The experimental study of consciousness: Is psychology travelling back to the future?
Óscar F. Gonçalves, Joana Sayal, Fabio Luis Fernandes Lisboa, Pedro T Palhares
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology June 21, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100475 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractNeuroscience has revived psychology's original mission to study consciousness empirically. Scientists first examined consciousness in patients presumed unconscious, identifying neural correlates of different conscious states. Technological advances and experimental designs then established key brain correlates for global consciousness (being conscious at all), perceptual consciousness (being conscious of something), and self-consciousness (being conscious of oneself). Studying complex conscious experiences can clarify mechanisms of global consciousness, the link between perceptual and self-consciousness, and interactions among self-consciousness domains. The path forward involves re-establishing psychology as a science of consciousness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Psychoanalysis Cognitive psychology Social psychology Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Argues that neuroscience has enabled an empirical approach to consciousness, identifying neural correlates of global, perceptual, and self-consciousness, and that studying complex conscious experiences can clarify their interrelations. |
Abstract
It was with the promise of rendering an experimental approach to consciousness that psychology started its trajectory as an independent science more than 150 years ago. Here, we will posit that the neurosciences were instrumental in leading psychology to resume the study of consciousness by projecting an empirical agenda for the future. First, we will start by showing how scientists were able to venture into the consciousness of supposedly unconscious patients, opening the door for the identification of important neural correlates of distinct consciousness states. Then, we will describe how different technological advances and elegant experimental paradigms helped in establishing important neuronal correlates of global consciousness (i.e., being conscious at all), perceptual consciousness (i.e., being conscious of something), and self-consciousness (i.e., being conscious of itself). Finally, we will illustrate how the study of complex consciousness experiences may contribute to the clarification of the mechanisms associated with global consciousness, the relationship between perceptual and self-consciousness, and the interface among distinct self-consciousness domains. In closing, we will elaborate on the road ahead of us for re-establishing psychology as a science of consciousness.