PSYCG1560 Cognitive and Affective Bases of Behavior The Mind Brain Problem and Emotional Development

Define the Mind Descartes: The soul Titchner: The cumulation of our experiences throughout life James: A function whose purpose is to allow us to make choices “The mind is what the brain does.” Monism A simple side effect of our neural processes

Can these processes effect behavior? It’s essentially a question of free will Our brain, operating a’ la physics determines our everything (behavior, inner life, etc). Brain events may trigger mental events, which may trigger brain events (thus giving us a modicum of free will)

Representative Ideas Descartes: Two way street Prior, just a one-way Wundt: No real interactions, but are in synchrony Skinner: A series of behaviors just like any other. Kandel: The mind is a function of neural networks.

Consciousness? A form of mental activity “Awareness of awareness” The feeling of What’s happened What is happening What could happen

Current Thoughts on Consciousness Perceptions Thoughts Feelings Motivations A sense of self We are rarely conscious of most of what goes on in the brain; we are only aware of its outcomes.

Properties of Consciousness Considered equivalent to working memory (remember the 7 +/- 2?) It allows for flexible output (i.e., “free will”) in terms of making choices Intervenes between perception and action Can allows us to review the past and plan for the future Therefore, is symbolic in nature Is an emergent property (i.e., not material)

Neural Loci Temporal Lobe Limbic regions

A great place to take a first date… Ice cream Movies Dinner Alligator wrestling

Somwhere on A Bridge Schachters’ attribution theory Dunnon & Aaron (1974) on a bridge

When is YOUR earliest memory?

Do you remember the first time you felt angry?

Emotional Elicitors Things that bring about emotions Some learned, others innate (genetic?) Fear as the primal emotion Evolutionarily adaptive fears Dark Isolation May habituate to some innate fears

Triggering via Elicitors Can be physiological May be cognitive “What if there’s a bear in that cave?” In order to interpret our emotions we must: Recall past physiological changes Recall emotional experiences of the past Compare and associate these emotions with physiology in an evaluative fashion

In other words, we must: Know how we feel physically Know how we felt physically in the past Remember emotional experiences in the past Use this information to evaluate current emotions

This, of course, is beyond the typical infant This level of sophistication takes a bit of time to develop At birth, our emotional range is limited to simple, survival-based emotions: Contentment Interest Distress Notice that fear isn’t in here Discuss Watson’s 3-emotion model

By 3 months old… We get to add more complex emotions to our repertiore Joy: Contentment in overdrive Sadness: Distress associated with loss Disgust: Distress associated with noxious stimuli

As we get older, we get more complex: 4 – 6 months Anger Surprise 7 – 8 months Fear

As the child becomes more self-aware (9 to 24 months): Empathy Embarrassment Envy

By 24 months: More rule-governed behavior Social constrictions + Self awareness gives rise to: Pride Shame Guilt More complex forms of embarrassment Kids generally learn to lie around this time

Questions? Thoughts?