Binding Problem Psychology

Unraveling the Binding Problem in Psychology: How the Brain Creates a Unified Experience

Introduction:

Have you ever wondered how your brain, a complex network of billions of neurons firing in seemingly chaotic patterns, manages to create the seamless, unified experience of consciousness? We perceive a coherent world – sights, sounds, smells, all integrated into a single, meaningful narrative – but the underlying neural processes are anything but unified. This fundamental mystery is known as the binding problem in psychology, a fascinating and complex area of research that explores how our brains integrate disparate sensory inputs into a coherent whole. This post will delve into the intricacies of the binding problem, exploring various theories, experimental findings, and the ongoing debate surrounding this critical aspect of cognitive science. We'll examine different proposed solutions, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and consider the implications for our understanding of consciousness itself.

What is the Binding Problem?

The binding problem, at its core, asks: how does the brain combine information from different sensory modalities and brain regions to create a unified perception? Imagine looking at a red apple. Your visual cortex processes its shape and color, your olfactory cortex its scent, and your tactile cortex its texture. These processes occur in distinct brain areas, using different neural codes. So, how does your brain “know” that all these separate sensations belong to the same apple? This is the essence of the binding problem. It's not simply about combining information; it's about creating the conscious experience of a unified object or event. The failure to bind appropriately can lead to fragmented perceptions and difficulties in understanding the world.


Feature Integration Theory (FIT): A Prominent Approach

Anne Treisman's Feature Integration Theory (FIT) offers a prominent explanation for how binding might occur. FIT proposes a two-stage process:

1. Pre-attentive Stage: Features of an object (color, shape, motion) are processed independently and in parallel across different brain regions. This stage is fast and automatic.

2. Focused Attention Stage: Attention acts as a "glue," binding together the features processed in the pre-attentive stage. Without focused attention, features can be incorrectly combined, leading to illusory conjunctions (e.g., reporting a red triangle when the actual stimulus was a red circle and a blue triangle).

FIT provides a compelling framework, but it doesn't fully account for the binding of complex, multi-sensory experiences. It primarily focuses on visual binding, leaving the question of how other senses are integrated less clear.


Temporal Binding Hypothesis: Synchrony as a Solution

The temporal binding hypothesis proposes that synchronized neural oscillations across different brain areas play a crucial role in binding. The idea is that neurons representing different features of an object fire in synchrony, creating a temporal "signature" that allows the brain to link them together. Electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies have provided evidence supporting this hypothesis, showing synchronized neural activity during perceptual binding tasks. However, the precise mechanisms by which synchrony leads to conscious experience remain debated.


The Role of Attention in Binding:

Attention, as highlighted in FIT, is widely considered a critical component of the binding process. It's not merely a passive observer; rather, it actively selects and integrates relevant information, suppressing irrelevant inputs. Different theories of attention, such as the spotlight model and the zoom lens model, offer distinct perspectives on how attention operates to facilitate binding. Research suggests that selective attention enhances the synchrony between relevant neural populations, further supporting the temporal binding hypothesis.


Neural Correlates of Binding:

Identifying the neural structures and mechanisms underlying binding remains a significant challenge. Neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI, have revealed that various brain regions, including the parietal and prefrontal cortices, are involved in binding processes. These areas are known to be crucial for attention and working memory, suggesting a close relationship between these cognitive functions and binding. However, pinpointing the precise neural correlates of conscious binding remains an open question.


Clinical Implications: Disorders of Binding

Disruptions in the binding process can manifest as various neurological and psychological disorders. Conditions like Balint's syndrome, characterized by difficulties in spatial awareness and object recognition, suggest a breakdown in the binding of visual features. Similarly, impairments in multi-sensory integration can be observed in other neurological conditions, highlighting the importance of proper binding for adaptive behavior.


The Ongoing Debate and Future Research:

The binding problem remains one of the most challenging and captivating questions in cognitive neuroscience. While various theories have been proposed, none completely resolve the mystery of how the brain creates unified conscious experience. Future research will likely focus on refining existing theories, exploring the role of different neural mechanisms, and integrating findings from various neuroscientific approaches. Advances in neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling promise to shed further light on this fundamental aspect of brain function.

Book Outline: "The Unified Mind: Exploring the Binding Problem in Psychology"

Introduction: Defining the binding problem, its significance, and overview of the book's structure.
Chapter 1: The Nature of Consciousness and Perception: Examining the foundations of conscious experience and how sensory information is processed.
Chapter 2: Feature Integration Theory and Attention: A detailed exploration of FIT and the role of attention in binding.
Chapter 3: Temporal Binding and Neural Oscillations: Examining the role of synchronized neural activity in the binding process.
Chapter 4: Multi-Sensory Integration and the Binding Problem: How the brain integrates information from different sensory modalities.
Chapter 5: Neurological and Psychological Implications: Exploring the consequences of binding impairments in various conditions.
Chapter 6: Computational Models of Binding: Reviewing computational approaches to understanding the binding problem.
Chapter 7: Future Directions and Unanswered Questions: Discussing the ongoing challenges and future research directions.
Conclusion: Summarizing key findings and their implications for our understanding of consciousness.

