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theories of consciousness
Also known as: consciousness theories
Facts (39)
Sources
Adversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and ... - Nature nature.com Apr 30, 2025 8 facts
procedureThe Cogitate consortium conducted a study on consciousness theories where analysis was performed at the participant level, masked using anatomical regions of interest (ROIs) to account for inter-participant variability.
referenceThe full study protocol for the Cogitate consortium's research on consciousness theories, including experimental design, theory predictions, agreed-on interpretations, and data acquisition details, is available in the preregistration on the Open Science Framework (OSF) webpage (https://osf.io/92tbg/).
perspectiveThe adversarial collaboration aimed to reduce researcher confirmation bias and break theoretical echo chambers by requiring theories of consciousness to make explicit, committal empirical predictions that could be rigorously tested on common methodological grounds.
referenceChis-Ciure, Melloni, and Northoff (2024) introduced a measure centrality index for the systematic empirical comparison of consciousness theories in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
claimEmpirical support for theories of consciousness is often highly dependent on methodological choices, which points toward a confirmation bias in theory testing.
referenceYaron, I., Melloni, L., Pitts, M., and Mudrik, L. published 'The ConTraSt database for analysing and comparing empirical studies of consciousness theories' in Nature Human Behaviour in 2022 (6, 593–604).
claimThe researchers defined the criteria for theories of consciousness to pass the test as requiring successful decoding of both stimulus category (in at least one pairing) and stimulus orientation (in at least one category).
claimThe experimental paradigm used by the researchers provides robust conditions to test theories of consciousness by focusing on suprathreshold, fully attended single stimuli at fixation, which minimizes task and report confounds to isolate neural activity specifically related to consciousness.
The function(s) of consciousness: an evolutionary perspective frontiersin.org Nov 25, 2024 3 facts
referenceC. G. Hales and M. Ericson published 'Electromagnetism’s bridge across the explanatory gap: how a neuroscience/physics collaboration delivers explanation into all theories of consciousness' in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2022.
perspectiveFew theories of consciousness address evolutionary issues thoroughly enough to fit within the framework developed by the author.
referenceBlock (2009) authored 'Comparing the major theories of consciousness' in The Cognitive Neurosciences (4th edition).
How does consciousness work? - Monash Lens lens.monash.edu Jul 4, 2025 3 facts
quoteTheories of consciousness are often compared to toothbrushes, with the saying: “Theories are like toothbrushes. Everybody has their own and nobody wants to use anybody else’s.”
claimUS public intellectual Robert Kuhn identified more than 200 theories of consciousness in a 2024 review that used a less restrictive scope than previous studies.
claimThe vast majority of attempts to test theories of consciousness have been conducted by advocates of those specific theories, leading to a focus on confirming theories rather than falsifying them.
Unknown source 3 facts
claimL. Mudrik's 2025 paper summarizes a public debate between proponents of five theories of consciousness and compares these theories with respect to different key questions.
claimThe authors of the scoping review 'Theoretical Models of Consciousness: A Scoping Review' found that the 29 theories of consciousness analyzed presented heterogeneous perspectives.
claimThe GNWT-versus-IIT experiment, which evaluated consciousness theories using different levels of tasks, was the first experiment to conclude in the contest of consciousness theories.
Unpacking the complexities of consciousness: Theories and ... sciencedirect.com 2 facts
claimThe article 'Unpacking the complexities of consciousness: Theories and ...' compares five theories of consciousness with respect to different key questions.
claimThe article 'Unpacking the complexities of consciousness: Theories and ...' summarizes a public debate between proponents of five theories of consciousness.
Classification Schemes of Altered States of Consciousness - ORBi orbi.uliege.be 2 facts
Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness cambridge.org Dec 20, 2023 2 facts
quoteBertrand Russell stated regarding physical objects that 'the truth must be strange,' a sentiment that is also applicable to theories of consciousness.
perspectiveProponents of continuing to seek positive theories of consciousness argue that existing theories are not yet refuted and that their current problems are solvable.
Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 ... plato.stanford.edu Jun 18, 2004 2 facts
referenceThe Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy categorizes theories of consciousness into seven main types: higher-order theories, representational theories, interpretative narrative theories, cognitive theories, neural theories, quantum theories, and nonphysical theories.
claimMost specific theories of consciousness, including cognitive, neural, or quantum mechanical models, aim to explain or model consciousness as a natural feature of the physical world.
Panpsychism and dualism in the science of consciousness - PubMed pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Aug 4, 2024 2 facts
Fame in the Brain—Global Workspace Theories of Consciousness psychologytoday.com Oct 28, 2023 1 fact
claimThe role of recurrent or re-entrant processing is a point of agreement among the different theories of consciousness discussed in the blog series.
A Synergistic Workspace for Human Consciousness Revealed by ... elifesciences.org 1 fact
referenceThe paper 'Theories of consciousness' was published in Nature Reviews.
Panpsychism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2015 Edition) plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 1 fact
referenceWilliam Seager authored 'Theories of Consciousness', published in 1999 by Routledge.
Global workspace theory - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
referenceThe article 'Neuroscientist loses a 25-year bet on consciousness — to a philosopher' published by Big Think discusses the outcome of a long-standing wager regarding consciousness theories.
What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved quantamagazine.org Aug 24, 2023 1 fact
perspectiveTesting the predictions of consciousness theories against data from living brains has not proven to be a simple method for eliminating incorrect theories.
Global Versus Local Theories of Consciousness and the ... link.springer.com 1 fact
claimThe research community will likely address the challenge of developing consciousness assessment tools by utilizing a wide array of concepts and models, even if those concepts are inconsistent or removed from their original theoretical context, due to the current lack of consensus on consciousness theories.
Do all non-physicalist theories of consciousness face the interaction ... philosophy.stackexchange.com Nov 17, 2025 1 fact
claimMartin Heidegger addresses the issue of causal closure in consciousness theories by positing the primary axiom of 'being-in-the-world'.
Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness | Biological Theory link.springer.com Sep 14, 2022 1 fact
claimThe pathological complexity thesis provides a framework for making predictions about the subjective experiences of non-human animals, which distinguishes it from many competing theories of consciousness that struggle to generate testable predictions.
The Evidence for AI Consciousness, Today - AI Frontiers ai-frontiers.org Dec 8, 2025 1 fact
claimLeading consciousness theories agree that self-referential, feedback-rich processing should be central to conscious experience.
Protocol for testing global neuronal workspace and integrated ... journals.plos.org 1 fact
procedureThe researchers assess the location-based predictions of consciousness theories by testing whether activity in the prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and sensory regions can decode task-irrelevant or non-target stimuli.
Psychedelics and Consciousness: Distinctions, Demarcations, and ... blossomanalysis.com 1 fact
referenceThe 2021 review 'Psychedelics and Consciousness: Distinctions, Demarcations, and Opportunities' examines how the term 'consciousness' is used in psychedelic research and how theories of consciousness are operationalized to explain the effects of psychedelics.
Theories of Consciousness Smackdown: IIT vs GNWT | by Jim Rutt medium.com May 3, 2025 1 fact
claimIntegrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) are the two leading theories of consciousness that were tested against each other.