PS2023 (Thinking, Emotion and Consciousness)

What is consciousness

Experiencing

What is NOT consciousness

Behaviour, sensation, cognition, intelligence and self-awareness

How does consciousness link to physics

Consciousness is a fundamental fact. We base everything upon this fact. We can infer the existence of life and the universe

What is a fundamental fact

Something we can be absolutely certain about

What are the steps for reasoning from first principle

1. Identify assumptions

2. Identify fundamental facts

3. Build knowledge from fundamental facts

4. Build structure

What is the clinical significance of consciousness

E.g. deciding when to turn off life support

What is the social significance of consciousness

E.g. legal system

What are the main issues with studying consciousness

It cannot be observed (first-person experience)

Language cannot constantly map the experience

Introspection is often not possible

Sometimes do not have the tools to report it

How is consciousness currently measured

Introspection (but requires tools to report)

How does the easy problem of consciousness link to the nature of consciousness

Sidesteps it by focusing on brain correlates (e.g. brain mapping)

How does the hard problem of consciousness link to the nature of consciosuness

Addresses it by focusing on how we can understand the nature of the brain and consciousness

What is the traditional view of brain regions and consciousness

Anterior cortex = responsible for consciousness

Consciousness is an advanced brain function, preserved for limited spaces

What is the contemporary view of brain regions and consciousness

Posterior cortex = responsible for consciousness

Consciousness is widespread, as the feeling of life

What happens during non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM)

Sensory processing is largely absent

Behaviour is restricted to survival-essential ones - e.g. breathing

Consciousness fluctuates between being ON (34%) and OFF (66%)

What happens during rapid eye movement sleep (REM)

Sensory processing is largely absent

Behaviour is restricted to survival-essential ones - e.g. breathing and eye movement

Consciousness fluctuates between ON (77%) and OFF (23%)

Serial awakening paradigm

Wake up participants every 10 minutes

Ask participants to report - the presence vs absence of conscious experience (if they dreamt), the contents of the conscious experience (what they dreamt about), and the features of conscious experiences (richness and complexity)

Put research participants back to sleep

Participants wear EEG to record brain activity for the entire night

How do researchers study brain correlates of dream consciousness

Serial awakening paradigm

How do researchers study brain correlates of wake consciousness

Binocular rivalry

Binocular rivalry

Present each eye with a different image using a stereoscope.

Conscious experience fluctuates between the two images, despite sensory stimuli remaining constant

How do we understand the nature of a physical entity

Need to deconstruct it

Identify its constituent elements

Examine how these elements bind together to form the cohesive whole

This shows the structure

Structure reveals the nature of this entity and the underlying appearance of it

What is important to note about neural activation and consciousness

The significance of neural connection transcends mere signal transmission and resides in the formation of cause-effect relationships.

The same actual event of neural activation can carry different meanings and generate distinct forms of conscious experiences, depending on the potential causes and effect of the activation

What theory does this image and framework show

Integrated information theory

Integrated information theory

Broadens our understanding of neural activity by considering not only actual events but also counterfactual cause-effect relationships

Shows a link between the nature of consciousness and the nature of the brain

Attention definition (William James, 1890)

Taking possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thoughts... it implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others

Attention definition (Michael Eysenck, 2020)

The means by which we actively select and process a limited amount of information captured by our senses, our stored in memories and our other cognitive processes

Four main functions of attention

Signal detection and vigilance

Search

Selective attention

Divided attention

Signal detection

Attention allows us to detect a specific stimulus among the vast amount of stimuli (e.g. lifeguard)

Vigilance

Ability to maintain our attention for a prolonged period of time to detect a specific stimulus (e.g. fishing)

Search

Attention allows us to actively search for a stimulus (E.g. When firefighters smell smoke, they may try to search for the location of the fire)

Selective attention

Attention allows us to choose or focus on a specific stimulus and ignore others (E.g. we may pay attention to listening to a lecture on attention while ignoring other people having a conversation)

Divided attention

Attention allows us to direct or shift our attention resource between multiple tasks (E.g. multitasking)

Two attention control systems (Posner, 1980; Corbetta and Shulman, 2002)

1. Goal-directed attention or endogenous control or top-down system

2. Stimulus-driven attention or exogenous control or bottom-up system

Goal-directed attention - Definition (Posner, 1980)

Controlled by the individual's goals or intentions (voluntary control)

Goal-directed attention - Definition (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002)

Influenced by expectations, knowledge and current goals of the individuals

Spatial cueing task or covert attention task - Endogenous control (Posner, 1980)

Attention to an object without eye movement

Showed 3 boxes with an arrow pointing to either the correct side (valid cue) or incorrect side (Invalid cue)

Participants had a faster reaction time for valid cue even when they were not moving their eyes towards the cue

Overt attention task (Yarbus, 1967)

