Psych 421Adrionna
Chapter 13 – The Mind at Play
Please, read the appropriate chapter and answer the following questions:
1.
What is pretend play, and why does Leslie think it’s so important? Have you ever seen a child engage in pretend play that made you think differently about it?
2.
What’s the false belief test? Do you think it’s a good way to measure how we understand others’ thoughts? Why or why not?
3.
Onishi and Baillargeon think even infants who can’t talk yet understand false beliefs. Does that idea surprise you? Why or why not?
4.
Baron-Cohen has a model for how we ‘read minds.’ What are the key components of his system, and how do you think they help us understand others?
Chapter 14 – Mindreadimg and Simulation
Please, read the appropriate chapter and answer the following questions:
1.
Can you explain the reasoning behind the selection processor hypothesis in your own words? What creative ways can you think of to test this hypothesis?
2.
Do you think the selection processor hypothesis makes sense alongside Onishi and Baillargeon’s data about 15-month-old infants understanding false beliefs? Why or why not?
3.
Perner has his own interpretation of the data on infants’ understanding of false beliefs. Do you think his ideas align with the findings of Onishi and Baillargeon? Why or why not?
4.
What do you think of the reasoning behind the false photograph task? Can you think of a real-life example that might relate to this idea
Chapter 15 – Consciousness
Please, answer the following questions from Chapter 14:
1.
Why do you think Leibniz chose a mill for his example? In what other ways could you express today the idea he was trying to express?
2.
Are thought experiments (like the Knowledge Argument) a good strategy for investigating the nature of consciousness? Why or why not?
3.
Describe in a few words the easy and the hard problem of consciousness. Are you convinced by the evidence for this?
4.
What tasks or behaviors do you think are only made possible by consciousness?
