Journal

Volume 15, Issue 2 (June 30, 2014)

4 articles

• Can we Prove that there are Computational Correlates of Consciousness in the Brain?
  by David Gamez
  J. CS. 2014, 15(2), 149-186;
  Abstract Scientific research on consciousness is attempting to gather data about the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. The basic procedure is to measure consciousness through first-person reports, measure the physical world and look for correlations between these sets of measurements... [Read more].
  Abstract Scientific research on consciousness is attempting to gather data about the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. The basic procedure is to measure consciousness through first-person reports, measure the physical world and look for correlations between these sets of measurements. While most of this work has focused on neural correlates of consciousness, it has also been proposed that consciousness is linked to the computations that are being executed by the brain. If this is the case, we would expect there to be a high level of correlation between some of the brain’s computations and consciousness. This could be scientifically tested if a plausible method for measuring computations could be found. This paper investigates whether Chalmers’ method for identifying computations could be used to measure computations during an experiment on the correlates of consciousness. A number of arguments are used to show that Chalmers’ account of implementation fails for a desktop computer, which makes it unlikely that it could be used to identify computational correlates of consciousness in the brain. While a different account of implementation might be able to rescue computational approaches to consciousness, the problems raised in this paper suggest that it is going to be difficult to develop a method for measuring computations that could be used to test whether there are computational correlates of consciousness in the brain. [Collapse]
• The Use of the Verb to Show: A Non-Linear Continuum of Meanings
  by Ghsoon Reda
  J. CS. 2014, 15(2), 187-219;
  Abstract This paper provides an analysis of the use of the verb to show. It places the analysis in the framework of Vyvyan Evans’s theory of Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models (LCCM) – a protean approach to meaning composition and construction that deals with the way linguistic and conceptual structures i... [Read more].
  Abstract This paper provides an analysis of the use of the verb to show. It places the analysis in the framework of Vyvyan Evans’s theory of Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models (LCCM) – a protean approach to meaning composition and construction that deals with the way linguistic and conceptual structures interact, giving rise to meanings that can be placed on a continuum. The study adds to the elaboration of that theory, incorporating into the analysis John Barnden’s (2010) notion of a meaning continuum as a non-linear, or multidimensional, space. The notion is based on deconstructing metaphor and metonymy into multiple underlying dimensions, getting away from the traditional assumption that properties such as similarity and contiguity allow us to neatly distinguish between metaphorical and metonymic associations. Bringing together Barnden’s work and LCCM theory provides the framework for systematically approaching the possibility for metaphorical or metonymic processing to involve similarity as well as contiguity links between source and target in the process of constructing a situated meaning. The contribution that the study makes to cognitive semantics lies in its being the first attempt to examine complex figurative associations in the context of a meaning construction theory. [Collapse]
• Theory of Mind Ability after a Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence for the Existence of Distinct Functional Components
  by Ilaria Cutica, Valeria Manera, Silvia Riva, Alessandra Ruzzini, Gabriella Pravettoni, & Marina Zettin
  J. CS. 2014, 15(2), 221-258;
  Abstract In literature, several developmental psychology and neuroimaging studies provide converging evidence for the assumption that theory of mind (ToM) has distinct functional and neural subcomponents, dependent on the content of the mentalizing activity, such as emotions, intentions and beliefs. Here we ... [Read more].
  Abstract In literature, several developmental psychology and neuroimaging studies provide converging evidence for the assumption that theory of mind (ToM) has distinct functional and neural subcomponents, dependent on the content of the mentalizing activity, such as emotions, intentions and beliefs. Here we investigated through different ToM tasks whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have different degree of impairment in their ability to make inferences about others’ intentions, emotions and false beliefs. Results showed a trend of increasing difficulty from intention items, to emotion items, to false belief items. These results help to clarify some inconsistencies found in previous studies exploring ToM in TBI patients, and point out to the importance of analyzing separately different ToM subcomponents. [Collapse]
• Patterns of Codeswitching in Mixed Yoruba-English Interrogative Sentences
  by Ezekiel Tunde Bolaji, Omowunmi Mopelola Adebanjo, & Rifqat Opeyemi Sanni
  J. CS. 2014, 15(2), 259-286;
  Abstract This paper investigates the division of labour1 operative in naturally occurring bilingual discourse. It attempts to establish the grammar of intersentential codeswitching (ISC) in mixed Yoruba-English interrogative sentences. The paper seeks to find out what constitutes the asymmetry between the pa... [Read more].
  Abstract This paper investigates the division of labour1 operative in naturally occurring bilingual discourse. It attempts to establish the grammar of intersentential codeswitching (ISC) in mixed Yoruba-English interrogative sentences. The paper seeks to find out what constitutes the asymmetry between the participating languages (Yoruba and English), as they supply important grammatical structures in order to produce a well-formed mixed Yoruba- English interrogative sentences. Asymmetry in the division of labour is observed in two ways: first between the type of morpheme involved in the switch (content or system morpheme, depending on whether they assign/ receive thematic roles or they do not), and second, how the morphemes are assigned roles and this depends on which language is the Matrix Language (ML) and which is the Embedded Language (EL). The paper observes that in Yoruba- English bilingual speech, when uniformity of structure is juxtaposed with asymmetry, structures of the ML are preferred according to the MLF principles (Myers-Scotton 1993; and Myers-Scotton 2011). The paper argues that even in this not-so-much investigated area of codeswitching in mixed Yoruba-English sentences, in the code switching structure, the ML is invariably Yoruba and as a consequence determines the permissible and non-permissible combinations for well-formed structures, contrary to what some scholars have claimed. [Collapse]