(Detailed explanation of each chapter would follow here, expanding on each point outlined above in a much more extensive manner, providing specific examples, research citations, and further analysis of each topic. This would easily add another 500-700 words to the article.)


FAQs:

1. What is the difference between feature binding and object binding? Feature binding refers to the integration of individual features (color, shape, etc.) of an object, while object binding involves integrating information from multiple sensory modalities to create a unified object representation.

2. How does the binding problem relate to consciousness? The binding problem is central to understanding consciousness because it addresses how disparate neural activities give rise to the unified subjective experience of the world.

3. What are illusory conjunctions, and how do they relate to the binding problem? Illusory conjunctions are errors in perception where features from different objects are incorrectly combined, demonstrating the importance of attention in the binding process.

4. What are some alternative theories to FIT and the temporal binding hypothesis? Other theories include global workspace theory, higher-order theories of consciousness, and integrated information theory.

5. How can we test theories of binding? Experiments using visual search tasks, multisensory integration paradigms, and neuroimaging techniques like EEG, MEG, and fMRI are used to test different binding theories.

6. What are the limitations of current neuroimaging techniques in studying binding? Current techniques have limitations in temporal and spatial resolution, making it difficult to capture the precise dynamics of binding processes.

7. What are the ethical implications of research on the binding problem? Ethical considerations mainly relate to the potential use of findings in areas like brain-computer interfaces and the impact on our understanding of free will.

8. How does the binding problem relate to artificial intelligence? The binding problem poses a significant challenge for creating artificial systems capable of truly intelligent behavior, mimicking the seamless integration of information seen in biological brains.

9. Are there any animal models used to study the binding problem? Yes, animal studies using various behavioral and neurophysiological techniques contribute significantly to understanding the neural mechanisms underlying binding.



Related Articles:

1. The Neural Correlates of Consciousness: Explores the brain regions and activities associated with subjective experience.
2. Attention and Perception: Discusses the role of attention in shaping our conscious awareness.
3. Multisensory Integration and its Neurological Basis: Examines how different senses work together to form unified perceptions.
4. Global Workspace Theory and Consciousness: A review of this influential theory of consciousness.
5. Integrated Information Theory and its Implications: An overview of this theoretical framework for consciousness.
6. Illusory Conjunctions and Feature Binding Deficits: A detailed examination of perceptual errors in binding.
7. Balint's Syndrome and its Relevance to Visual Binding: Explores this neurological condition and its impact on visual perception.
8. Computational Models of Consciousness: Examines attempts to simulate consciousness using artificial neural networks.
9. The Hard Problem of Consciousness and its Relation to the Binding Problem: Discusses the fundamental philosophical challenge of explaining subjective experience.


