Philosophy
482/Psychology 382
Introduction
to Cognitive Science
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Dr Chuck's Lexicon
Note: This is a general lexicon for ALL the classes I teach, so not every entry is relevant to your particular class. I am always interested in improving this study aid, so send me your suggestions for entries and/or comments on current entries.
ad infinitum: ad infinitum is a Latin phrase that translates as "forever," "without limit," or "to infinity."
Analytic Statements: Statements that are true in virtue of the meaning of the constitutive terms. Denying an analytic statement will result in a contradiction (see contradiction below). For example, "All unmarried human males are bachelors," is an analytic statement, as is "A square is a four-sided figure." "It's false that all unmarried human males are bachelors" is a contradiction, since by the definition of bachelor the negated statement asserts that "It's false that all unmarried human males are unmarried human males." Analytic statements are said to be true by definition and/or their logical structure.
Apriori
knowledge: Knowledge had prior to, or independent of
experience, also called non-empirical knowledge. For instance, "An object
is identical to itself," would be known without consulting experience.
Aposteriori knowledge: Knowledge had as a result of or after experience,
also called empirical knowledge. For instance, "Wallis owns a cat," is
a posteriori since its truth is determined by experience.
arational: Something is arational when it is not subject to rational evaluation or norms. For example, gravity is arational in that it is neither a reasonable behavior for objects, nor is it an irrational behavior. Likewise, arguments will not affect one's gravitational tendencies.
Capillary bed: The system of fine vessels connecting arties and veins which facilitates the exchange of materials from the blood to cells.
Certainty: It is generally thought that all beliefs have a qualitative feature providing a subjective assessment of the likelihood of the imbedded proposition. These qualitative features are thought to have a range of values between certainty and total doubt. Certainty is a qualitative feature of beliefs normally taken to provide one with a subjective assessment of the likelihood of the imbedded proposition equal to perfect (100%) likelihood. Total doubt is normally taken to provide one with a subjective assessment of the likelihood of the imbedded proposition equal to perfect (0%) unlikelihood. For example, “I’m certain that I don’t understand Wallis’ definition,” reports two things: (1) One has a belief that one does not understand the definition. (2) One’s belief has an associated qualitative feature that indicates that one’s subjective estimate of the likelihood of the proposition, “I do not understand Wallis’ definition,” is 100%. In epistemology in general people tend to suppose that one's subjective estimate of the likelihood of a belief is perfectly or nearly perfectly calibrated with its actual (objective) likelihood or its conditional likelihood--that is, its likelihood given one's evidence. Different conceptions of certainty in epistemology have different interpretations of the estimate of the likelihood of a belief. For instance, if one equates "clear and distinct" in Descartes with "certain," then one gets a view of certainty whereby if one is certain of a proposition, then it is metaphysically impossible for the proposition to be false. Most modern notions of certainty interpret the likelihood of a proposition to be an estimate of its probability as understood in probability and statistics.
Character or Personality Trait: To attribute a character or personality trait says, among other things, that someone is disposed to behave a certain way in certain circumstances. That is, you are supposing that a person has a stable general inclination to act a certain way. For example, miserly people are mean with money.
Contradiction: A contradiction is a statement that both asserts and denies some state of affairs. For example, "Calvin is a dog and Calvin is not a dog." So, a contradiction cannot be true.
Diamagnetic Materials: These materials are everything else ... plants, water, soil, wood, your skin ... all other substances. Diamagnetic substances show no visible reaction to the presence of a magnetic field, because the electrons in their atoms are spinning in equal numbers in opposite directions.
Dissociation: A disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment. The disturbance may be sudden or gradual, transient or chronic. Dissociations are useful in cognitive science in that they demonstrate independence of one function from the other.
Descriptive Moral Relativism: The view that it is a matter of empirical fact, there are deep and widespread moral disagreements across different societies.
Doxastic: Of or relating to belief or belief-like states (i.e., propositional attitudes like desires, fears, etc..).
Doubt: See certainty above.
Duty: A duty is the requirement to act or to refrain from acting in some way out of respect (i.e., a recognition of the universal and necessary nature of the action) for the law.
Empirical: Something that can be observed, sensed, or experienced.
Ex hypothesi: by hypothesis. For example, Wallis is ex hypothesi an expert in the field.
fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or FMRI is a non-invasive technique for imaging the activation of brain areas by different types of physical sensation (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) or activity such as problem solving and/or movement (limited by the machine).
Hallucination: A conscious experience, often a seeming sensory experience, with compelling sense of reality or veridicality (accurate or truthful), which nevertheless occurs without the relevant sensory input and which lacks veridicality. Common hallucinations include hearing voices, geometric images, smells, and tastes.
