1) The document discusses different views on what constitutes a mental process and proposes that a mental process is best understood as a neural process based on evidence from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. 2) It outlines levels of brain and mind organization and how mental representations can be about internal bodily states or external world objects and processes. 3) Representations in the brain, like sensory and motor maps, correspond to aspects of the internal and external environment.

1. Mental Functioning and the
Ontology of Language
Barry Smith
October 1, 2012
with thanks to Janna Hastings
1

2. Mental Functioning is Neural Functioning:
Towards a Unified Ontology of
Mind, Brain, and Behavior
Gwen A. Frishkoff
Department of Psychology NeuroInformatics Center
Georgia State University University of Oregon

3. Outline of Talk
• What is a mental process?
– A view from cognitive psychology
– The Mind–Brain problem and three proposed
solutions (ontology views)
• A neurophsysiological framework for
understanding mental processes
– Levels of brain, levels of mind
– What are mental representations “about”?
(Proposed solution to problems of subjectivity, aboutness)

4. What is a Mental Process?
A view from cognitive psychology
Short-term memory
Cognitive control
Motor control,
Action
Sensation,
Perception
Long-term Memory
Habits & Skills

5. How do we know any of this?
That is, where did the components of the
standard model come from?

6. • Mental processes cannot be observed.*
• They must be inferred based on what we can observe.
What can we observe?...
*We can revise this assumption later (if Mind = Brain)
The mind as a black box
X

7. • Physical processes in body  Behavior
(response type, accuracy, reaction time)
• Physiological processes in brain 
Neural activity and correlates of neural
activity (blood flow to brain regions)
What we can observe… and How
A schematic of Helmholtz’s apparatus
for measuring the time course of
muscle contraction and the
propagation velocity of the nerve
impulse. Source: Bennett, 1999.
A 256-channel electrode “net” that is used
to measure brain electrical activity (EEG)
CogPO!

8. “A mental process is a neural process.”
• Avoids Mind-Body dualism
• More precise than other two
solutions
• Gives ready framework for
comparative neurophysiology &
comparative cognition
• Knowledge of brain structure &
function informs understanding
of mental function (and
dysfunction)
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR

9. Mental Functioning Ontology (MF)
9
brainin
endocrine
gland

10. Mental Functioning Ontology (MF)
10
brain
endocrine
gland
ENVIRONMENT

11. Aboutness
11
brain
endocrine
gland
ENVIRONMENT

13. Levels of brain, levels of mind
Mesulam, 1990
13
Representation, monitoring and
control of internal environment
(“self”)
Representation, monitoring and
control of bodily interface to
external environment
(“real world”)

14. Levels of brain, levels of mind
Mesulam, 1990
14
Representation, monitoring and
control of internal environment
(“self”)
Representation, monitoring and
control of bodily interface to
external environment
(“real world”)
Note use of “sneer” quotes
– “real world”, “self”

15. Mental representations: What are they “about”?
Peripheral (sensory-motor) parts of the body
are “mapped” to (represented by) an orderly
set of discrete regions within sensory and
motor cortex.
Sensoy-motor maps in the brain
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
monitors and controls internal bodily functions, such
as blood circulation, breathing, digestion, stress, and
arousal.
Maps of the internal milieux

16. 16
Shimon Edelman’s
Riddle of Representation
two humans, a monkey, and a robot
are looking at a piece of cheese;
what is common to the representational
processes in their visual systems?

17. 17
Answer:
The cheese, of course

18. 18
The real cheese

19. 21
Perception of
internal
(bodily)
environment
(“self”)
Perception of
external
environment/
sensory input
(“real world”)

20. Mental processes, states, and representations

22. or objects or processes
inside the body

23. or objects or processes
inside the body
objects and processes inside and
outside the body play a role here too

24. external targets
internal and external features causally
relevant to perception, nociception, etc.
allofthesetogether
formtheenvironment

25. external
targets
internal and external features causally
relevant to perception, nociception, etc.
the arrow of aboutness

26. 28
Brentano-Husserl approach to
intentionality

27. intentionality can be mediated by
language
“food”
29

28. 30
Brentano, Husserl, Chisholm Searle:
the primacy of the intentional
linguistic expressions have meanings, because there
are mental experiences which have aboutness
Roderick M. Chisholm, “The Primacy of the
Intentional”, Synthese, 61, 1984, 89-109

29. 31
the primacy of language (Sellars …): mental
experiences are about objects because words
have meaning
meaning

30. 32
to understand the aboutness of the mental,
study the semantics of language (model theory)
meaning

31. language comes later than mental
aboutness
33

32. What is a Mental Process?
A view from cognitive psychology
Short-term memory
Cognitive control
Motor control,
Action
Sensation,
Perception
Long-term Memory
Habits & Skills
All of this is present before there is language

33. Thesis: aboutness is a primitive relation
between a mental process and a target
external to that mental process
Problems for this thesis:
1. mismatch
2. non-existence