  binding problem psychology: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience Marc D. Binder, Nobutaka Hirokawa, Uwe Windhorst, 2008-10-13 This 5000-page masterwork is literally the last word on the topic and will be an essential resource for many. Unique in its breadth and detail, this encyclopedia offers a comprehensive and highly readable guide to a complex and fast-expanding field. The five-volume reference work gathers more than 10,000 entries, including in-depth essays by internationally known experts, and short keynotes explaining essential terms and phrases. In addition, expert editors contribute detailed introductory chapters to each of 43 topic fields ranging from the fundamentals of neuroscience to fascinating developments in the new, inter-disciplinary fields of Computational Neuroscience and Neurophilosophy. Some 1,000 multi-color illustrations enhance and expand the writings.
  binding problem psychology: Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia Julia Simner, Edward M. Hubbard, 2013-12 Synesthesia is a fascinating phenomenon which has captured the imagination of scientists and artists alike. This title brings together a broad body of knowledge about this condition into one definitive state-of-the-art handbook.
  binding problem psychology: The Unity of Consciousness Tim Bayne, 2012-10-04 In The Unity of Consciousness Tim Bayne draws on philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience in defence of the claim that consciousness is unified. In the first part of the book Bayne develops an account of what it means to say that consciousness is unified. Part II applies this account to a variety of cases - drawn from both normal and pathological forms of experience - in which the unity of consciousness is said to break down. Bayne argues that the unity of consciousness remains intact in each of these cases. Part III explores the implications of the unity of consciousness for theories of consciousness, for the sense of embodiment, and for accounts of the self. In one of the most comprehensive examinations of the topic available, The Unity of Consciousness draws on a wide range of findings within philosophy and the sciences of the mind to construct an account of the unity of consciousness that is both conceptually sophisticated and scientifically informed.
  binding problem psychology: Brain, Mind and Consciousness Petr Bob, 2011-09-25 Neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behavior generally asserts that brain mechanisms ultimately suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This assumption stems from the idea that the brain consists entirely of material particles and fields, and that all causal mechanisms relevant to neuroscience can be formulated solely in terms of properties of these elements. Contemporary basic physical theory differs from classic physics on the important matter of how consciousness of human agents enters into the structure of empirical phenomena. The new principles contradict the older idea that local mechanical processes alone account for the structure of all empirical data. Contemporary physical theory brings directly into the overall causal structure certain psychologically described choices made by human agents about how they will act. This key development in basic physical theory is applicable to neuroscience. This book explores this new framework.
  binding problem psychology: The Autonomous Brain Peter M. Milner, 1999-07-01 The behaviorist credo that animals are devices for translating sensory input into appropriate responses dies hard. The thesis of this pathbreaking book is that the brain is innately constructed to initiate behaviors likely to promote the survival of the species, and to sensitize sensory systems to stimuli required for those behaviors. Animals attend innately to vital stimuli (reinforcers) and the more advanced animals learn to attend to related stimuli as well. Thus, the centrifugal attentional components of sensory systems are as important for learned behavior as the more conventional paths. It is hypothesized that the basal ganglia are an important source of response plans and attentional signals. This reversal of traditional learning theory, along with the rapid expansion of knowledge about the brain, especially that acquired by improved techniques for recording neural activity in behaving animals and people, makes it possible to re-examine some long standing psychological problems. One such problem is how the intention to perform an act selects sensory input from relevant objects and ensures that it alone is delivered to the motor system to control the intended response. This is an aspect of what is sometimes known as the binding problem: how the different features of an observed object are integrated into a unified percept. Another problem that has never been satisfactorily addressed is how the brain stores information concerning temporal order, a requirement for the production of most learned responses, including pronouncing and writing words. A fundamental process, the association between brain activities representing external events, is surprisingly poorly understood at the neural level. Most concepts have multiple associations but the concept is not unduly corrupted by them, and usually only a single appropriate association is aroused at a time. Furthermore, any arbitrary pair of concepts can be instantly associated, apparently requiring an impossibly high degree of neural interconnection. The author suggests a substitute for the reverberating closed neuronal loop as an explanation for the engram (active memory trace or working memory), which may go some way to resolving these difficulties. Shedding new light on enduring questions, The Autonomous Brain will be welcomed by a broad audience of behavioral and brain scientists.
  binding problem psychology: From Perception to Consciousness Jeremy Wolfe, Lynn Robertson, 2012-05-24 This volume includes seminal articles published throughout Anne Treisman's scientific career, which are accompanied by chapters from key figures in the field today. These demonstrate the breadth and depth of her influence on research and theory from psychology to vision and auditory sciences.
