Autonomic Mind

Autonomic Mind
The mind is a collection of faculties that determines mental phenomena and human behavior. The major faculties are sensation, will, memory, imagination, and thought; however, the mental phenomena are emotion, intention, pain experience, and perception. Different researchers have proposed overlapping classifications of the phenomena with unique groups of transitions, including occurrent, conscious, intentional, propositional, and sensory (Goel, 2022). Minds can be described as properties and not substances that determine the mental stability of human beings. Conscious-approach describes the mind as the primary element that determines the mental state. Therefore, studying the mind requires comprehensive knowledge of phrenological mapping.
Phrenological mapping describes various ways the mind contrasts with physicality, matter, and body. The contrast is noted as a mind-body problem and influences human behavior. According to idealism and dualism, traditional viewpoints, the mind is non-physical (Dennett, 2017). However, according to modern viewpoints, the mind is determined by functionalism and physicalism and aligns with the brain. The traditional and modern viewpoints influence mental characteristics and their impacts on human behaviors. It is also necessary to determine whether the mind is exclusive or not due to its impacts on human behavior. Due to differences and views on minds, four systems are available: autonomic, instinctive, associative, and cognitive. The paper determines the relationship between the four minds, their characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. The paper also illustrates whether one of the minds captures human behavior more than the other or whether people rely on all four systems.
Autonomic Mind
The regulation of internal bodily functions majorly characterizes the autonomic mind. Besides, it also monitors the internal environment maintaining it at a specific range (Goel, 2022). An organism cannot decide using a reasoned approach for insulin release; however, the autonomic system promotes automatic response. Another critical role of the autonomic system is breathing adjustment. An individual cannot learn to release insulin or breathe; however, it is hardwired using the autonomic mind. The autonomic mind also determines the relationship between the response and stimulus. Changes in the stimulus are essential for specific behavioral changes experienced due to the normal biological constraints in the body. Due to the action of the autonomic mind, the tendon activates the motor neuron and other quadriceps muscles. Therefore, a varying sensory signal is generated and leads to a response. The action shows that the autonomic mind is characterized by the response and stimulus actions. After exhausting the stimulus and response actions, it is essential to address its relationship with reasoning, associative, and instinctive systems.
Despite the stimulus and response actions, the autonomic mind is also accompanied by incomplete autonomous actions of reasoning, associative and instinctive systems. For instance, the hunger or satiety level affects reasoned, learned, and instinctive food-foraging behaviors (Bortolla et al., 2022). The automatic mind is also characterized by volitional choice. For instance, while breathing, the voluntary signals lead to automatic respiratory actions, which vary from one individual to another. The autonomic mind is accompanied by upward feeding of information to determine the volitional process. Goel (2022) gives a critical example of such a characteristic and links the system to volitional and conscious behavior. Despite the parole decisions and behavioral actions, autonomic is also characterized by feelings. The key example is sexual arousal which is linked to quenching lust and maintaining the body temperature. Whenever the autonomic mind is disrupted, the outcome is an unpleasant feeling that may jeopardize the brain's stability. For instance, reduced blood sugar leads to irritability and hunger pangs. Besides, failure to adequately breathe will contribute to suffocation and heart issues. The examples show the automatic mind's critical role in shaping normal body actions and mechanisms. After addressing the characteristics of the autonomic mind, it is necessary to understand its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The key strength of the autonomic mind is its effective regulation of the internal environment. Autonomic mind is simple and available for the phylogenetic tree that regulates and monitors the internal environment (Goel, 2022). It is also necessary for understanding rationality and the rational process's modulation. The other strength is effective regulation of the blood sugar level and determination of feelings. The autonomic mind allows an individual to be free from sugar-related problems by initiating unpleasant reactions and behaviors whenever the blood-sugar level exceeds the normal. It is also necessary to manage a normal body temperature by initiating specific body reactions and behaviors. The main weakness is that its association with the reasoning and instinctive system is incomplete. Also, it does not provide an adequate understanding of the external environment. Therefore, the autonomic mind is necessary for behavioral management and regulation of internal body signals. Autonomic relates to the instinctive mind, which focuses on the external environment.
Instinctive Mind
The major characterization of the instinctive mind is instincts. Instincts are an individual's inclinations towards a specific behavior containing learned and innate elements (Robinson & Barron, 2017). Instincts are also based on the behavioral dispositions that assist the reproductive and survival of the organism. Instincts are common to individuals of the same sexes. Depending on an individual, they are associated with reduced development progress and may be seasonal. Importantly, instincts are influenced by the external environments and motor response. However, it is related to the autonomic mind since it determines the connection between the stimulus and response. Besides, the instinctive mind is also accompanied by learning modulation. For instance, whenever a predator is available, the Prairie dogs give specific signs such as sounding an alarm (Waller, 2017). The alarm is majorly linked to human footsteps; however, without the footsteps, they do not show any alarm. The response is habitual and based on instincts. The learning aspect of the instinctive mind is evident in language acquisition, which determines the final speech. Therefore, the identified examples show the relationship between the learned and the instinctive elements. After describing the elements of the instinctive mind, it is essential to describe how unique behaviors characterize it.