Hedonism: The view that pleasure is the highest or the only human value or goal, and the moral theory that holds that human beings should act in ways that maximize that goal.
Hedonistic Psychological Egoism: The (descriptive) theory (a more specific or concrete version of psychological egoism) that the only desire motivating human actions is the desire to get or to prolong pleasant experiences, and to avoid or to cut short unpleasant experiences for oneself. For example, if one asks, "Why don't the chicken cross the road?", the hedonistic psychological egoist answers, "because the chicken was seeking pleasure, the prolongation of pleasure, avoiding unpleasantness, or minimizing unpleasantness."
Hyperacusis: Hypersensitivity to sounds stemming from either an emotional or an organic basis.
Hypnagogic sensations: Hypnagogic sensations collectively describe the vivid dream-like auditory, visual, or tactile sensations that people sometimes experience in a hypnagogic state (i.e., a semiconscious state immediately prior to falling asleep) or hypnopompic state (i.e., a semiconscious state immediately prior to waking-up).
Illusion: When a person misperceives or misinterprets one's sensory input from some external source so as to inaccurately judge the real properties of an object or event.
Introspection: Introspection is a mental process whereby people come to gain insights into or form beliefs regarding their own mental states such as conscious thoughts, desires and sensations. There are at least three general models of introspection: The perceptual or observational model construes introspection as a sort of perceptual capacity, an inner sense, allowing one to view the contents of one's own mind. The constitutive or immediate model supposes that many mental states are such that one cannot have the state without also having the ability to form beliefs about it. The inferential or theory-based view suggests that introspection is a sort of inferential process through which one comes to form beliefs about one's mental states. Philosophers have often held that introspection has the properties of being infallible, unmediated or direct, and/or self-justifying. Additionally, philosophers have often also held that many states are completely and universally transparent to introspection.
In vivo: In vivo translates from the latin into within the living organism. In general, in vivo is used to describe studies in which cellular activity is studied as it occurs in the body.
Justificandum: The thing to be justified. For example, justificandum belief = the belief to be justified.
Maxim: As it relates to ethics, a maxim is a rule or principle that prescribes conduct. For instance, "Never leave your wingman" is a fighter pilot maxim in the movie Top Gun.
Metaethical Moral Objectivism: The view that true moral judgments are true universally or objectively, and false moral judgments are false universally. In short, there is one, universal morality.
Metaethical Moral Nihilism: The view that there are no true or false moral judgments.
Metaethical Moral Relativism: The assertion that moral judgments, in so far as they are true or false, justified or unjustified, have that status only relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of some group of persons or person.
Metaethical Moral Scepticism: The view that moral truths, and even the possibility of moral truths, cannot be known.
Macrosomatognosia and microsomatognosia: Macrosomatognosia refers to a disorder of the body image in which a person perceives a part or parts of his or her body as disproportionately large. Researchers associate macrosomatognosia with lesions in the parietal lobe, particularly the right parietal lobe, which integrates perceptual-sensorimotor functions concerned with the body image. Microsomatognosia, as the name suggests, refers to perceptions of part or parts of one's body as disproportionately small.
Moral Psychology: Moral psychology studies the psychological dimensions of morality, particularly psychology of moral action and moral judgment.
MRI: MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique used to create highly detailed anatomic images in medicine.
Normative: In philosophy, normative refers to two projects: (1) The description or explicit rendering of a standard or correctness of behavior thoughts, and/or thought processes in terms of norms--rules or tendencies prescribing praiseworthy or blameworthy (right or wrong) behaviors, thoughts, and/or thought processes. (2) The attempt to establish a system of norms (rules or tendencies) to serve as a standard of correctness of behavior or thought. Many philosophers see no difference between the projects in so far as our native norms are optimal. See normative ethics and normative moral relativism below for examples.
Normative Ethics: The project in the philosophic feild of ethics to develop and justify theories of right and wrong action. For example, Utiliarianism is a normative ethical theory asserting, roughly, that right and wrong actions can be differentiated in that the former maximize the greatest good for the greatest number.
Norms: Norms refer to rules or tendencies prescribing praiseworthy or blameworthy (right or wrong) behaviors, thoughts, and/or thought processes. One can think of norms as explicit and conscious (conscious rule following), implicit and unconscious (unconscious rule following), or formally encoded rules or laws (e.x. formal logic).
Normative Moral Relativism: The position that what one ought to do is relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of the group or culture in which you find yourself.
Paradox: A paradox is a statement or group of statements that seem true or intuitively obvious, but which imply a contradiction or describe a situation which is intuitively false or impossible.