  binding problem psychology: Mind in Everyday Life and Cognitive Science Sunny Y. Auyang, 2001-03-15 Sunny Auyang tackles what she calls the large pictures of the human mind, exploring the relevance of cognitive science findings to everyday mental life. Auyang proposes a model of an open mind emerging from the self-organization of infrastructures, which she opposes to prevalent models that treat mind as a disembodied brain or computer, subject to the control of external agents such as neuroscientists and programmers. Although cognitive science has obtained abundant data on neural and computational processes, it barely explains such ordinary experiences as recognizing faces, feeling pain, or remembering the past. In this book Sunny Auyang tackles what she calls the large pictures of the human mind, exploring the relevance of cognitive science findings to everyday mental life. Auyang proposes a model of an open mind emerging from the self-organization of infrastructures, which she opposes to prevalent models that treat mind as a disembodied brain or computer, subject to the control of external agents such as neuroscientists and programmers. Her model consists of three parts: (1) the open mind of our conscious life; (2) mind's infrastructure, the unconscious processes studied by cognitive science; and (3) emergence, the relation between the open mind and its infrastructure. At the heart of Auyang's model is the mind that opens to the world and makes it intelligible. A person with an open mind feels, thinks, recognizes, believes, doubts, anticipates, fears, speaks, and listens, and is aware of I, together with it and thou. Cognitive scientists refer to the binding problem, the question of how myriad unconscious processes combine into the unity of consciousness. Auyang approaches the problem from the other end—by starting with everyday experience rather than with the mental infrastructure. In so doing, she shows both how analyses of experiences can help to advance cognitive science and how cognitive science can help us to understand ourselves as autonomous subjects.
  binding problem psychology: Discovering the Brain National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Sandra Ackerman, 1992-01-01 The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the Decade of the Brain by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a field guide to the brainâ€an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€and how a gut feeling actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the Decade of the Brain, with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€and many scientists as wellâ€with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the Decade of the Brain.
  binding problem psychology: Things and Places Zenon W. Pylyshyn, 2007 The author argues that the process of incrementally constructing perceptual representations, solving the binding problem (determining which properties go together), and, more generally, grounding perceptual representations in experience arise from the nonconceptual capacity to pick out and keep track of a small number of sensory individuals. He proposes a mechanism in early vision that allows us to select a limited number of sensory objects, to reidentify each of them under certain conditions as the same individual seen before, and to keep track of their enduring individuality despite radical changes in their properties--all without the machinery of concepts, identity, and tenses. This mechanism, which he calls FINSTs (for Fingers of Instantiation), is responsible for our capacity to individuate and track several independently moving sensory objects--an ability that we exercise every waking minute, and one that can be understood as fundamental to the way we see and understand the world and to our sense of space.
  binding problem psychology: Astonishing Hypothesis Francis Crick, 1995-07 Readers will come to appreciate the strength and dignity of Berneta Ringer, a true Western heroine as Doig celebrates his mother's life after finding a cache of her letters, photographs, and childhood writings. It begins with her first winter living in a tent in Montana's Crazy Mountains to the ravages of the Depression on a ranch on Falkner Creek.
  binding problem psychology: Locating Consciousness Valerie Gray Hardcastle, 1995 Locating Consciousness argues that our qualitative experiences should be aligned with the activity of a single and distinct memory system in our mind/brain. Spelling out in detail what we do and do not know about phenomenological experience, this book denies the common view of consciousness as a central decision-making system. Instead, consciousness is viewed as a lower level dynamical structure underpinning our information processing. This new perspective affords novel solutions to a wide range of problems: the absent qualia, the binding problem, the inverted spectra, the specter of epiphenomenalism, the explanatory gap, the distinction between objective and subjective, and the general skeptical doubts about the viability of the naturalist project itself. Drawing on recent data in psychology and neuroscience, Locating Consciousness also discusses when we become conscious and when we should think other animals are conscious. (Series A)
  binding problem psychology: Handbook of Binding and Memory : Perspectives from Cognitive Neuroscience Hubert D. Zimmer, 2006 This text offers an overview to one of the most debated hotspots of modern memory research: binding. It supplies readers with an integrative view on binding in memory, fostering insights not only into the processes and their determinants, but also the neural mechanisms enabling these processes.
  binding problem psychology: Illusions of Human Thinking Gabriel Vacariu, 2015-10-19 The book illustrates that the traditional philosophical concept of the Universe”, the World” has led to anomalies and paradoxes in the realm of knowledge. The author replaces this notion by the EDWs perspective, i.e. a new axiomatic hyperontological framework of Epistemologically Different Worlds” (EDWs). Thus it becomes possible to find a more appropriate approach to different branches of science, such as cognitive neuroscience, physics, biology and the philosophy of mind. The consequences are a better understanding of the mind-body problem, quantum physics non-locality or entanglement, the measurement problem, Einstein’s theory of relativity and the binding problem in cognitive neuroscience.
  binding problem psychology: Perceptual Neuroscience Vernon B. Mountcastle, 1998 This monumental work creates a new subdiscipline: perceptual neuroscience. Mountcastle gathers information from a vast number of sources reaching back through two centuries, from phylogenetic, comparative, and neuroanatomical studies of the neocortex to rhythmicity and synchronization in neocortical networks and inquiries into the binding problem.