The behavioral characteristic of the instinctive mind is based on the chain-reflex theory. The theory advocates that human behavior is influenced by reflexes that connect the motor systems and human senses (Waller, 2017). However, there must be an impact of the external environment that shapes the stimuli. The theory views an organism as an element that displays stereotyped behaviors under the environmental stimulus. There are three components for a specific behavior: environmental stimuli, reflex, and instincts. The instinctive mind is also composed of reproductive and parental instincts. The two identified instincts lead to specific behaviors. For instance, the reproductive instinct may accompany caring for the offspring and mating. Mating can also be classified into specific behaviors, including quivering and zigzag dance, which are accompanied by motor response and stimulus. Therefore, the examples show the characterization of the instinctive minds, which focus on the external environment and stimulus. Next, exhausting the strengths and weaknesses of the instinctive mind is fundamental.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The key strength of the instinctive mind is the unique reservoirs that determine one's energy. The central nervous system is based on action-specific reservoirs linked to every instinct (Goel, 2022). Therefore, the reservoir determines the energy quality, which shapes individuals' ultimate behavior. The instinctive mind also brings human beings to equilibrium by moderating the external environmental stimuli with the internal. The instinctive mind provides a reliable balance between energy and behaviors. For instance, vacuum behaviors have excess energy, which the instinctive mind must regulate. Instincts are enough to explain human behaviors and how human addresses possible constraints. Human behaviors' major instincts include imitation, laughter, acquisition, pugnacity, gregarious, sex, and parental instincts. The other strength is the modulation of eating behavior which is unique depending on the animal classification. For instance, carnivores are known for overeating. Despite the strengths of the associative mind, it is also accompanied by specific weaknesses.
The major weakness is that it focuses on the external environment and not the internal. Therefore, it does not control the internal body mechanisms. Secondly, it is evident in other organisms but limited to human beings. For instance, it mainly describes the environmental stimuli of other living organisms, such as dogs, with limited explanations for human beings (Goel, 2022). Therefore, it is justifiable that regardless of the weaknesses linked to the associative mind, it adequately can still be used to understand human behavior. Examining the associative mind with adequate information on the instinctive mind is necessary.
Associative Mind
The associative mind is critical since it is limited to cognition and focuses more on instincts. Association is the foundation of learning and determines different connections. Associations can be generated from ideas, impressions, perceptions, and actions. The association mind is critical and combines different mental elements (Daprati et al., 2017). However, different authors examine association minds differently based on three principles: contiguity, contrast, and similarity (Daprati et al., 2017). Association is also accompanied by co-occurrence between impressions and perceptions. It is also accompanied by imprinting, the known form of associative learning. Due to essential contiguity relations, the associative mind is characterized by classical conditioning concepts. Classical conditioning is a concept that describes the ability of the associative mind to determine learning through contiguity relations. It is critical since it determines the relationship between the associative mind and behaviors. Classical conditioning links the associative mind with uncontrolled and autonomic behaviors. For instance, when one sees food, they tend to salivate. There is a critical association between food and salivation, which is defined through classical conditioning. Therefore the associative mind is majorly determined by unconditional and conditional stimuli.
Unconditional and conditional stimuli are the major factors that characterize the associative mind. According to Goel (2022), repeated pairing of the conditioned neutral stimulus and unconditional stimulus strengthens associations and determines behaviorism. However, associationism can also occur without behaviorism. The only accepted form of association is based on co-occurrence and contiguity between response and stimulus. Association is also characterized by intelligence which is unique from instincts. Besides, intelligence and thinking are correlated since all thinking is based on the formation of associations. However, associations differ; some associations are close while others are not. The major close associations are formed from feelings, sensations, and actions. Associations are classified into two categories, including associations by similarity and associations by contiguity (Goel, 2022). Humans can accommodate all the listed associations, while animals can only accommodate contiguity. Therefore, the two examples of associations form the basis of the strengths and weaknesses of the associative mind.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The major strength of the associative mind is that it links thinking and intelligence. Association is also accompanied by co-occurrence between impressions and perceptions, which determines behaviorism. Intelligence is always linked with good behaviors. It is accompanied by imprinting, the known form of associative learning, and improves associative learning. The last strength is contiguity and classical conditioning concepts, which also shape behaviors. Therefore, the identified strengths form the basis of the associative mind. However, it is also accompanied by different weaknesses. Firstly, the associative mind is less linked with non-human beings. For instance, associations by similarities are not experienced among non-human beings (Heyes, 2012). The weakness is critical since it leads to biased interpretations, which may jeopardize conclusions. The last weakness is the lack of a link between stimuli and response. The addressed set of minds is critical and focuses on stimuli and response. Therefore, it has a minimal role in addressing behaviorism. After exhausting all the minds, it is essential to consider the cognitive mind.
Cognitive Mind
The cognitive mind is one of the critical sets of minds which requires comprehensive analysis. The associative mind integrates the autonomic and instinctive minds and majorly focuses on behavior; however, it does not relate human b...