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2002
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Course Description |
Imagery and Reasoning: Cognitive and Cortical Models
Markus
Knauff
University of Freiburg, Germany
Daily life experience, as well as
numerous experimental findings, indicates that human reasoning is akin to
mental imagery. This course will be about one form of reasoning, deduction. In
deductive reasoning the truth of the premises ensures the truth of the
conclusion. (This is in contrast to inductive reasoning, where the truth of the
premises does not warrant the truth of the conclusion.) The course will cover
recent research on deductive reasoning, mental imagery, and visuo-spatial
working memory. The first lectures will provide an overview about the cognitive
correlates of deductive reasoning. The subsequent lectures will cover recent
research on visuo-spatial working memory and mental imagery, including
behavioral experiments and brain imaging studies. The last two lectures will take
a neuro-cognitive perspective on the interaction between mental imagery and
deductive reasoning.
1. Theories of
deductive reasoning
Motivation
Theories of mental proof
Mental models theory
Implications of the theories
Empirical evidence in support of the
theories
Required
Readings
Chapter 1 to 5 from: Johnson-Laird, P.N. & Byrne, R.M.J. (1991). Deduction. Hove, UK: Erlbaum.
Optional
Readings
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2002). Mental models and deduction.Trends in Cognitive Science, 5, 434-442.
2. Mental
imagery
Classical imagery theories
The imagery-debate
Recent imagery theories
Behavioral findings
Brain imaging findings
Imagery and visual cortices
Required
Readings
Kosslyn, S. M. (1995). Mental Imagery. In S. M. Kosslyn & D. N. Osherson (Eds.), Visual Cognition. (pp. 267-296), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Series: An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 2).
Mellet, E.,
Tzourio-Mazoyer, N., Bricogne, S., Mazoyer, B., Kosslyn, S. M. & Denis, M.
(2000).
Functional anatomy of high-resolution visual mental imagery. Journal of
Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 98-109.
Optional
Readings
Tye, M. (1991). The imagery debate. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
3. Visuo-spatial
working memory
The working memory framework
Visual working memory
Spatial working memory
Dual-tasks experiments
Behavioral findings
Cortical correlates of visuo-spatial
working memory
Brain imaging studies
Required
Readings
Chapter 4 from: Logie, R. H. (1995). Visuo-spatial working memory. Hove, UK: Erlbaum.
Optional
Readings
Chapter 5 from: Logie, R. H. (1995). Visuo-spatial working memory. Hove, UK: Erlbaum.
Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4 (11), 417-423.
D’Esposito, M. (2001). Functional Neuroimaging of Working Memory. In R. Cabeza & A. Kingstone (Eds.). Handbook of functional neuroimaging of cognition (pp. 293-327). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4. Cognitive
investigations on mental imagery in deductive reasoning
Premise integration
Order effects
Imageability and reasoning
Required
Readings
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1998). Imagery, visualization, and thinking. In J. Hochberg (Ed.), Perception and Cognition at the Century's End (pp. 441-467). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Optional
Readings
Knauff, M. &
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (in press).
Visual imagery can impede reasoning. Memory
& Cognition.
5.
Neuropsychological and brain imaging studies on mental imagery in deductive
reasoning
Neuropsychological studies
Brain imaging studies using PET and
fMRI
Hemispheric dissociations
The role of parieto-occipital pathways
The role of visual cortices
Required Readings
Johnson-Laird, P.
N. (1995).
Mental models, deductive reasoning, and the brain. In S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The Cognitive
Neurosciences (pp. 999-1008). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jonides, J. (1995). Working memory and thinking. In E.E. Smith & D. N. Osherson (Eds.), Thinking. (pp. 215-266), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Series: An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 3).
Optional Readings
Farah, M. J. (1995). The neural bases of mental imagery. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The cognitive neurosciences (pp. 963-975). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Knauff, M., Mulack, T., Kassubek, J., Salih, H. R. & Greenlee, M. W. (2002). Spatial imagery in deductive reasoning: a functional MRI study. Cognitive Brain Research, 13, 203-212.
Small
groups
Participants
will analyze some experiments from the literature, develop their own experimental
ideas, and get hands-on experience with planning reasoning experiments. The
small groups will also discuss specific topics that don't fit into the main
lectures.
Assessment
I
propose that students who desire credit design and develop a small experiment
and summarize the ideas, theoretical background, and methodological
consideration in a brief report of about five to ten pages.
Markus Knauff
Markus
Knauff received his Master’s degree in psychology from the University of Bochum
and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Freiburg. In 1999 and 2000,
he was a visiting fellow at Princeton University, where he worked together with
P.N. Johnson-Laird on imagery and reasoning. In 2001, he jointed the faculty of
the Center for Cognitive Science at Freiburg University where he recently
received his “habilitation” for psychology and cognitive science.