Attention to an object with eye movement

Aasked participants questions about some images and tracked their eye movements

Showed goal-directed attention

Dorsal attention network

Goal-directed

Allows us to attend to stimuli directly related to our current goal (e.g. finding the fire)

Superior parietal lobule (SPL)

Intraparietal sulcus (IPS)

Inferior frontal junction (IFJ)

Frontal eye field (FEF)

Middle temporal area (MT)

V3A (a visual area)

Stimulus-driven attention - Definition (Posner, 1980)

Not controlled by the individual. It is an automatic shift of attention toward a stimulus (non-voluntary control) such as a flashing light or sound

Stimulus-driven attention - Definition (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002)

Automatically redirects attention from the current focus toward a potentially important stimulus (e.g. fire alarm)

Spatial cueing task or covert attention task - Exogenous control (Posner, 1980)

Automatic attention

Showed 3 boxes with a change in thickness either on the correct side (valid cue) or incorrect side (Invalid cue)

Participants had a faster reaction time for valid cue suggesting automatic attention

Ventral attention network

Stimulus directed

Allow us to attend to unexpected threatening stimuli (e.g. ferocious animals)

Inferior frontal junction (IFJ)

Inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)

Supramarginal gyrus (SMG)

Superior temporal gyrus (STG)

Insula (Ins)

The temporo-parietal junction also forms part

Three subfunctions of attention

Alerting

Orienting

Executive attention

Alerting definition

The system that help us achieve and maintaining a state of high sensitivity to incoming stimuli (e.g. traffic light)

Attention problems associated with alerting

Normal aging

Attention deficit disorder

Orienting definition

The system that improves the selection of information from sensory input (e.g. pedestrian signal)

Attention problems associated with orienting

Autism

Executive attention definition

The system that helps us monitor and resolve conflict among thoughts, feelings and responses (e.g. parking)

Attention problems associated with executive attention

Alzheimers

Borderline personality disorder

Schizophrenia

Does attention play an important role in relationships (Bouchard and Saint-Aubin, 2015)

Yes, divorced couples showed less executive attention

Brain regions associated with alerting

Locus coeruleus

Right frontal

Parietal cortex

Brain regions associated with orienting

Superior parietal

Temporal parietal junction

Frontal eye fields

Superior colliculus

Brain regions associated with executive attention

Anterior cingulate

Lateral ventral

Prefrontal

Basal ganglia

Neurotransmitter associated with alerting

Norepinephrine

Neurotransmitter associated with orienting

Acetylcholine

Neurotransmitter associated with executive attention

Dopamine

Factors that influence attention

Anxiety

Arousal

Task difficulty

Skills

Serial bottlenecks

The filter points at which it is no longer possible to process incoming perceptual information from our senses in parallel

Early selection theories

Theories proposing that the selection of information (serial bottlenecks) occur early in information processing

Late selection theories

Theories proposing that the selection of information (serial bottlenecks) occur late in information processing

The cocktail party phenomenon (Cherry, 1953)

Ability to follow one conversation when several people are talking at the same time

Dichotic listening task

Two different messages simultaneously (one in each ear)

Participants must “shadow” the word from one ear and ignore the other

Participants failed to notice semantic features of the unattended message

Participants noticed the physical features of the unattended message

Broadbent (1958) filter theory

Early selection theory

Sensory information comes though the system until it reached a bottleneck

Information can be selected based on a physical selection criterion

The person filters out the information based on physical characteristics

Attention acts on a perceptual level

Evidence against Broadbent’s filter theory (1958)

Moray (1959) - Dichotic listening task, 33% of participants could detect semantic chatacteristics of the unattended message

Gray and Wedderburn (1960) - Dichotic listening task, participants switched which ear they attend to listen to the meaningful message. Suggests that a late selection theory may be more likely

Treisman (1960) - Dichotic listening task, some participants switched which ear they attend to, suggests that selection of information can be flexible, participants sometimes select information based on physical characteristics and sometimes semantic characteristics

Treisman’s Attenuation theory (1964)

Early selection theory

Sensory information comes through the system until it reaches an attenuator

Information is attenuated not filtered out

Information can be selected based on a semantic selection criterion

Deutsch and Deutsch’s Late-selection theory (1963)

Late selection theory

All information is processed completely without attenuation

The bottleneck is in the response system not the perceptual system

Which bottleneck theory did Wood and Cowan (1995) find evidence to support

Treisman’s attenuation theory (1964)

Visual shadowing task (Neisser and Becklen, 1975)

Participants washed superimposed videotapes

Instructed to pay attention to one of the two films and to watch for odd events

When asked to monitor both films for odd events, the participants experienced great difficulty and missed many of the critcal events

Suggesting we can filter visual information

Intentional blindness (Mack and Rock, 1998)

Perceptual task where participants had to judge whether the horizontal or vertical bar of a cross was longer

