The problems surrounding consciousness may be divided into the 'hard questio... more The problems surrounding consciousness may be divided into the 'hard questions' and the 'easy questions'(Chalmers, 1995). Hard questions have to do with fundamental theoretical problems such as 'What is consciousness?','How could purely physical activities give rise to subjective conscious states?', or, conversely,'How could a subjective conscious state have a causal influence on the activities of neurons?''Easy questions' are those which appear open to existing methods of empirical research; for example, the contingent relationship of given ...
A Challenge to Materialist Models of Mind
Journal of Parapsychology, Sep 22, 2019
An introduction to the science of consciousness
Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010
This introductory chapter was written for Velmans (ed.) (1996) The Science of Consciousness: Psyc... more This introductory chapter was written for Velmans (ed.) (1996) The Science of Consciousness: Psychological, Neuropsychological and Clinical Reviews, at that time an innovative book of review articles on the emerging science of consciousness, specifically aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students by experts in the relevant fields. Following on a brief history, the chapter moves on to definitions of consciousness and background philosophical issues, and then introduces a unified, non-reductionist scientific approach. It then summarises major issues for studies of consciousness in cognitive psychology, including studies of attention, memory, the extent of preconscious analysis and the relation of consciousness more generally to human information processing. It then turns to the neuropsychology of consciousness, starting with some apparent neural requirements for the transition from preconscious to conscious states, various clinical dissociations of consciousness, conditions for integration (or binding) and, finally, clinical applications, including different forms of mind/body interaction and evidence for the causal efficacy of mental states. The chapter concludes that while some of the ancient problems of consciousness remain unsolved, its study has become the subject of a rapidly developing science
The nature and location of experiences
The neural causes and correlates of consciousness
How consciousness relates to information processing in the brain
Conscious souls, brains and quantum mechanics
Experienced worlds, the world described by physics, and the thing itself
A new frequency transposition device for the deaf : a simulation and a validation study
To increase the high frequency speech information available to the sensory-neural deaf, with low-... more To increase the high frequency speech information available to the sensory-neural deaf, with low-frequency residual hearing only, a frequency "recoding" device was constructed which "shifts" a selected band of high frequency speech information and superimposes it on the low frequency range, in a manner designed to maintain the 'speechlike' nature of the "recoded" input signal (patent applied for). The design and evaluation of the "recoding" device are considered in the context of factors likely to be involved in the acquisition of "recoded" speech, e.g. the separation of sounds that are ' speechlike' from those that are not, by the ear-brain system, the interaction in speech processing of auditory, visual and kinaesthetic cues, and the influence of already established strategies for processing "non-recoded" speech on the acquisition of altered strategies for "recoded" speech. The 'speechlike' nature and the utility of the "recoding" were assessed (a) in a simulation study involving normal hearing subjects under simulated deafness conditions, and (b) in a validation study with sensory-neural deaf children. In the simulation study significant improvements in the ability to imitate CVC nonsense syllables were brought about both by "recoding" and by visual cues (from articulatory movements) without formal discrimination or3imitation training, the "recoded" high frequency information contributing in particular to imitation of "manner" and "place" of articulation of phonemes with major energy components in the "recoded" High Frequency region (HF phonemes). Further, in the validation study, "recoding" produced a significant improvement in the articulation learning of HF phonemes, indicating (together with the simulation study findings) that the "recoded" signals were sufficiently 'speechlike' to be of use to the ear-brain system in speech processing. It was concluded therefore that the generality of utility (to the hearing impaired) of the "recoding" mode proposed, merits serious further investigation.<p
There are two quite distinct ways in which events that we normally think of as "physical" relate ... more There are two quite distinct ways in which events that we normally think of as "physical" relate in an intimate way to events that we normally think of as "psychological". One intimate relation occurs in exteroception at the point where events in the world become events as-perceived. The other intimate relationship occurs at the interface of conscious experience with its neural correlates in the brain. The chapter examines each of these relationships and positions them within a dual-aspect, reflexive model of how consciousness relates to the brain and external world. The chapter goes on to provide grounds for viewing mind and nature as fundamentally psychophysical, and examines similar views as well as differences in previously unpublished writings of Wolfgang Pauli, one of the founders of quantum mechanics.
The Acceptability of Spectrum-Preserving and Spectrum-Destroying Transposition to Severely Hearing-Impaired Listeners
British Journal of Audiology, 1983
Various devices have been constructed to lower the frequency of speech sounds to make them access... more Various devices have been constructed to lower the frequency of speech sounds to make them accessible to those with hearing in the low frequencies only. In the present experiment two such devices are compared. One device, the FRED (frequency recoding device) maps the 4-8 kHz region on to the 0-4 kHz region in a way that preserves the spectral pattern of transposed signals. The other device, the Oticon TP 72, converts signals in the 4-8 kHz region into low frequency noise (below 1.5 kHz). Both devices combine transposed information with conventionally amplified speech. It was found that untrained adults with acquired sensory-neural hearing losses opted to supplement conventional amplification with FRED transposition on 365 out of 576 occasions, to improve the clarity of speech sounds. Under the same conditions they opted to use Oticon transposition on significantly fewer (32 out of 576) occasions. Subjective preferences for FRED as opposed to Oticon transposition were also highly significant. It was concluded that for the subject group in question a transposition which preserves the relative spectrum of transposed sounds is initially more acceptable than one which uses high-frequency signals to modulate low-frequency noise.
Chapitre 3. Le monisme réflexif : relations psychophysiques entre l’esprit, la matière et la conscience
Presses Universitaires de France eBooks, Mar 30, 2016
Is the world in the brain, or the brain in the world?
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Aug 1, 2003
Lehar provides useful insights into spatially extended phenomenology that may have major conseque... more Lehar provides useful insights into spatially extended phenomenology that may have major consequences for neuroscience. However, Lehar's biological naturalism leads to counterintuitive conclusions, and he does not give an accurate account of preceding and competing work. This commentary compares Lehar's analysis with that of Velmans, which addresses similar issues but draws opposite conclusions. Lehar argues that the phenomenal world is in the brain and concludes that the physical skull is beyond the phenomenal world. Velmans argues that the brain is in the phenomenal world and concludes that the physical skull is where it seems to be.
The Design of Speech Recoding Devices for the Deaf: University of Manchester
British Journal of Audiology, 1974
The paper reviews the present status of speech recoding (frequency transposition) devices and con... more The paper reviews the present status of speech recoding (frequency transposition) devices and concludes that convincing evidence for the superiority of recoding devices over, for example, selective amplification, does not yet exist. A number of fundamental questions requiring answers are then outlined, upon which the design of some&amp;amp;amp;#x27;ideal&amp;amp;amp;#x27;recoding device appears to be contingent. Some interim design principles are, however, proposed and a description is given of a recoding device designed with these principles in mind. Finally, ...
Is the brain in the world, or the world in the brain?
Lehar provides useful insights into spatially extended phenomenology that may have major conseque... more Lehar provides useful insights into spatially extended phenomenology that may have major consequences for neuroscience. However, Lehar's biological naturalism leads to counterintuitive conclusions, and he does not give an accurate account of preceding and competing work. This commentary compares Lehar's analysis with that of Velmans, which addresses similar issues but draws opposite conclusions. Lehar argues that the phenomenal world is in the brain and concludes that the physical skull is beyond the phenomenal world. Velmans argues that the brain is in the phenomenal world and concludes that the physical skull is where it seems to be.
Violence, the fragile ego, and the peaceful self
This paper gives a brief introduction to various categories of violence along with some of their ... more This paper gives a brief introduction to various categories of violence along with some of their biological, socio-cultural, psychological and existential causes, for example violent responses to frustrated needs or desires of the kind specified by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The paper goes on to examine some of the basic principles for ameliorating violence. It then considers a special case of violence associated with fundamentalist beliefs, arguing that these can be understood as a form of destructive self-transcendence, that can ultimately only be remedied by the genuine self-actualization and self-transcendence required for a peaceful self.
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