34. 1. mismatch of content to target
“poison”
36
• the apple is poisonous
• the apple is not poisonous
two phenomenologically identical mental
experiences

35. 1. mismatch of content to target
“poison”
37
• the apple is poisonous
• the apple is not poisonous
two neurologically identical mental
experiences

36. 2. there is no target
38
“unicorn”

37. Information artifacts, too, involve
aboutness, and the same 3 kinds of
mismatch
BFO:Continuant
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
BFO:Generically
Dependent
Continuant
Information
Content Entity
can be copied
concretized in
a bearer
is about something
(anything)

38. $64,000 problem of providing a
coherent account of intentionality
Neurology-based solution: we are never
directed towards real objects in any case, but
only to “real objects”
Let us find an easier, neutral, route to building
an ontology which does not rest on finding a
solution to this problem
40

39. Ontological traffic rule:
to build an ontology of the types of
entities in a complex domain, focus on
the canonical instances
41

40. Canonical fear
42
canonical
fear
fear
EMOTION COMPONENT CHARACTERISTIC FOR FEAR
Action tendency Fight-or-flight
Subjective emotional feeling Negative, tense, powerless
Behavioural response Characteristic fearful facial
expression
Characteristic appraisal Something (some real thing) in
my environment is dangerous
to me
subtype

41. Canonical and non-canonical fear
Canonical fear gives rise to action tendencies
that are conformant to a perceived danger
Phobias = dispositions giving rise to non-
canonical fear, e.g. laridaphobia
Another case involving non-canonical fear:
people taking pleasure in watching horror films
43

42. Canonical pain & variants
PCT: pain with concordant tissue damage: the
patient experiences pain of the evolutionarily most
basic sort = pain in response to concordant tissue
damage
Variant pain
PNT: pain with peripheral trauma but discordant
(elevated) relative to tissue damage: there is
peripheral trauma, but the patient is experiencing
pain of an intensity that is discordant therewith;
NN: neuropathic nociception: no peripheral
trauma, but the patient is experiencing pain in
result of a neuropathic disorder in the nociceptive
system.
44

43. 45

44. Pain-related phenomena without pain
PBWP: pain behavior without pain: there is a
cry or report of pain, but no pain is being
experienced (a fact which may or may not be
detectable by an external observer)
TWP: Tissue-damage without pain: tissue
damage normally of the sort to cause pain does
not activate the pain system.
46

45. Pain Ontology (PN) branch of MF-EM
Lying
about pain
47

46. Canonical pain
49
canonical
pain
pain
EMOTION COMPONENT CHARACTERISTIC FOR PAIN
Action tendency Withdrawal
Subjective emotional feeling Negative, tense, powerless
Behavioural response Characteristic painful facial
expression
Characteristic appraisal Something is dangerous to me

47. How shall we structure the MF
ontology?
52

48. simple object-presenting acts vs.
judgments, evaluations, …
mental process content (putative) target
presenting act
content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
judging act
judgment-content
“the apple over there is
ripe”
state of affairs
objective, fact
evaluating act
emotional act
appraisal
…
“it is good that the apple
over there is ripe”
?
53

49. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
target
present
target
absent
• target present = you are in physical contact with target
• successful intentionality
Successful intentionality
54

50. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of
presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
target
present
target
Absent
+
evidence
+
evidence
–
evidence
• target present = with direct evidence
• target absent = with indirect evidence, with no evidence
at all
Successful intentionality
55

51. relational acts
• include also cases of unconscious awareness,
e.g. of the chair that you are sitting on
56

52. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
Veridical intentionality
ordinary perception
57

53. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
Veridical intentionality
veridical thinking about
58

54. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
target
present
target
absent
object
exists
object does
not exist
Non-veridical intentionality
non-veridical thinking about (error,
hallucination, imagination, …)
59

55. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
Non-veridical intentionality
error, hallucination = the presenting
process is dependent on an
underlying false belief
60

56. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
Non-veridical intentionality
thinking about Macbeth = the
presenting process is not dependent
on an underlying false belief
61

57. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
An excluded case
this combination is impossible
62

58. Ontological traffic rule:
to build an ontology of the types of
entities in a complex domain, focus on
the canonical instances
– in the Macbeth case we are dealing
with what happens when language goes
on holiday
63

59. mental act about a
real-world object
non-relational
(~ linguistic)
relational
(~ perception)
content
match
content
mismatch
content
match
content
mismatch
veridical non-veridical
64

60. mental process content (putative) target
presenting act content of presentation
“apple”
object of presentation
object
exists
object does
not exist
target
present
target
absent
Veridical intentionality
ordinary perception
evolutionarily most basic case
65

