NSCS 200 EXAM 3 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2025
Is there a widely agreed upon definition of consciousness? - Answers No
What are the two kinds of consciousness? - Answers Primary consciousness (C1) and higher-
order consciousness (C2)
Define primary consciousness - Answers conscious perception/awareness of sensory inputs
(sights, sounds, pain etc)
Define higher order consciousness - Answers being conscious of being conscious
having a conscious self
the ability to self reflect
What are the two opposite extreme answers to the question: Are animals conscious? - Answers
1. Humans are the only conscious beings - Rene Descartes (Dualism)
• "I think therefore I am"
2. Panpsychism: consciousness is a universal (perhaps physical) feature of all things
What can plants do that resembles consciousness? - Answers - Plants can do classical
conditioning: Two stimuli were response of pea plants to grow towards light and air flow
through wind. Over trials, they would put a fan in one of the tubes so plant could sense fan
coming from right or left tube. Immediately followed light after fan. Plants eventually moved
towards direction of fan because that is where light would be
Describe the higher consciousness of crustaceans and cephalapods - Answers .Crustaceans
and cephalopods (octopus/squid) have pain receptors (nociceptors). They exhibit complex
intelligent behavior.
How did birds exhibit higher level thinking? - Answers - Tool use among New Caledonian crows.
Crows can develop tools and use them to get food
- Elements of "episodic-like" memory and planning in scrub jays: They will hide food for the
future out of sight if they notice other birds are around. They can change their behavior around
other birds.
What was Cambridge's answer to the question "Are Animals Conscious?" When did they say this?
- Answers Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness (july 7 2012)
"Convergent evidence indicated that non-human animals have the neuroemotional,
neurochemical, and neurophysiological subtrates of conscious states...consequently the weight
of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing neurological substrates that
generate consciousness"
,What is David Chalmer's idea of consciousness? - Answers "Hard Problem" of consciousness
Who came up with the "Hard Problem" of consciousness? When? - Answers april 12 1994 David
Chalmer (UA)
What question does the hard problem of consciousness seek to answer? What is the "Hard
Problem" of consciousness? What is the easy problem? - Answers Question: How do physical
processes becomes transformed into conscious experience?
- Structure and function of physical processes=easy problems
- Subjective experience = hard problem, difficult to solve
What is the view towards how the brain correlates to consciousness that disagrees with David
Chalmer's "Hard Problem" - Answers Reductionist View
What does the reductionist view that disagrees with David Chalmer's "Hard Problem" state? -
Answers conscious experience fully explained by the brain
What is an example of the reductionist view - Answers Global workspace model: the subjective
feeling of consciousness results when the activity of many different neurons throughout the
brain become coherent and broadly accessible by multiple systems, which often occurs during
attention
What is the default mode network - Answers - gives rise to our conscious sense of self
- important for higher order consciousness
- Used when we are self reflecting and turning our thoughts inwards
What is one of the most metabolically-active brain networks - Answers Default mode network
What disease affects the Default mode network and how? - Answers Alzheimer's Disease -
amyloid plaques target the default mode network
What parts of the brain in the default mode network are affected by AD - Answers lateral and
medial PFC
lateral and medial temporal
lateral and medial parietal
How are levels of wakefulness and consciousness measured? - Answers x axis: level of
consciousness: wakefulness
y axis: content of consciousness: awareness
Define vegetative state - Answers A vegetative state is when a person is awake but shows no
, signs of awareness
- eyes open, but no conscious experience. Unaware.
define locked in syndrome - Answers almost fully consciously aware and consciously awake but
cannot communicate, move, or speak
Define a coma - Answers A coma is when there is no level of consciousness/wakefulness as
well as there is no content of consciousness/awareness
Define REM sleep - Answers REM sleep is characterized by rapid eye movements, more
dreaming and bodily movement, and a faster pulse and breathing. It is at a medium level of
wakefulness and awareness.
Define lucid dreaming - Answers Lucid dreaming is when you are aware of your dreams at a low
level of wakefulness.
How is metabolic activity and functional connectivity affected with varying degrees of
consciousness? - Answers Less metabolic activity and functional connectivity within default
network in people with decreasing degrees of conscious awareness
From greatest to least:
control --> minimally conscious state --> vegetative state --> coma
How can you tell between a vegetative state and locked in syndrome? - Answers Using fMRI to
measure consciousness awareness:
Study: 23 "vegetative state" patients + healthy individuals were asked yes/no questions.
