Consciousness, content, and metacognitive judgments.
Consciousness and Cognition June 1, 2000 D M Rosenthal
Metacognition, or having mental access to one's own cognitive states, and consciousness are closely linked. The ability to access information from non-conscious mental states supports the theory that a mental state becomes conscious when we have a noninferential higher-order thought about it. This higher-order-thought hypothesis explains why confabulatory mental states—states that do not actually occur—can appear to consciousness. This account aligns with and refines the 'No-Magic Hypothesis' proposed by Nelson and Narens in 1990.