PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Bernard Baars, Operational Definition, Visual Cortex

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

Dualism the philosophy that reality consists of two distinct entities: mind and matter (body) Advocated by ren descartes: he believed consciousness had properties that are not similar to matter (i. e. , doesn"t take up space) Materialism philosophical belief that reality can be known only through an understanding of the physical world of which the mind is a part. You must assume consciousness is material in order to ask questions about it. Awareness of subjective experience, a common operational definition of consciousness is that a person is conscious when he or she is able to report his/her own mental state. This operational definition allows us to establish indicators of consciousness. Measures of consciousness include: ability to remember a stimulus long enough to report on it. Neural correlates minimal neuronal mechanisms required to produce a specific conscious precept. Researchers work to identify which neural circuits in the brain help produce different types of conscious experiences.