Consciousness and Cognition: A Personal Journey from Function to Phenomenology
The MIT Press eBooks December 16, 2025 DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/14600.003.0025 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe author argues that consciousness research should move beyond objective behavioral measures like accuracy and reaction time toward subjective reports about experience, even if these cannot be objectively verified. Studies are discussed that show how attention affects visual awareness and how meditation practice can alter perceptual experience. The author also proposes that a hierarchical control-system view of control and prediction can help explain consciousness, self, and agency.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Phenomenology philosophy Consciousness Function biology Psychology Epistemology |
| Key finding | Argues that a hierarchical control-system view of control and prediction can enable understanding of consciousness, self, and agency. |
Abstract
measures like accuracy and reaction time and move toward reports about experience that are simple but not necessarily objectively verifiable as accurate.I will discuss studies demonstrating the effect of attention on visual awareness and how meditation practice could influence our perceptual experience.Fi nally, I will discuss the importance of control and prediction and how a hierarchical control-system view could enable us to understand consciousness, self, and agency.