Patients imagined playing tennis if yes and navigating environment if no. Different types of
mental imagery involve motor vs. spatial parts of the brain. 4 patients found to be consciously
aware
What percent of immobile brain damaged patients are misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative
state (lacking awareness) - Answers 40%
What basis allows the tennis vs. navigation test to use? - Answers Different operations are
mapped onto different parts of the brain
How do psychedelics alter your state of consciousness? - Answers - Psychedelics like LSD
decrease functional connectivity within the default network, leading to a loss of sense of self
- But they increase functional connectivity between primary visual cortex and the brain (i.e.
hallucinations/ induced synaesthesia)
Why do visual illusions occur? - Answers Much of what we consciously perceive is our brain's
best guess or prediction about what is out there (based on prior experience, context, and
Is there a widely agreed upon definition of consciousness? - Answers No
What are the two kinds of consciousness? - Answers Primary consciousness (C1) and higher-
order consciousness (C2)
Define primary consciousness - Answers conscious perception/awareness of sensory inputs
(sights, sounds, pain etc)
Define higher order consciousness - Answers being conscious of being conscious
having a conscious self
the ability to self reflect
What are the two opposite extreme answers to the question: Are animals conscious? - Answers
1. Humans are the only conscious beings - Rene Descartes (Dualism)
• "I think therefore I am"
2. Panpsychism: consciousness is a universal (perhaps physical) feature of all things
What can plants do that resembles consciousness? - Answers - Plants can do classical
conditioning: Two stimuli were response of pea plants to grow towards light and air flow
through wind. Over trials, they would put a fan in one of the tubes so plant could sense fan
coming from right or left tube. Immediately followed light after fan. Plants eventually moved
towards direction of fan because that is where light would be
Describe the higher consciousness of crustaceans and cephalapods - Answers .Crustaceans
and cephalopods (octopus/squid) have pain receptors (nociceptors). They exhibit complex
intelligent behavior.
How did birds exhibit higher level thinking? - Answers - Tool use among New Caledonian crows.
Crows can develop tools and use them to get food
- Elements of "episodic-like" memory and planning in scrub jays: They will hide food for the
future out of sight if they notice other birds are around. They can change their behavior around
other birds.
What was Cambridge's answer to the question "Are Animals Conscious?" When did they say this?
- Answers Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness (july 7 2012)
"Convergent evidence indicated that non-human animals have the neuroemotional,
neurochemical, and neurophysiological subtrates of conscious states...consequently the weight
of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing neurological substrates that
generate consciousness"
,What is David Chalmer's idea of consciousness? - Answers "Hard Problem" of consciousness
Who came up with the "Hard Problem" of consciousness? When? - Answers april 12 1994 David
Chalmer (UA)
What question does the hard problem of consciousness seek to answer? What is the "Hard
Problem" of consciousness? What is the easy problem? - Answers Question: How do physical
processes becomes transformed into conscious experience?
- Structure and function of physical processes=easy problems
- Subjective experience = hard problem, difficult to solve
What is the view towards how the brain correlates to consciousness that disagrees with David
Chalmer's "Hard Problem" - Answers Reductionist View
What does the reductionist view that disagrees with David Chalmer's "Hard Problem" state? -
Answers conscious experience fully explained by the brain
What is an example of the reductionist view - Answers Global workspace model: the subjective
feeling of consciousness results when the activity of many different neurons throughout the
brain become coherent and broadly accessible by multiple systems, which often occurs during
attention
What is the default mode network - Answers - gives rise to our conscious sense of self
- important for higher order consciousness
- Used when we are self reflecting and turning our thoughts inwards
What is one of the most metabolically-active brain networks - Answers Default mode network
What disease affects the Default mode network and how? - Answers Alzheimer's Disease -
amyloid plaques target the default mode network
What parts of the brain in the default mode network are affected by AD - Answers lateral and
medial PFC
lateral and medial temporal
lateral and medial parietal
How are levels of wakefulness and consciousness measured? - Answers x axis: level of
consciousness: wakefulness
y axis: content of consciousness: awareness
Define vegetative state - Answers A vegetative state is when a person is awake but shows no
, signs of awareness
- eyes open, but no conscious experience. Unaware.
define locked in syndrome - Answers almost fully consciously aware and consciously awake but
cannot communicate, move, or speak
Define a coma - Answers A coma is when there is no level of consciousness/wakefulness as
well as there is no content of consciousness/awareness
Define REM sleep - Answers REM sleep is characterized by rapid eye movements, more
dreaming and bodily movement, and a faster pulse and breathing. It is at a medium level of
wakefulness and awareness.
Define lucid dreaming - Answers Lucid dreaming is when you are aware of your dreams at a low
level of wakefulness.
How is metabolic activity and functional connectivity affected with varying degrees of
consciousness? - Answers Less metabolic activity and functional connectivity within default
network in people with decreasing degrees of conscious awareness
From greatest to least:
control --> minimally conscious state --> vegetative state --> coma
How can you tell between a vegetative state and locked in syndrome? - Answers Using fMRI to
measure consciousness awareness:
Study: 23 "vegetative state" patients + healthy individuals were asked yes/no questions.
Patients imagined playing tennis if yes and navigating environment if no. Different types of
mental imagery involve motor vs. spatial parts of the brain. 4 patients found to be consciously
aware
What percent of immobile brain damaged patients are misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative
state (lacking awareness) - Answers 40%
What basis allows the tennis vs. navigation test to use? - Answers Different operations are
mapped onto different parts of the brain
How do psychedelics alter your state of consciousness? - Answers - Psychedelics like LSD
decrease functional connectivity within the default network, leading to a loss of sense of self
- But they increase functional connectivity between primary visual cortex and the brain (i.e.
hallucinations/ induced synaesthesia)
Why do visual illusions occur? - Answers Much of what we consciously perceive is our brain's
best guess or prediction about what is out there (based on prior experience, context, and
