Mental Mechanisms

Mind-Society ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 22-47
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Appraisal ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
The World ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Human Thinking ◽  
High Level

Psychological explanations based on representations and procedures can be deepened by showing how they emerge from neural mechanisms. Neurons represent aspects of the world by collective patterns of firing. These patterns can be bound into more complicated patterns that can transcend the limitations of sensory inputs. Semantic pointers are a special kind of representation that operates by binding neural patterns encompassing sensory, motor, verbal, and emotional information. The semantic pointer theory applies not only to the ordinary operations of mental representations like concepts and rules but also to the most high-level kinds of human thinking, including language, creativity, and consciousness. Semantic pointers also encompass emotions, construed as bindings that combine cognitive appraisal with physiological perception.

Meaning

2019 ◽  
pp. 207-227
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Meaning Of Life ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
The World ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Different Levels

Philosophical problems about the meaning of language and the meaning of life turn out to have interesting commonalities. Neither has plausible solutions that draw on supernatural entities such as abstract meanings, possible worlds, and divine plans. Rather, both can be approached by looking at mechanisms at four different levels: molecular, neural, mental, and social. Meaning is not a thing but a process that depends on interactions of parts occurring at multiple levels, resulting in multilevel emergence. The Semantic Pointer Architecture illuminates the neural mechanisms that operate in languages and valuable lives. Words are meaningful because their mental representations as concepts are brain processes that combine sensory-motor interactions with the world and interactions with other concepts. The meaning of life is also three-dimensional, requiring people to interact with language, the world, and other people.

How Brains Make Minds

Brain-Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 18-49
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Parallel Process ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Multiple Constraints ◽  
The World ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
High Level ◽  
High Level Thinking

Brains make minds because mental representations and processes are performed by neural mechanisms. Mental representations work by patterns of firing in neural groups. More complicated representations that go beyond sensory experience can be formed by binding representations together, combining patterns of firing into new ones. In particular, binding can produce semantic pointers that coalesce and compress different kinds of information, including sensory, motor, emotional and verbal information. Semantic pointers retain connections to sensory and motor experience while also acquiring the autonomy that is usually attributed to symbols. Eliasmith’s semantic pointer hypothesis shows how neural cells can interact to produce high-level thinking. Different representations compete with each other to provide accounts of what is going on in the world through a parallel process of satisfaction of multiple constraints. Neural networks can learn by changing the synaptic connections between neurons.

Knowledge

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-91
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Neural Firing ◽  
Motor Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
Sensory Motor

For the semantic pointer theory of mind, the bearers of knowledge are not abstract propositions but rather patterns of neural firing that constitute mental representations, including concepts, beliefs, nonverbal rules, images, and emotions. This neurocognitive perspective suggests new answers for questions about the generation of candidates for knowledge and their relations to the world via sensory-motor interactions. Semantic pointers support knowledge that beliefs are true or false, how to do things using multimodal rules, and of things via sensory-motor experience. The Semantic Pointer Architecture meshes well with coherence-based justification that abandons foundational certainty for fallible attempts to fit diverse elements of knowledge into the best overall explanation. Knowledge has important social dimensions.

Language

Brain-Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 201-222
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Parallel Architecture ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
The World ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Combine Information

Semantic pointers handle syntactic structure in a way that integrates with other key aspects of language, including semantics, pragmatics, and phonology. Semantic pointers plausibly provide the underlying neural mechanisms for Jackendoff’s parallel architecture and for other theories of language that go beyond Chomsky’s syntax-first approach. In particular, they show how the mental representation of a word can efficiently combine information about sound, meaning, and grammar to enable the organization of words into sentences. Semantic pointers cast the meanings of words and sentences as multidimensional, relying not just on the relations of words to other words but also on the relation of words to the world through sensory-motor operations, with further contributions from genetic and social processes. The Semantic Pointer Architecture also provides neural mechanisms for explaining complex linguistic phenomena such as conceptual blending and metaphor.

Action and Intention

Brain-Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 180-200
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Cognitive Appraisal ◽  
Action Selection ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
The Self ◽  
Emotional Process ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Relevant Situation ◽  
Motor Representations

Actions results from the same neural mechanisms that explain sensation, imagery, concepts, rules, analogies, emotions, and consciousness. Neural representations govern motor operations such as walking and talking. Action selection, however, goes beyond simple associations of perception and motor control, because of deliberations in humans using beliefs, desires, and intentions. The basic neural mechanisms of representation, binding into semantic pointers, and competition among pointers function to produce actions. Intentions are semantic pointers that bind representations of the relevant situation, doing, evaluation, and self. Intentions are embodied in that representing the situation includes perceptions, doing the action includes motor representations, and performing the evaluation is an emotional process that includes physiology. But intentions can also be transbodied, when representations for the situation, cognitive appraisal, and the self are abstracted by recursive bindings that far surpass sensory-motor inputs.

scholarly journals Symbolic labelling in 5-month-old human infants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Kabdebon ◽  
Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Symbolic Representations ◽  
The World ◽  
Symbolic Systems ◽  
Preverbal Infants

AbstractHumans naturally entertain complex representations of the world based on various symbolic systems, from natural language to mathematical or musical notation. Above and beyond mere perceptual representations, the adult human mind can recode sensory inputs into abstract symbolic representations that can be internally manipulated and projected back onto the external world. However, the ontogeny of this striking ability remains controversial: Are children progressively acquiring symbolic representations through language acquisition, or are mental representations symbolic from the very beginning, language learning consisting in mapping mental symbols onto public symbols? Using high-density electroencephalography, we show here that preverbal infants can form mental representations that feature symbolic attributes. In three experiments, a total of 150 five month-olds were exposed to triplet words characterized by their abstract syllabic structure (AAB/ABA/ABB) consistently followed by an arbitrary label. Subsequently, incongruent structure-label pairings evoked a late violation-of-expectations signal, whereas congruent pairings induced an early priming effect. Importantly, the late surprise response was recorded for incongruent pairs even when the pairing order was reversed at test (i.e. labels preceding structure). Our results indicate that first, far beyond habituation/dishabituation, preverbal infants are able to recode sensory inputs, into abstract mental representations to which arbitrary labels can be flexibly assigned. Second, we demonstrate that, beyond conditioned associations, this mapping is instantly bidirectional. These findings buttress the hypothesis of symbolic representations in preverbal infants, which may serve as a foundation for our distinctively human learning abilities.Significance StatementSymbolic systems provide a powerful tool for efficiently re-describing the world into operable mental variables that, in turn, become objects of cognitive manipulation. However, is this ability tied to mastering language? Using an associative learning task in preverbal infants, we show that 5 month-olds can re-describe percepts into abstract mental variables that can be associated with arbitrary labels, well before they produce their first words. Importantly, we show that, beyond associative learning, they readily inferred a bidirectional mapping between the re-described representations and the associated labels, a capacity that animals do not spontaneously exhibit. Human cognitive success might be rooted in such abstract recoding which is no longer sensitive to local variations, thus alleviating cognitive load, and ultimately facilitating learning.

scholarly journals Abstract Neural Representations of Category Membership beyond Information Coding Stimulus or Response

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Robert M. Mok ◽  
Bradley C. Love
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Information Coding ◽  
Abstract Representation ◽  
Motor Programs ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Concept Representations ◽  
The Brain

For decades, researchers have debated whether mental representations are symbolic or grounded in sensory inputs and motor programs. Certainly, aspects of mental representations are grounded. However, does the brain also contain abstract concept representations that mediate between perception and action in a flexible manner not tied to the details of sensory inputs and motor programs? Such conceptual pointers would be useful when concepts remain constant despite changes in appearance and associated actions. We evaluated whether human participants acquire such representations using fMRI. Participants completed a probabilistic concept learning task in which sensory, motor, and category variables were not perfectly coupled or entirely independent, making it possible to observe evidence for abstract representations or purely grounded representations. To assess how the learned concept structure is represented in the brain, we examined brain regions implicated in flexible cognition (e.g., pFC and parietal cortex) that are most likely to encode an abstract representation removed from sensory–motor details. We also examined sensory–motor regions that might encode grounded sensory–motor-based representations tuned for categorization. Using a cognitive model to estimate participants' category rule and multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data, we found the left pFC and MT coded for category in the absence of information coding for stimulus or response. Because category was based on the stimulus, finding an abstract representation of category was not inevitable. Our results suggest that certain brain areas support categorization behavior by constructing concept representations in a format akin to a symbol that differs from stimulus–motor codes.

scholarly journals Abstract neural representations of category membership beyond information coding stimulus or response

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Mok ◽  
Bradley C. Love
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Information Coding ◽  
Abstract Representation ◽  
Motor Programs ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Concept Representations ◽  
The Brain

AbstractFor decades, researchers have debated whether mental representations are symbolic or grounded in sensory inputs and motor programs. Certainly, aspects of mental representations are grounded. However, does the brain also contain abstract concept representations that mediate between perception and action in a flexible manner not tied to the details of sensory inputs and motor programs? Such conceptual pointers would be useful when concept remain constant despite changes in appearance and associated actions. We evaluated whether human participants acquire such representations using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants completed a probabilistic concept learning task in which sensory, motor, and category variables were not perfectly coupled nor entirely independent, making it possible to observe evidence for abstract representations or purely grounded representations. To assess how the learned concept structure is represented in the brain, we examined brain regions implicated in flexible cognition (e.g., prefrontal and parietal cortex) that are most likely to encode an abstract representation removed from sensory-motor details. We also examined sensory-motor regions that might encode grounded sensory-motor based representations tuned for categorization. Using a cognitive model to estimate participants’ category rule and multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data, we found left prefrontal cortex and MT coded for category in absence of information coding for stimulus or response. Because category was based on the stimulus, finding an abstract representation of category was not inevitable. Our results suggest that certain brain areas support categorization behaviour by constructing concept representations in a format akin to a symbol that differs from stimulus-motor codes.

