Self-study
P1
There are some basic conceptual problems hovering about the widespread use of brain scans as pictures of mental activity. ██ ███████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ████████ ██ ██████████ █ █████ ███████ █ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ██ █ ███ ██ ██████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███████████████ ███ ████████████ ████████ ███ ███ ██ ████████████ ██ ██████████ ██ █ █████████████ █████████ ████ ██ ███████████ ███
Intro topic ·
Conceptual problems with brain scans in psychology
Contrast with use of brain scans in medical diagnosis; that's straightforward.
Premise of using brain scans in psychology ·
Modular theory of mind
Belief that the mind can be analyzed as separate modules that are localized to different brain regions.
P2
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Uttal's critique ·
Mental processes result from mental activity occuring throughout the brain
This goes against the modular theory of mind. The author endorses Uttal's critique.
Example supporting Uttal's critique ·
Anger
Anger and the reason for that anger can't be separated. So, mental processes thought to be associated with the amygdala (emotion) and with the prefrontal cortex (reason) can't be cleanly separated.
P3
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Question raised by Uttal's critique ·
Why do distinct parts of brain "light up" in brain scans if modular theory of mind is wrong?
Answer to question ·
Brain scans are result of subtraction
With fMRIs (type of brain scan), what lights up is a signal of differential rate of oxygen use. There's a baseline measurement of oxygen used by brain. Then, a measurement when the person is doing a task. The difference in oxygen use is interpreted (incorrectly) as activity associated solely with the task.
P4
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Develop answer ·
Entire brain is active
The entire brain is active in the baseline measurement and in the measurement while doing a task. So, appearance of distinct areas that "light up" gives false impression of localized brain activity.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
20.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
In spite of █████████ ██████████ ████████ ███████████ █████ ████ ███████████ ███ ███ ██ █████████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ███ █████ ████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s criticism of the modular theory of mind. The point isn’t that brain scan technology is growing in use; the point is that the modular theory of mind might be wrong.
b
The use of █████ █████ ██ ██████ ██████ ████████ ██████ ██ ████ █ ████████████ ███████ ███ █ ██████████ ██████████████ █████████
This best captures the author’s point that the modular theory of mind might be wrong.
c
Contrary to what ██ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███ █████████ █████████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s criticism of the modular theory of mind.
d
Although the fMRI ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ █ ███████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ██████████████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s criticism of the modular theory of mind. The author’s discussion of how fMRIs are interpreted is simply one aspect of the author’s criticism; it’s part of an explanation of why fMRIs appear to light up in response to cognitive tasks. But this point supports the broader point that the modular theory of mind might be wrong.
e
The modular theory ██ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ █████████ ███████ ██ ██ ███████████ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████
This doesn’t capture the author’s criticism of the modular theory of mind. The point isn’t to explain why the modular theory of mind has become more popular; it’s to criticize the modular theory of mind.