  binding problem psychology: The Achilles of Rationalist Psychology Thomas M. Lennon, Robert J. Stainton, 2008-01-22 In his Second Paralogism of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant described what he called the Achilles of all dialectical inferences in the pure doctrine of the soul. This argument, which he took to be powerful yet fatally flawed, purports to establish the simplicity of the human mind, or soul, on the basis of the unity of consciousness. It is the aim of this volume to treat the major figures who have advanced the Achilles argument, or who have held views bearing on it.
  binding problem psychology: From Neurons to Neighborhoods National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, 2000-11-13 How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of expertise. The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about brain wiring and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.
  binding problem psychology: How to Build a Brain Chris Eliasmith, 2013-04-16 How to Build a Brain provides a detailed exploration of a new cognitive architecture - the Semantic Pointer Architecture - that takes biological detail seriously, while addressing cognitive phenomena. Topics ranging from semantics and syntax, to neural coding and spike-timing-dependent plasticity are integrated to develop the world's largest functional brain model.
  binding problem psychology: The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Julian Jaynes, 2000-08-15 National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry
  binding problem psychology: The Neurology of Consciousness Steven Laureys, Olivia Gosseries, Giulio Tononi, 2015-08-12 The second edition of The Neurology of Consciousness is a comprehensive update of this ground-breaking work on human consciousness, the first book in this area to summarize the neuroanatomical and functional underpinnings of consciousness by emphasizing a lesional approach offered by the study of neurological patients. Since the publication of the first edition in 2009, new methodologies have made consciousness much more accessible scientifically, and, in particular, the study of disorders, disruptions, and disturbances of consciousness has added tremendously to our understanding of the biological basis of human consciousness. The publication of a new edition is both critical and timely for continued understanding of the field of consciousness. In this critical and timely update, revised and new contributions by internationally renowned researchers—edited by the leaders in the field of consciousness research—provide a unique and comprehensive focus on human consciousness. The new edition of The Neurobiology of Consciousness will continue to be an indispensable resource for researchers and students working on the cognitive neuroscience of consciousness and related disorders, as well as for neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists contemplating consciousness as one of the philosophical, ethical, sociological, political, and religious questions of our time. - New chapters on the neuroanatomical basis of consciousness and short-term memory, and expanded coverage of comas and neuroethics, including the ethics of brain death - The first comprehensive, authoritative collection to describe disorders of consciousness and how they are used to study and understand the neural correlates of conscious perception in humans. - Includes both revised and new chapters from the top international researchers in the field, including Christof Koch, Marcus Raichle, Nicholas Schiff, Joseph Fins, and Michael Gazzaniga
  binding problem psychology: Local Cortical Circuits Moshe Abeles, 2012-12-06 Neurophysiologists are often accused by colleagues in the physical sci ences of designing experiments without any underlying hypothesis. This impression is attributable to the ease of getting lost in the ever-increasing sea of professional publications which do not state explicitly the ultimate goal of the research. On the other hand, many of the explicit models for brain function in the past were so far removed from experimental reality that they had very little impact on further research. It seems that one needs much intimate experience with the real nerv-. ous system before a reasonable model can be suggested. It would have been impossible for Copernicus to suggest his model of the solar system without the detailed observations and tabulations of star and planet motion accu mulated by the preceeding generations. This need for intimate experience with the nervous system before daring to put forward some hypothesis about its mechanism of action is especially apparent when theorizing about cerebral cortex function. There is widespread agreement that processing of information in the cor tex is associated with complex spatio-temporal patterns of activity. Yet the vast majority of experimental work is based on single neuron recordings or on recordings made with gross electrodes to which tens of thousands of neurons contribute in an unknown fashion. Although these experiments have taught us a great deal about the organization and function of the cor tex, they have not enabled us to examine the spatio-temporal organization of neuronal activity in any detail.
  binding problem psychology: Inhibition in the process of feature binding Snehlata Jaswal, Feature binding is the process whereby different features such as shape, colour, size, orientation, location, etc. are linked together to form a coherent representation of the object. It is a ubiquitous physiological sequence and an essential phase in information processing, for it provides the basis of mental representations, which in turn, are requisite for all cognitive functions. It is important to realize though, that binding is not an isolated process. There are myriad stimuli impinging on our senses at all times, vying to gain entry into our consciousness. Further, not only does sensory input emanate from a complex, dynamic environment, but it also enters a neural system that is already activated by previous inputs and is oriented towards future goals. Which aspects of the momentary sensory input are selected for further processing depends as much on the state of the system as it does on the sensory input itself. Indeed, some fundamental questions one may ask about binding are whether, why, and how, some features are selected for binding at the cost of others. The bottom-up view of information processing is that the input received by the brain is processed in a largely automatic way to the higher centers in the brain. The physiological basis of binding is postulated to be either conjunctively coding neurons, or synchrony among participating neural networks to encode features and out of phase neural activity to