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
24.
The author draws an analogy ███████ █████ █████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ █████ ██
a
contrast a valid ███ ██ █████ █████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ████████ █████
This best captures the purpose of the analogy as described above.
b
suggest that new ██████████ ███ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ██████████ ██████
The author never suggests that use of brain scans or other kinds of technology have influenced the popularity of the modular theory of mind or any other scientific theory.
c
point to evidence ████ █████ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ █████ █████████ ████████████
The author never compares the precision of brain scans with the precision of other technologies. She never suggests brain scans are less precise than X-rays.
d
argue that X-ray ██████ █████████ █ ██████ ████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ███████
The author doesn’t use X-ray images to criticize the theory that brain scan are used to support (the modular theory of mind).
e
show how brain ████ ██████████ ███████ ████ █████ ████████████ ████ ██ ██████
The author doesn’t suggest that brain scan technology has evolved from X-rays or other older technologies.