Quote:
In the 1980s, neuroscientists studying the brain processes underlying our sense of conscious will compared subjects’ judgments regarding their subjective will to move (W) and actual movement (M) with objective electroencephalographic activity called readiness potential, or RP .
The scientists compared W+M=RP. This is in a nutshell the meaning of the first sentence
Notice how = means preceedingQuote:
As expected, W preceded M: subjects consciously perceived the intention to move as preceding a conscious experience of actually moving. This might seem to suggest an appropriate correspondence between the sequence of subjective experiences and the sequence of the underlying events in the brain.
W comes BEFORE M and apparently there is a link , sequential, between what we perceive and then what our brain responds to those stimuli
The equation above can be written as W+m=RP
Quote:
But researchers actually found a surprising temporal relation between subjective experience and objectively measured neural events: in direct contradiction of the classical conception of free will, neural preparation to move (RP) preceded conscious awareness of the intention to move (W) by hundreds of milliseconds.
However, the scientists found that the equation, even though of milliseconds, is actually reversed
RP=W+m
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Based on information contained in the passage, which of the following chains of events would most closely conform to the classical conception of free will?
A) W followed by RP followed by M
B) RP followed by W followed by M
C) M followed by W followed by RP
D) RP followed by M followed by W
E) RP followed by W and M simultaneously
The second paragraph above tell us the clear sequence
W comes BEFORE M and apparently there is a link , sequential, between what we perceive and then what our brain responds to those stimuliA is pretty easy if you understand and read carefully this. Otherwise, the 1st question is a bit tricky
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In the context in which it appears, “temporal ” most nearly means
A) secular
B) mundane
C) numerical
D) physiological
E) chronological
Easy one: temporal meaning the sequence of the events. E is the answer
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But researchers actually found a
surprising temporal relation between subjective experience and objectively measured neural events:
The author of the passage mentions the classical conception of free will primarily in order to
A) argue that earlier theories regarding certain brain processes were based on false assumptions.
B) suggest a possible flaw in the reasoning of neuroscientists conducting the study discussed in the passage
C) provide a possible explanation for the unexpected results obtained by neuroscientists
D) cast doubt on neuroscientists’ conclusions regarding the temporal sequence of brain processes.
E) indicate the reason that the results of the neuroscientists’ study were surprising.
E without reservation
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