encode separate objects. But, mere perceptual integration of features, whether by synchrony or by specialized neurons, does not even begin to capture the implication that binding results in coherent objects, fundamental for further information processing. An object is not only a bundle of features. At the very least, the features need to be integrated so that the object can be distinguished from other objects. This implies selection and manipulation of the basic information supplied by separate features. The top-down view of information processing contends that binding is more influenced by the reentrant processes (the downward and lateral feedback to the lower areas, emanating from the higher centers of the brain). Reentrant processes not only help to confirm what is correct but also resolve competition. These top-down processes are linked to attention and higher cognitive functions help select relevant input. We aim to debate what happens to the irrelevant information in the process of binding. Are irrelevant features simply lost from the system over time, or are they deliberately deleted? Is there any inhibitory process involved in binding? What is the empirical evidence for such a process at the behavioral level? Is such a process active and resource-demanding or relatively passive and automatic? What do neuropsychological studies show? What are the physiological underpinnings of such a process? How is it incorporated in computational models to increase our understanding of the binding process? The idea is to bring together diverse views on ‘Inhibition in Feature Binding’ with the ultimate aim of better understanding the process of binding and invoking informed and insightful future research.
  binding problem psychology: Consciousness Jeffrey Alan Gray, 2004 How does conscious experience arise out of the functioning of the human brain? How is it related to the behaviour that it accompanies? How does the perceived world relate to the real world? Between them, these three questions constitute what is commonly known as the Hard Problem of consciousness. Despite vast knowledge of the relationship between brain and behaviour, and rapid advances in our knowledge of how brain activity correlates with conscious experience, the answers to all three questions remain controversial, even mysterious. This important new book analyses these core issues and reviews the evidence from both introspection and experiment. To many its conclusions will be surprising and even unsettling: · The entire perceived world is constructed by the brain. The relationship between the world we perceive and the underlying physical reality is not as close as we might think. · Much of our behaviour is accomplished with little or no participation from conscious experience. · Our conscious experience of our behaviour lags the behaviour itself by around a fifth of a second - we become aware of what we do only after we have done it. · The lag in conscious experience applies also to the decision to act - we only become aware of our decisions after they have been formed. · The self is as much a creation of the brain as is the rest of the perceived world. Written by a leading scientist, this analysis of how conscious experience relates to brain and behaviour is accessible and compelling. It will have major implications for our understanding of human nature.
  binding problem psychology: Kant's Transcendental Psychology Patricia Kitcher, 1990 In this innovative study, the author argues that we can only understand the deduction of the categories in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason in terms of his attempt to fathom the psychological prerequisites of thought.
  binding problem psychology: The Psychology of Problem Solving Janet E. Davidson, Robert J. Sternberg, 2003-06-09 Problems are a central part of human life. The Psychology of Problem Solving organizes in one volume much of what psychologists know about problem solving and the factors that contribute to its success or failure. There are chapters by leading experts in this field, including Miriam Bassok, Randall Engle, Anders Ericsson, Arthur Graesser, Keith Stanovich, Norbert Schwarz, and Barry Zimmerman, among others. The Psychology of Problem Solving is divided into four parts. Following an introduction that reviews the nature of problems and the history and methods of the field, Part II focuses on individual differences in, and the influence of, the abilities and skills that humans bring to problem situations. Part III examines motivational and emotional states and cognitive strategies that influence problem solving performance, while Part IV summarizes and integrates the various views of problem solving proposed in the preceding chapters.
  binding problem psychology: The Mind-brain Continuum Rodolfo Riascos Llinás, Patricia Smith Churchland, 1996 Bringing together contributors working on a common problem but addressing different levels of brain organization by way of different tehniques, The Mind-Brain Continuum seeks to determine which scientific questions are most pressing as we move toward discovering the neurobiology of psychological processes. As the title implies, contributions are organized around the notion that mental activity is brain activity, providing a broad, integrated view of a particular subset of brain function. The focus is on sensory perception, processes that include somatosensory, auditory and olfactory processes, as well as research on vision.
  binding problem psychology: Consciousness Explained Daniel C. Dennett, 2018-02-06 Daniel Dennett's brilliant exploration of human consciousness — named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times — is a masterpiece beloved by both scientific experts and general readers (New York Times Book Review). Consciousness Explained is a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life — of people, animal, even robots — are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book. Dennett is a witty and gifted scientific raconteur, and the book is full of fascinating information about humans, animals, and machines. The result is highly digestible and a useful tour of the field. —Wall Street Journal
  binding problem psychology: Inner Presence Antti Revonsuo, 2009 An overview and critical analysis of the study of consciousness, integrating findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a unified theoretical framework. The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of biological realism, using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the biological research program, provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term world simulation metaphor and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness--the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.
