Choose 1 and only 1 of the following prompts for your Short Paper 2. These questions will ask you to synthesize the class material around overarching questions/concerns. You are free to use the information you like. The word limit means that you cannot cover everything, but you should ensure that your answer does not conflict with material you don’t cover. You will submit these papers by the same day as the in-class exams, but you will submit them as MSWord .docx files.
2. How does the issue of “nature vs. nurture” come up in perception? What are some examples of perceptual processing that seem innate? What are some examples of perceptual processing that seem learned? How do you draw the distinction between nature and nurture at all? Can you give an example of how useful it is to talk about an interaction between nature and nurture? Can you give an example of how the distinctions get blurred and how there may not be two such different things “nature” and “nurture?” What would it mean for two not-always-separate things to interact?
3. How does the issue of computer-like process come up in perception? What are some examples of perceptual processing that seem computer-like? What are some examples of perceptual processing that seem less feasible as a computer? How do you draw the distinction between computer and not-possibly-a-computer where perception is concerned? Explain one of the “Big Three” challenges with having a computer-like mind. Explain why, for all of the challenges, though, it is still a valuable enterprise to distinguish those aspects of the perceptual processing that are best modeled as a computer.
