MARKET 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Agnosia, Phineas Gage, Aphasia
Tuesday 1st October
SUMMARY OF LECTURE
• The mind can be studied scientifically
A rich arsenal of techniques exist -
• Neuropsychological case studies of acquired brain damage
• Studies on healthy individuals
• Experimental work - null hypothesis significance testing
• Mental chronometry (reaction times)
• Brain imaging
DUALISM
Rene Descartes is seen as the father of dualism.
"I think therefore I am" - the mind knows itself
It focuses on the idea that the mind and body MUST be different substances because the mental and
material world are different domains.
HOWEVER WE FACE THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
If dualism is correct, how do the mind and body interact?
Most modern scientists, however, reject dualism and instead take monism as their main principle -
"the mind is what the brain does" - this allows psychology to be viewed as a proper science.
HOW DOES THE BRAIN FUNCTION?
Some psychologists view the brain similarly to a computer HOWEVER this is not the case for most
brains because those with severe brain damage in one area are usually relatively fine in other areas -
amnesiac patients.
Holistically? - all areas participate in every mental activity - this would mean that brain damage
would result in impairment across all areas e.g memory, language, motor skills - INCORRECT - case
studies show selective deficits - Clive Wearing? HM??
SO - the brain is not completely discrete or holistic.
Specific areas of the brain support specific functions, but most mental activities do involve much of
the brain
Graceful degradation - system is protected against total wreckage. The ability to maintain some level
of function even if some of the brain has been damaged - in order to avoid catastrophic failure.
ACQUIRED BRAIN DAMAGE
Brains can get damaged in lots of ways, such as; trauma, tumours, strokes (cardiovascular accidents),
neurosurgery, dementia, ablation (animal research- researchers sometimes take parts of the animal
brains out in order to find out which bit is important for which action) etc…
FOR EXAMPLE - Phineas Gage - pole went through his brain, destroyed much of the left frontal lobe,
he recovered from this relatively well, however his personality was affected and he was not himself -
leading to the idea that particular parts of the brain are responsible for the personality (left frontal
lobe) and damage to this area CAN cause significant changes.
SELECTIVELY IMPAIRMENT - the more selective a cognitive impairment (the more specifically a
particular domain can be identified which is impaired whilst others are spared) the more instructive
the case is for cognitive science.
EXAMPLES
Agnosia - loss of ability to recognise objects DESPITE VISION BEING INTACT
Document Summary
Summary of lecture: the mind can be studied scientifically. A rich arsenal of techniques exist : neuropsychological case studies of acquired brain damage, studies on healthy individuals, experimental work - null hypothesis significance testing, mental chronometry (reaction times, brain imaging. Rene descartes is seen as the father of dualism. "i think therefore i am" - the mind knows itself. It focuses on the idea that the mind and body must be different substances because the mental and material world are different domains. Most modern scientists, however, reject dualism and instead take monism as their main principle - "the mind is what the brain does" - this allows psychology to be viewed as a proper science. Some psychologists view the brain similarly to a computer however this is not the case for most brains because those with severe brain damage in one area are usually relatively fine in other areas - amnesiac patients.
