Computational models of consciousness: a taxonomy and some examples

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of existing computational (mechanistic) models of cognition in relation to the study of consciousness, on the basis of psychological and philosophical theories and data. It examines various mechanistic explanations of consciousness in existing computational cognitive models. Serving as an example for the discussions, a computational model of the conscious/unconscious interaction, utilizing the representational difference explanation of consciousness, is described briefly. As a further example, a software agent model that captures another explanation of consciousness (the access explanation of consciousness) is also described. The discussions serve to highlight various possibilities in developing computational models of consciousness and in providing computational explanations of conscious and unconscious cognitive processes.