11. Consciousness

Question 1

What is consciousness?

Answer 1

The awareness of external and internal existence

Leads to experience of concepts such as pain or joy

The closer the conscious experience of other species is to ours, the more likely they are to suffer/feel joy

Question 2

What is the difference between nociception and pain?

Answer 2

Nociception - neural encoding of impending or actual tissue damage

Pain - subjective experience of actual or impending harm

Question 3

What is consciousness for? (Birch 2023)

Answer 3

Enables us to experience emotions > believed to overlay simpler, more ancient mechanisms of control > allowing us to apply flexible, value-guided decision-making

Question 4

Which part of the brain is in charge of consciousness?

Answer 4

Some believe neocortex, but honestly we have no idea where/how/why

We do know that we are mostly led by unconscious processes

Question 5

Which unconscious processes do we apply in everyday life (with examples)?

Answer 5

Smell - handshakes: smelling hands to sample environment

Hearing - background music: we filter out unnecessary noise

Vision - McGurk effect: same word will sound different if image is different / whodunnit: you do not notice things have changed if you are unaware they are changing

Question 6

What is selective attention?

Answer 6

The ability to focus one’s auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

Question 7

What is selective attention?
Filter model

Answer 7

Selection occurs very early, with no additional processing for the unselected
information

Question 8

What is the attenuation model by Anne Treisman?

Answer 8

Selection starts at the physical or perceptual level, but unattended information is not blocked completely (just weakened or attenuated)
Meaningful information in the unattended ear will get through the filter for further processing at the level of meaning

Question 9

What is the Deutsch and Deutsch model?

Answer 9

All information in the unattended ear is processed on the basis of meaning, not just the selected or pertinent information. Only information relevant for the task response gets into conscious awareness

Question 10

Which model (filter model, attenuation model, Deutsch and Deutsch) is correct?

Answer 10

All of them:
Multimode model - The stage at which selection occurs can change depending on the task (Johnston and Heinz)

Question 11

What is the constructivist theory of perception (Gregory 1970)?

Answer 11

Perception is an active process influenced by
- stored knowledge
- expectations
- context

Perception doesn’t objectively reflect sensory stimuli but constructs a model of reality based on sensations and past knowledge.

Question 12

What is continuous flash suppression?

Answer 12

If you show your eyes two different images at the same time, one flashing and one still, you will never see the still image

Question 13

How do the Cambridge (2012) and New York (2024) declarations on Consciousness differ?

Answer 13

Cambridge - focused on neurobiology, empirical evidence
New York - focused on ethicality, animal welfare

Note! Neither actually state that any animals have consciousness, only that it is possible

Question 14

What are the three iceberg models?

Answer 14

1 - Equal unconsciousness, humans more consciousness than non-humans

2 - Equal consciousness, humans more unconsciousness than non-humans

3 - Humans more consciousness and unconsciousness than non-humans

Question 15

What is the main take-away?

Answer 15

Consciousness is crazy and intriguing, but unconsciousness is just as, if not more, important and needs to be studied