it was capable of doing: Consciousness: the priority of psychology is to study conscious beings and what they are capable of doing. The portion of species with brains is large, but only a fraction of these are conscious. Not willing to say that other species (amphibians, salamanders etc mammals maybe yes) Not a reasonable assumption to assume an et would be able to communicate with us. If it has a brain can it do this. Lots of animals communicate, but not many have language: only animal to have language is human, others forms of communication but not in the true language form. Hearing: the ability to detect vibrations in the air, many animals cant hear, despite having a brain.