Paramagnetic Materials: These are metals that are weakly attracted to magnets. They include aluminum, gold, and copper. The atoms of these substances contain electrons most of which spin in the same direction ... but not all . This gives the atoms some polarity. They are only weakly influenced by a magnetic field, (you couldn't pick up even a tiny piece of gold with a magnet) and since some of the atoms can be turned to point their poles in the same direction, these metals can become very weak magnets. Their attractive force can only be measured with sensitive instruments.
Prima Facie: Prima facie is a Latin phrase that translates as "at first sight." In philosophy it generally indicates that an idea, assertion, or course of action is plausible or intuitive initially, though further evidence might show it to be otherwise.
Psychological Egoism: The doctrine that the only thing anyone is capable of desiring or pursuing ultimately (as an end in itself) is one’s own self-interest. In other words, the answer a psychological egoist gives to the question, "Why did X do Y?", is always, "because X wanted Y or whatever Y brought about." For example, if one asks, "Why don't the chicken cross the road?", the psychological egoist answers, "because the chicken was pursuing it's own self-interested goals." Psychological egoism is a descriptive theory of human motivation.
Referential Opacity: Two terms are referentially opaque if they refer to the same object or property, but they cannot be substituted salva veritate (i.e. without changing the truth value of the statement). For instance, "Circle" and "Set of points equidistant from a center point on a Euclidian plane" are referentially opaque to your average 5 year old. That is, when shown a picture of a circle and asked, "Is this a picture of a circle," a 5 year old would answer "yes." When shown a picture of a circle and asked, "Is this a picture of a set of points equidistant from a center point on a Euclidian plane," a 5 year old would likely say the didn't know or answer "no."
Salience: Literally, salience refers to something's prominence, conspicuousness, etc.. In cognitive science salience refers the tendency of an object, property, or event to draw and capture attention.
Supervenience: Supervenience is a relation between properties, facts, or events, such that, for the supervenient properties, facts, or events, call them S, and the properties upon which they supervene, call those P: All instances of P are instances of S, but all instances of S are not necessarily the instances of P and any changes in S must also be changes in P. Supervenience differs from type-type reductionism because many many Ps can be Ss. Supervenience differs from token-token reductionism in that for any P upon which S supervenes all instances of P are instances of S.
Synthetic Statements: A statement that can be negated without a contradiction. For example, "Long Beach has a population of 360,000 people," can negated without a contradiction. "It's false that Long Beach has a population of 360,000 people." is not a contradiction.
T1 or Spin Lattice Relaxation Time: In MRI and fMRI, the amount of time it takes for for the atoms in MRI-induced, high energy resonation to return to their equilibrium value, i.e., the time it takes for Z dimension equilibrium magnetization value to return from zero after a radio frequency pulse. Typical T1 values are around 1s.
T2 or Spin-Spin Relaxation Time: In MRI and fMRI, the measure of the rate of change of spin phases from MRI-induced, high energy resonation to their normal low energy; typical values are around 100ms.
T2* or BOLD or Blood-oxygen Level Dependent Signal: The measure of signal variation due to spatial and temporal variation in local concentrations of deoxygenated hemoglobin in capillary beds as a result fo radio frequency pulse in fMRI.
Tautology: A statement which is necessarily true in virtue of its logical structure, i.e., in virtue of the logical relationships between it's elements. For example, "Either it is raining or it not raining," is a tautology.
Telsa: A telsa is a unit measure of magnetic force. A single telsa is defined as enough magnetic force to induce 1 volt of electricity in a single-coil circuit during 1 second of time for every square meter.
Universal Statement: A universal statement asserts something about every instance of an object, property, or event. For instance, "All humans are mortal." asserts that every human is mortal. Likewise, "Triangles are three-sided figures." is a universal statement asserting that every triangle is also a three-sided figure.
Valence: The degree of attraction or aversion that an individual feels toward a specific object or event.
Verification Theory of Meaning or Verificationism: One important aspect of logical empiricism is the attempt to give an explicit criteria for meaning. Early on, the Vienna Circle espoused a strong doctrine about meaning called Verificationism. According to the verification theory of meaning a statement is meaningful only if there exists a specific, finite operation or observation for definitively determining its truth or falsity. For example, the statement "Calvin weighs twelve pounds" is meaningful because there are standardized devices (scales) and operations (properly used scales) that would definitively give one a truth-value for the statement.
Voxel: A contraction for volume element, which is the basic unit of CT or MR reconstruction; represented as a pixel in the display of the CT or MR image. There are approximately 60,000 brains cells in a given voxel.
Some Online Philosophy Dictionaries
A Dictionary of
Philosophical Terms and Names
Glossary of Philosophic
Terms
Larry Hauser's Philosophical Glossary
UC
San Diego Ethics Glossary
Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind
