The Centered Mind: What the Science of Working Memory Shows Us about the Nature of Human ThoughtThe Centered Mind offers a new view of the nature and causal determinants of both reflective thinking and, more generally, the stream of consciousness. Peter Carruthers argues that conscious thought is always sensory-based, relying on the resources of the working-memory system. This system has been much studied by cognitive scientists. It enables sensory images to be sustained and manipulated through attentional signals directed at midlevel sensory areas of the brain. When abstract conceptual representations are bound into these images, we consciously experience ourselves as making judgments or arriving at decisions. Thus one might hear oneself as judging, in inner speech, that it is time to go home, for example. However, our amodal (non-sensory) propositional attitudes are never actually among the contents of this stream of conscious reflection. Our beliefs, goals, and decisions are only ever active in the background of consciousness, working behind the scenes to select the sensory-based imagery that occurs in working memory. They are never themselves conscious. Drawing on extensive knowledge of the scientific literature on working memory and related topics, Carruthers builds an argument that challenges the central assumptions of many philosophers. In addition to arguing that non-sensory propositional attitudes are never conscious, he also shows that they are never under direct intentional control. Written with his usual clarity and directness, The Centered Mind will be essential reading for all philosophers and cognitive scientists interested in the nature of human thought processes. |
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Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Propositional Attitudes | 19 |
Perception Attention and Consciousness | 46 |
The Nature of Working Memory | 75 |
The Unity of Working Memory | 108 |
Working Memory in Action | 139 |
Reasoning Working Memory and Attitudes | 174 |
The Evolution of Reflection | 203 |
Conclusion | 229 |
References | 243 |
| 275 | |
| 288 | |
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The Centered Mind: What the Science of Working Memory Shows Us about the ... Peter Carruthers No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
access-conscious amodal attitudes amodal concepts amodal workspace animals argue attentional network attentional system auditory auditory imagery behavior belief brain Carruthers Chapter claim cognitive science components conscious reflection contrast correlate cortical creative cues decision direct distinct dorsolateral prefrontal cortex effect episodic memory etal evaluative evidence example experience explain fluid g fluid general intelligence forms forward models globally available globally broadcast goals human images imagining inattentional blindness inferences inner speech intention intraparietal sulcus intuitive involved judgments latter long-term memory mental rehearsal midlevel sensory areas mind wandering Moreover motor neural one’s oneself orbitofrontal cortex overt parietal cortex people’s perception predict prefrontal cortex processes propositional attitudes question recall regions relevant result role Section sensorily embedded sensory based sensory-based account sensory-based working-memory system sequence sort stimulus stream of consciousness suggest superior colliculus System 2 reasoning thought top-down attention unconscious variance working-memory abilities working-memory capacity working-memory tasks
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Centered Mind: What the Science of Working Memory Shows Us about the Nature of Human Thought |
| Author | Peter Carruthers |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2015 |
| ISBN | 019873882X, 9780198738824 |
| Length | 290 pages |
| Subjects | › › Philosophy / Epistemology Philosophy / Movements / Humanism Psychology / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |