One idea that doesn't change much across theories is that the mind and body share some sort of connection with each other. The idea of ​​how they do this, of course, changes depending on the theories. While exploring the two theories of dualism and functionalism, how these opposing theories believe the mind and body are connected will be explored. While dualism discusses the connection between mind and body as functioning through a term called “mental causation,” while functionalism defines the connection between mind and body as functioning almost like a machine that processes an input into the mind that results in an action (the function) of the body. As you can see, these two ideas about how the mind and body work with each other are very different. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dualism focuses its theory primarily on the mind and spiritual aspects rather than the physical being itself. Dualism uses the process of mental causation as a way to explain how the mind and body work with each other. The process of which mental causality is the result is the term “cause and effect”. This means in short that the mind tells the body to do something and the body reacts to what the mind tells it to do, resulting in an action seen through behavior. Dualism is believed to do a poor job of explaining how the mind and body work through mental causation, as they focus on the mind and body as separate entities or substances, therefore not allowing mental causation to practically exist in this case. This is why many see a problem with dualism as it relates to the functioning of the mind and body. With ideas previously focused primarily on the mind, it seems almost impossible that mental causality and cause and effect can take place, giving a harsh and unbelievable understanding of the concept. Functionalism is said to be the middle ground between dualism and materialism, as both these theories seem to have their differences with the idea of ​​the functions of the mind and body. This provides a more scientific view of the theory, rather than a spiritual one, being easier to prove. Although a more scientific theory, functionalism does not focus on the materials of the mind, but on how the mind and its substance are used to work together to cause behavior. His interest lies in how exactly the mind works, connecting it to software programs. Although functionalism has fewer problems than dualism, it brings with it a number of doubts. People don't like the idea of ​​being just machines receiving input, resulting in behavior without their consent. People like the comfort of the idea of ​​having free will and doing what they want, when they want. Not that they are programmed to react this way because of their input. An interesting psychological phenomenon that is directly related to functionalism, dualism, and the relationship between the functions of the mind and body, is the Coke Machine, as discussed in class. In this scenario, there are two machines, one where it is a functionalist machine and one where it is a behaviorist machine. While the functionalist machine is programmed to receive only one input (a dime) and produce a Coke, the other machine has various methods and inputs that result in the same behavior (a Coke). Both of these machines demonstrate cause and effect. Both have a penny input and behavior that results in a coke because of the input. The difference is that one is programmed to be much more efficient.