Speaker: Professor Fairfid M. Caudle PhD, PhD, FIET, FRSA

About this event

Conceptions of the mind have fascinated humankind since prehistoric times and have come from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, physiology, engineering, and the visual arts.  Explanations and depictions of the mind have often employed metaphors as tools to explore the location, organization, and dynamics of mental contents.
 
This illustrated lecture examines ways in which the mind has been conceptualised and represented. With regard to engineering, some metaphors have been influenced by technologies in place at the time, such as hydraulic systems, industrial machines, and, more recently, computers and transportation route maps. 
 
Metaphors representing contents of the mind have been abundant in the visual arts.  However, in neurophysiology and medicine, metaphors are increasingly being supplanted through ever more revealing images of the functioning brain.

About the Speaker

Fairfid M. Caudle is Professor of Psychology at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, where she recently received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her specialities reflect her varied interests and include the History of Psychology, Psychology of Advertising, and Psychology of Dreams, among others.  As a teacher, Dr. Caudle takes special pleasure in incorporating aspects of the visual arts whenever possible and in identifying cross-currents among disciplines.

This lecture on Conceptions of the Mind grows out of Professor Caudle's passion for the History of Psychology and is the latest of her IET lectures to explore interfaces between engineering and psychology.  Other recent IET lectures relating to engineering and psychology have included the Psychology of Creative Problem-Solving (January 2007) and Laboratory Instruments in Psychology (January 2008).
 
Professor Caudle is a Fellow of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Royal Society of Arts.

17:30 - 18:30 Registration with light refreshments

18:30 - 20:00 Presentations and discussion

20:00 - 21:30 Networking  reception