Triggers of Thought: Impressions within Hume’s Theory of Mind

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121
Author(s):  
Anik Waldow
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Associative Processes ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
The World ◽  
Theories Of Meaning ◽  
Conceptual Resources

This essay argues that Humean impressions are triggers of associative processes, which enable us to form stable patterns of thought that co-vary with our experiences of the world. It will thus challenge the importance of the Copy Principle by claiming that it is the regularity with which certain kinds of sensory inputs motivate certain sets of complex ideas that matters for the discrimination of ideas. This reading is conducive to Hume’s account of perception, because it avoids the impoverishment of conceptual resources so typical for empiricist theories of meaning and explains why ideas should be based on impressions, although impressions cannot be known to mirror matters of fact. Dieser Aufsatz argumentiert dafür, dass humesche Eindrücke („impressions“) Auslöser von assoziativen Prozessen sind, welche es uns ermöglichen, stabile Denkmuster zu bilden, die mit unseren Erfahrungen der Welt kovariant sind. Der Aufsatz stellt somit die Wichtigkeit des Kopien-Prinzips in Frage, nämlich dadurch, dass behauptet wird, für die Unterscheidung der Ideen sei die Regelmäßigkeit maßgeblich, mit der gewisse Arten von sensorischen Eingaben gewisse Mengen von komplexen Ideen motivieren. Diese Lesart trägt zu einem Verständnis von Humes Auffassung der Wahrnehmung bei, da sie die Verarmung der begrifflichen Mittel, die für empiristische Theorien der Bedeutung so typisch ist, vermeidet und erklärt, warum Ideen auf Eindrücken basieren sollten, obwohl Eindrücke nicht als Abbildungen von Tatsachen erkannt werden können.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Education System ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
American University ◽  
The North ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
High Level ◽  
Education And Development

“The real treasure is in the minds of our children, and all we have to do is extract it.” Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah writes in website Queen Rania Foundation For Education And Development www.qrf.org/en. Rania Al Yassin was born on August 31, 1970. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Cairo in 1991. She applied this, first, to a banking career in Jordan and, later, to the information technology sector. After marrying Prince Abdullah bin Al Hussein on June 10, 1993, they went on to have four children: Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma, and Prince Hashem. In addition to being a wife and mother, Queen Rania works hard to lift the lives of Jordanians by supporting their endeavours and helping to create new opportunities for them. Locally, she is committed to breathe new life into the public education system; empower communities and women especially through microfinance initiatives; protect children and families; and drive innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, especially amongst young people. Internationally, Queen Rania is an advocate for tolerance, compassion and bridge building between people of all cultures and backgrounds. Her efforts to simultaneously challenge stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims, and promote greater understanding and acceptance between people of all faiths and cultures, have won her global recognition. Her Majesty’s passion is education. She believes that every Jordanian girl and boy, and all children, should have access not only to stimulating classrooms and modern curricula, but inspiring teachers and technology that can connect Jordan’s children to the world and the world to Jordan’s children. Her efforts in the education sector complement the work of the Ministry of Education through initiatives such as the Jordan Education Initiative, the Queen Rania Teachers Academy, Madrasati, Edraak and others. To realize these and so much more, Queen Rania has encouraged private sector partners to drive improvements and strengthen the foundations of Jordan’s education system. Queen Rania is also a global voice for access to quality education for children around the world. In 2009, Her Majesty championed the 1 Goal campaign for education; she is Honorary Chair of the UN Girl’s Education Initiatives and has advocated access to education in forums and gatherings around the world. Her work and her efforts to improve the learning opportunities for children have been recognized at the highest levels, nationally, regionally and internationally. Additionally, through her position on their boards, Her Majesty contributes to the work of the United Nations Fund and the World Economic Forum. She is the Eminent Advocate for UNICEF; and she was part of the UN appointed High Level Panel who advised on the shape and content of the Sustainable Development Goals which aim to improve the lives of millions of people before 2030. In recognition of her work, Her Majesty has humbly accepted many awards, locally, regionally and globally. These include the Walther Rathenau Award from the Walther RathenauInstitut in Germany for her efforts to greater peace and understanding; the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award from Tech Awards, USA; the Arab Knight of Giving Award from Arab Giving Forum, UAE; the North South Prize by the North South Prize, Portugal; as well as the YouTube Visionary Award. Her Majesty authored several books primarily for children including the Sandwich Swap, which was inspired by her own childhood experiences.

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