A surprise additional stimulus would appear along with the cross

Participants were more likely to detect the surprise stimuli if it was their name

Intentional blindness defintion

The phenomenon in which we are unaware (unable to detect) what is happening in our direct field of view if we are not paying attention to it

Intentional blindness (Simons and Chabris, 1999)

Participants are asked to watch a video with two teams (black and white)

Participants must either count the number of passes from the black or the white team

In the middle of the game, a person in a black gorilla suit walk through the room

Almost all participants fail to notice the gorilla when tracking the team in white (92% fail)

How do we process information in the visual field

Contralaterally

Information about the left side goes to the right brain

Information about the right side goes to the left brain

Visual neglect

Absence of awareness of stimuli presented to the opposite side of the brain damage (contralateral side)

Unilateral visual neglect

Patients with damage to the right hemisphere ignore the left side completely

Patients with damage to the left hemisphere ignore the right side completely

Unilateral visual neglect (Sacks, 1985)

Asked to put slashes through circles

Circles in the left part of the visual field were ignored

What happens when there is damage to the right parietal lobe

Lack spatial allocation of attention (directing our attention)

Lack ability to reproduce global features

Still able to reproduce specific features of a picture

What happens when there is damage to the left parietal lobe

Lack ability to reproduce specific features

Still able to reproduce global features of a picture

Multitasking

Our ability to perform or co-ordinate the completion of two or more tasks at the same time to achieve an overall goal

Serial processing

Type of multitasking

Involves switching attention backwards and forwards between two tasks with only one task being processed at any given moment

Parallel processing

Type of multitasking

Involves processing two tasks at the same time

Is multitasking dangerous (Strayer and Johnston, 2001)

Study that looked at multitasking while driving

Results showed that multitasking doubled the chance of missing traffic signals and had a slower reaction time

Single-Channel Model (Broadbent, 1958)

Theory of attention

Sensory information comes through the system until it reached a bottleneck

Only one task can be performed

The second task must wait for the end of the first task

Psychological refractory period effect (Welford, 1952)

When a second stimulus is presented shortly after the first, there is typically a marked slowing of the response to the second stimulus

The processing of the second stimulus must wait after the end of the processing of the first stimulus

When stimulus of task 2 is closer in time to stimulus task 1, reaction time to task 2 will be slower

These results provide support for single-channel model of Broadbent (1958)

Study that challenges Broadbent’s Single channel model (1958)

Strayer and Johnston (2001) found that we can listen to the radio while detecting traffic signals without costs

General resource theory (Kahneman, 1973)

One single pool of attentional resources can be divided freely between tasks

We can multitask without cost if they do not exceed the available attentional resource

Available capacity - general resource theory (Kahneman, 1973)

The quantity of attentional resource available is determined by the level of arousal

Allocation policy - general resource theory (Kahneman, 1973)

This is the system that select the activities that will be conducted based on importance of the tasks

Evaluation of the demands - general resource theory (Kahneman, 1973)

This is the system that causes capacity or attention resource (effort) to be supplied as needed by the activities that allocation policy has selected

What can affect the level of available capacity

Many factors such as anxiety, fear and excitement

Manifestations of arousal

Pupillary filation, heart rate and many other factors

What happens if the available resource is insuffient - general resource theory (Kahneman, 1958)

The system will have to increase the level of available resources to meet the demands of the tasks

If unable to meet the demands of the tasks, performance will decrease

Pupillometry

Measure of variation in pupil diameter

Good measure of attentional resources (mental effort or arousal)

The pupils dilate in response to increased cognitive activity

What is an issue with Kahneman’s general resource theory (1958)

Not specific enough

We cannot know if two tasks will interfere

Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

We can perform multitask if two tasks use different levels (e.g. verbal, spatial) along each of the three dimensions

A specific attentional resource for each of the three processing stages (perception, cognitive, and responding) and each material within each processing stage (e.g. visual and auditory are separated)

Task often used multiple attentional resources. Performance decrease when two tasks used the same processing stages and same materials

Stages of processing - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

1. Perception

2. Cognition

3. Responding

Perception stage - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

Stage 1

The system that received input of our environment (visual or auditory)

Cognition stage - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

Stage 2

The system that executes all mental processing of the information (e.g. transfer, maintenance, classification)

Processing of verbal (symbolic) or spatial information

Responding stage - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

Stage 3

The system that exits the output or execute the responses (manual or vocal)

Processing codes - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

Cognitive processing can involve spatial or verbal information

Responding can involve vocal verbal or manual spatial responses

Modalities - Multiple resource theory (Wickens, 1984; 2008)

Perception can involve visual or auditory information

Key features of automatisation (Moors and De Houwer, 2006;Moors, 2016)

Unconscious - process occurs without thinking

Efficient - Processes that requires limited attention resources

Fast

Goal-unrelated or goal-uncontrolled - not under the participants control