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Mind, Brain, and Behavior
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Mind, Brain, and Behavior

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The Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB) concentration seeks to understand how humans, animals, and robots are able to acquire, represent, and use knowledge.
The discipline combines the insights from several other fields, including neuroscience, computer science, psychology, linguistics, animal behavior, genetics, and philosophy, to work toward an understanding of the brain and the mind. The MBB concentration is a secondary field of study that requires a student to complete a major in a primary discipline.

Why would I want to study Mind, Brain, and Behavior?

If you are interested in neuroscience, artificial intelligence, philosophy of mind, animal behavior, linguistics, or psychology, you might want to broaden your expertise to include the study of Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB). MBB is not merely the intersection of several disciplines; it is really a new paradigm based on the application of wide ranging methodologies to understand a core set of problems involving the mind and brain.

Who can pursue a degree in MBB?

Any undergraduate at Bard can pursue studies in MBB. MBB is a concentration rather than a program, so an interested student must moderate into a program (primary discipline) and complete its requirements, in addition to pursuing studies in MBB.

Which programs are compatible with this concentration?

We believe that any program can be enhanced by adding the study of cognition. That said, the degree in MBB has the greatest overlap with biology, computer science, philosophy, and psychology, so it is generally most straightforward to combine MBB with one of these fields. If you need help deciding whether MBB can fit with your academic plans, contact one of the MBB faculty members

MBB Program News

Psychologist Sarah Dunphy-Lelii Considers the Politics of Sudden Power Transfer Among Chimpanzees

In “The Chimpanzee Wars,” a recent post to Wild Cousins, her Psychology Today UK blog, Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii engages in a thought experiment about how the state of knowing and of understanding of who knows and who doesn’t know could potentially impact the politics of power transfer within dominance hierarchies of chimpanzees. 

Psychologist Sarah Dunphy-Lelii Considers the Politics of Sudden Power Transfer Among Chimpanzees

In “The Chimpanzee Wars,” a recent post to Wild Cousins, her Psychology Today UK blog, Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii engages in a thought experiment about how the state of knowing and of understanding of who knows and who doesn’t know could potentially impact the politics of power transfer within dominance hierarchies of chimpanzees. 

Among more than 200 Ngogo chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda, one undisputed alpha named Jackson ruled for years until internal conflicts split the largest known chimpanzee community into two warring factions—Westerners and Centrallers. After Jackson is killed from injuries sustained in a battle, no younger alpha males step up to seize leadership of the Centrallers. A likely explanation, according to researchers, is that they didn’t know Jackson was dead. Only one Centraller, a potential alpha named Peterson, witnessed his death, and none found his body. Theoretically, Peterson could have used this position to his advantage. “Chimpanzees are socially sophisticated. Their dominance hierarchies are not based solely on physical strength. What we might call politics—the accumulation of social capital through strategic alliances over time—play a significant role in the rise to leadership. Under conditions like this one, between the Westerners and the Centrallers, insight into others’ states of knowledge could be decisive,” writes Dunphy-Lelii. She notes, however, that evidence to date suggests chimps, like Peterson, are not using this information the way humans would. 
Read more

Post Date: 05-02-2023

Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii on the Challenges and Weirdness of Watching Yourself on Zoom

“That slight asynchrony we like between ourselves and others is unpleasantly magnified by glitchy wifi,” writes Dunphy-Lelii in Scientific American. “Research shows that a response delay of as little as 1.2 seconds disrupts your feeling of connection with another person. You can’t read them, they can’t read you—are they laughing with you, or at you?”

Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii on the Challenges and Weirdness of Watching Yourself on Zoom

“That slight asynchrony we like between ourselves and others is unpleasantly magnified by glitchy wifi,” writes Dunphy-Lelii in Scientific American. “Research shows that a response delay of as little as 1.2 seconds disrupts your feeling of connection with another person. You can’t read them, they can’t read you—are they laughing with you, or at you?”
Full story in Scientific American

Post Date: 08-06-2020

Can You Forget Things on Purpose? Professor Justin Hulbert Weighs In

Justin Hulbert, assistant professor of psychology and director of Bard's Memory Dynamics Lab, comments in Gizmodo that “motivated forgetting can be a powerful tool used to shape one’s inward life and outward perspective. We in the Memory Dynamics Lab at Bard College continue to explore the mechanisms and consequences associated with various forms of forgetting.”

Can You Forget Things on Purpose? Professor Justin Hulbert Weighs In

Justin Hulbert, assistant professor of psychology and director of Bard's Memory Dynamics Lab, comments in Gizmodo that “motivated forgetting can be a powerful tool used to shape one’s inward life and outward perspective. We in the Memory Dynamics Lab at Bard College continue to explore the mechanisms and consequences associated with various forms of forgetting.”
Read More

Post Date: 07-03-2019
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