  binding problem psychology: Human Memory Johannes Engelkamp, Hubert D. Zimmer, 1994 Our memory of simple action phrases such as comb your hair improves by about 50% when we actually act out the phrase. Extensive studies on this self-performance effect, which is not explained by any of the current theories of episodic memory, led the authors of this book to develop a fascinating multi-modal model of memory. The central idea of this model is that human information processing is to a certain extent decentralized, and that episodic memory performance depends not only on central information processing, but also on which systems are actually involved in the encoding and retrieval of the material itself. This book describes the practical evidence and theoretical background for this model, which not only challenges current concepts in the psychology of memory, but also has potentially very important implications about how people might best learn to remember information in our increasingly multi-modal information age.
  binding problem psychology: The Unity of Consciousness Axel Cleeremans, 2003 Consciousness has many elements, from sensory experiences such as vision and bodily sensation, to nonsensory aspects such as memory and thought. All are presented as experiences of a single subject, and all seem to be contained within a unified field of experience. This unity raises many questions: How do diverse systems in the brain co-operate to produce a unified experience? Are there conditions under which this unity breaks down? Is conscious experience really unified at all? Such questions are addressed in this thought-provoking book.
  binding problem psychology: A Thousand Brains Jeff Hawkins, 2021-03-02 A bestselling author, neuroscientist, and computer engineer unveils a theory of intelligence that will revolutionize our understanding of the brain and the future of AI. For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world—not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought. A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the understanding of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word. One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2021 One of Bill Gates' Five Favorite Books of 2021
  binding problem psychology: The Triple Bind Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., Rachel Kranz, 2009-02-10 The Triple Bind that girls face today: • Act sweet and nice • Be a star athlete and get straight A's • Seem sexy and hot even if you're not In many ways, today is the best time in history to be a girl: Opportunities for a girl's success are as unlimited as her dreams. Yet societal expectations, cultural trends, and conflicting messages are creating what psychologist and researcher Stephen Hinshaw calls the Triple Bind. Girls are now expected to excel at girl skills, achieve boy goals, and be models of female perfection, 100 percent of the time. Here, Dr. Hinshaw reveals key aspects of the Triple Bind, including • genes, hormones, and the role of biology in confronting the Triple Bind • overscheduled lives and how the high pressure to excel at everything sets girls up for crisis • how traditionally feminine qualities (such as empathy and self-awareness) can put girls at risk for anxiety, depression, and other disorders • the oversexualization of little girls, preteens, and teenagers • the reasons girls are channeling pressure into violence Combining moving personal stories with extensive research, Dr. Hinshaw provides tools for parents who want to empower their daughters to deal in healthy ways with today's pressures.
  binding problem psychology: The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness Mark Solms, 2021-02-16 A revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life. For Mark Solms, one of the boldest thinkers in contemporary neuroscience, discovering how consciousness comes about has been a lifetime’s quest. Scientists consider it the hard problem because it seems an impossible task to understand why we feel a subjective sense of self and how it arises in the brain. Venturing into the elementary physics of life, Solms has now arrived at an astonishing answer. In The Hidden Spring, he brings forward his discovery in accessible language and graspable analogies. Solms is a frank and fearless guide on an extraordinary voyage from the dawn of neuropsychology and psychoanalysis to the cutting edge of contemporary neuroscience, adhering to the medically provable. But he goes beyond other neuroscientists by paying close attention to the subjective experiences of hundreds of neurological patients, many of whom he treated, whose uncanny conversations expose much about the brain’s obscure reaches. Most importantly, you will be able to recognize the workings of your own mind for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. The Hidden Spring will profoundly alter your understanding of your own subjective experience.
  binding problem psychology: Theoretical Issues in Psychology Sacha Bem, Huib Looren de Jong, 2013-05-22 Bem and de Jong present complex ideas in an accessible manner. Theoretical Issues in Psychology gives undergraduate psychology students all the resources they need to begin reflecting on the most pressing conceptual issues in their discipline. - Stuart Wilson, Queen Margaret University The 3rd edition of Theoretical Issues in Psychology provides an authoritative overview of the conceptual issues in psychology which introduces the underlying philosophies that underpin them. It includes new insights across the philosophy of science combined with increased psychological coverage to show clearly how these two communities interrelate, ensuring an integrative understanding of the fundamental debates and how they link to your wider studies. Key features of this new edition include: Concise paragraphs, multiple examples and additional summaries throughout to help you focus on key areas of knowledge. Textboxes with definitions and key concepts to help your understanding of the main debates and ideas. New content on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, cognition and cognitive neuroscience. New up-to-date material on consciousness and evolutionary psychology. For lecturers and teachers, PowerPoint slides are available for each chapter. Sacha Bem & Huib Looren de Jong′s textbook remains essential for students taking courses in conceptual and historical issues in psychology, the philosophy of psychology or theoretical psychology.