61. 66

62. cognitive
representation
67

63. 68

64. An emotion trichotomy
Occurrent emotion, e.g. when a person experiences
hate for another person on a specific occasion
Emotion disposition, e.g. when a person hates
someone for a long period of time (is predisposed
to occurrent emotions)
Personality trait = a predisposition to emotion
dispositions (e.g. sadness) of certain sorts (and thus
also to corresponding occurrent emotions)
Janna Hastings, Werner Ceusters, Barry Smith, Kevin Mulligan, “Dispositions
and Processes in the Emotion Ontology”, Proceedings of the 2nd International
Conference on Biomedical Ontology, 2011, 71-78.
69

65. A psychological trichotomy
Occurrent mental process, e.g. when Mary sees
that Jim has gone bald
Mental dispositions, e.g. when Mary thereafter
believes for a period of time that Jim has gone
bald
Psychological traits = predispositions to mental
cognitive dispositions (e.g. to beliefs) of certain
sorts
70

66. 71

67. A psycholinguistic trichotomy
Occurrent psycholinguistic process, e.g. when
Mary reads that Jim has gone bald
Mental dispositions, e.g. when Mary thereafter
believes for a period of time what she has read
Psycholinguistic traits = predispositions to
psycholingistic dispositions of certain sorts
 including linguistic competence
72

68. 73

69. 74

70. • Mental processes cannot be observed.*
• They must be inferred based on what we can observe.
Frishkoff: The mind as a black box
X

71. What does a temperature chart
represent?
76

72. 77
60
65
70
75
80
85
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
What does a chart representing your pulse rate represent?

73. Cardiac Cycle, Left Ventricle
78

74. 79
60
65
70
75
80
85
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
What does a chart of changes in your pulse rate
represent?

75. 80
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
What does a chart of changes in the Dow
Jones industrial average represent?
time

76. 81
activity during this
time interval

77. 82

78. 83
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
time

79. 84
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
time
What this represents is real, and not just “real”

80. coronary heart
disease
John’s coronary heart disease
disease during
phase of
asymptomatic
(‘silent’)
infarction
disease during
phase of early
lesions and
small fibrous
plaques
stable
angina
disease during
phase of
surface
disruption of
plaque
unstable
angina
instantiates
at t1
instantiates
at t2
instantiates
at t3
instantiates
at t4
instantiates
at t5
time 85What this represents is real, and not just “real”

81. What did your temperature do over the last
month, Jim?
Jim’s temperature process profile, the
target of a certain sort of cognitive
selection, or cognitive profiling 86

82. The graph picks out just one dimension of
qualitative change within a much larger
conglomerate of processes within Jim
Hence ‘process profile’ 87

83. Compare perception of polyphonic
music
• Cognitive selection of the cello part when you
listen to a string quartet
• Picking out a certain sonic partial process
within a larger body of vibrations
• Ignoring sneezes, coughs, …
• (or sometimes focusing on sneezes and
coughs for diagnostic purposes)
88

84. Compare perception of polyphonic
music
• Cognitive selection of the cello part when you
listen to a string quartet
• Picking out a certain sonic partial process
within a larger body of vibrations
• Ignoring sneezes, coughs, …
• (or sometimes focusing on sneezes and
coughs for diagnostic purposes)
89

85. time-series graph of acoustic
signal, spectrogram, formants, jaw
displacement and other speech parameters
90

86. adding phonetic, phonemic and syllable levels
91

87. g u t e n
92

88. add brain
93

89. speech is a process profile
the speech process is to the totality of acoustic
signal, spectrogram, formants, jaw
displacement, mental and neurological
processes
as
the pulse rate process is to the totality of
aortic, ventricular and atrial
pressure, ventricular volume, electrical
activity, arterial flow, and other processes in the
heart
94

90. Breakthrough: First sound recordings based on reading
human auditory cortex (PLoS Biology, January 2012)
95

91. Top: spectrogram of words presented to subject.
Middle and bottom: reconstructions of speech based on
readings from electrodes attached to patient's brain.
96

92. Pathway
diagram
Pathway
Reaction
Molecular
collective
Individual
molecule
BFO:Process
BFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO:Disposition
Information
Content Entity
inheres in
explicitly
represents
implicitly
represents
has participant
BULK
MOLECULAR
has grain
BFO: GDC
biological pathways are process profiles

93. mental processes, too, are process profiles
98

94. 106
106
BFO:Entity
BFO:Continuant BFO:Occurrent
BFO:ProcessBFO:Independent
Continuant
BFO
MFO
BFO:Dependent
Continuant
Behaviour
inducing state
Cognitive
Representation
BFO:Quality
Language-
mediated
cognitive
representation
Writing
Bodily Process
BFO:Disposition
Linguistic
competence
Linguistic competence
of a population
= a language Linguistic competence
of an individual
Reading
Speaking
what is a language?
something analogous to a biological
species (a population of competences)

95. • Examples of dispositions that are constantly
being realized:
– stock exchange
– heart beat
– brain activity
– social order
– language (social)
107