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The concept that the nervous system is a set of interconnected boxes connected to other boxes made sense in the context of the specific parts of the brain that we examined in class. However the idea that the nervous system consists of interconnected boxes is difficult to conceptualize. If all of these boxes are infinitely connected, are they really boxes in the end? Perhaps these boxes are just individual independent paths that happen to cross each other. What are the boundaries between compartments, and how are they determined?

I think that this interpretation of the nervous system would most likely fit in with Dickinson’s model. Neuronal activity and chemical reactions are responsible for the activity in these boxes which are responsible for how we react to our environment. An outside input produces an output or no output at all. Although this may seem plausible, this model does not address inputs that come from inside the brain. For example, how does this box model explain the recurrence of nightmares or images of traumatic experiences? How does the box model explain how we organize inputs once we receive them, and how we control outputs? I feel as though the box model has a foundation in its theory, but there are a lot of questions that still need to be addressed. It does not really account for individuality in my opinion.