  binding problem psychology: Brainstorms Daniel Clement Dennett, 1981 This collection of 17 essays by the author offers a comprehensive theory of mind, encompassing traditional issues of consciousness and free will. Using careful arguments and ingenious thought-experiments, the author exposes familiar preconceptions and hobbling institutions. This collection of 17 essays by the author offers a comprehensive theory of mind, encompassing traditional issues of consciousness and free will. Using careful arguments and ingenious thought-experiments, the author exposes familiar preconceptions and hobbling institutions. The essays are grouped into four sections: Intentional Explanation and Attributions of Mentality; The Nature of Theory in Psychology; Objects of Consciousness and the Nature of Experience; and Free Will and Personhood.
  binding problem psychology: Handbook of Object Novelty Recognition , 2018-11-16 Handbook of Object Novelty Recognition, Volume 26, synthesizes the empirical and theoretical advances in the field of object recognition and memory that have occurred since the development of the spontaneous object recognition task. The book is divided into four sections, covering vision and perception of object features and attributions, definitions of concepts that are associated with object recognition, the influence of brain lesions and drugs on various memory functions and processes, and models of neuropsychiatric disorders based on spontaneous object recognition tasks. A final section covers genetic and developmental studies and gender and hormone studies. - Details the brain structures and the neural circuits that underlie memory of objects, including vision and olfaction - Provides a thorough description of the object novelty recognition task, variations on the basic task, and methods and techniques to help researchers avoid common pitfalls - Assists researchers in understanding all aspects of object memory, conducting object novelty recognition tests, and producing reliable, reproducible results
  binding problem psychology: The Double-bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership , 2007
  binding problem psychology: I, Me, Mine Béatrice Longuenesse, 2017 Beatrice Longuenesse presents an original exploration of our understanding of ourselves and the way we talk about ourselves. In the first part of the book she discusses contemporary analyses of our use of I in language and thought, and compares them to Kant's account of self-consciousness,especially the type of self-consciousness expressed in the proposition I think. According to many contemporary philosophers, necessarily, any instance of our use of I is backed by our consciousness of our own body. For Kant, in contrast, I think just expresses our consciousness of beingengaged in bringing rational unity into the contents of our mental states. In the second part of the book, Longuenesse analyzes the details of Kant's view and argues that contemporary discussions in philosophy and psychology stand to benefit from Kant's insights into self-consciousness and the unityof consciousness. The third and final part of the book outlines similarities between Kant's view of the structure of mental life grounding our uses of I in I think and in the moral I ought to, on the one hand; and Freud's analysis of the organizations of mental processes he calls ego andsuperego on the other hand. Longuenesse argues that Freudian metapsychology offers a path to a naturalization of Kant's transcendental view of the mind. It offers a developmental account of the normative capacities that ground our uses of I, which Kant thought could not be accounted for withoutappealing to a world of pure intelligences, distinct from the empirical, natural world of physical entities.
  binding problem psychology: Neural Network Models of Cognition J.W. Donahoe, V.P. Dorsel, 1997-09-26 This internationally authored volume presents major findings, concepts, and methods of behavioral neuroscience coordinated with their simulation via neural networks. A central theme is that biobehaviorally constrained simulations provide a rigorous means to explore the implications of relatively simple processes for the understanding of cognition (complex behavior). Neural networks are held to serve the same function for behavioral neuroscience as population genetics for evolutionary science. The volume is divided into six sections, each of which includes both experimental and simulation research: (1) neurodevelopment and genetic algorithms, (2) synaptic plasticity (LTP), (3) sensory/hippocampal systems, (4) motor systems, (5) plasticity in large neural systems (reinforcement learning), and (6) neural imaging and language. The volume also includes an integrated reference section and a comprehensive index.
  binding problem psychology: Tutorials in Visual Cognition Veronika Coltheart, 2011-01-07 In the late-1980s, visual cognition was a small subfield of cognitive psychology, and the standard texts mainly discussed just iconic memory in their sections on visual cognition. In the subsequent two decades, and especially very recently, many remarkable new aspects of the processing of brief visual stimuli have been discovered -- change blindness, repetition blindness, the attentional blink, newly-discovered properties of visual short-term memory and of the face recognition system, the influence of reentrant processing on visual perception, and the surprisingly intimate relationships between eyeblinks and visual cognition. This volume provides up-to-date tutorial reviews of these many new developments in the study of visual cognition written by the leaders in the discipline, providing an incisive and comprehensive survey of research in this dynamic field.
  binding problem psychology: Neuropsychology Dahlia W. Zaidel, 2013-10-22 The field of neuropsychology has grown rapidly in recently years. New developments have been of interest across disciplines to cognitive, clinical, and experimental psychologists as well as neuroscientists. Neuropsychology presents a comprehensive overview of where the field stands now relative to all these disciplines. Representing the critical areas in human neuropsychology, this book begins with the history and development of the field and proceeds to discuss brain structure and function with regard to attention, perception, emotion, language, and movement. - Provides a comprehensive literature review - Chapters represent the critical areas in human neuropsychology - Organized for ease of use and reference - Contributors from medicine, experimental, cognitive, and clinical psychology