Skill learning is the improvement in perceptual, cognitive, or motor performance following practice. Expert performance levels can be achieved with well-organized knowledge, using sophisticated and specific mental representations and cognitive processing, applying automatic sequences quickly and efficiently, being able to deal with large amounts of information, and many other challenging task...
The belief in free will has been frequently challenged since Benjamin Libet published his famous experiment in 1983. Although Libet's experiment is highly dependent upon subjective reports, no study has been conducted that focused on a first-person or introspective perspective of the task. We took a neurophenomenological approach in an N=1 study providing reliable and valid measures of the...
Abstract In the last thirty years, advancements made in neurobiology and computer science have profoundly changed the ways in which we conceive and regard ourselves. Within this context, metaphysical questions about personal identity become intertwined with real, practical concerns and ethical considerations. In this paper we will examine the extended mind thesis ( Clark & Chalmers, 1998 ) and...
The mind flows in a "stream of consciousness," which often neglects immediate sensory input in favor of focusing on intrinsic, self-generated thoughts or images. Although considerable research has documented the disruptive influences of task-unrelated thought for perceptual processing and task performance, the brain dynamics associated with these phenomena are not well understood. Here we...
In this article I explore how mindfulness-based techniques affect perceptions and management of back pain and discuss these findings in relation to embodiment theory and liminality. Sixteen volunteers attending Breathworks for persistent back pain took part in this study. The theme of "embodied awareness" formed the core category, as all participants reported a change in their experience of...
Seth develops a convincing and detailed internalist alternative to the sensorimotor-contingency theory of perceptual phenomenology. However, there are remaining conceptual problems due to a semantic ambiguity in the notion of "presence" and the idea of "subjective veridicality." The current model should be integrated with the earlier idea that experiential "realness" and "mind-independence" are...
In this paper I discuss Stapp's (2014) interesting proposal of using the Quantum Zeno Effect to account for the mind/matter interaction. In particular, I discuss some of the motivations for it, and then argue that, in his current version, his model is circular (a solution to this, proposed by Kathryn Laskey, is presented), insofar as the mind/matter problem is concerned. I also present an...
In this defense of epiphenomenalism, Lachs highlights Santayana's use of the Aristotelian distinction between process and activity to argue that mental life is an impotent byproduct of the body. Processes involve movement from potentiality to actuality and so are temporally differentiated. Activity by contrast is complete and self-contained, lacking heterogeneous parts or any essential temporal...
Chronic pain is common, and the available treatments do not provide adequate relief for most patients. Neuromodulatory interventions that modify brain processes underlying the experience of pain have the potential to provide substantial relief for some of these patients. The purpose of this Review is to summarize the state of knowledge regarding the efficacy and mechanisms of noninvasive...
The Colorful Depictions of God in Mystical Consciousness1 Paul C. Martin (bio) Introduction In 1960 Walter T. Stace suggestively wrote that “[t]here are underground connections between the mystical and the aesthetic (whether in poetry or in other forms of art) which are at present obscure and unexplained.”2 Since that statement there has been tremendous work done by commentators and scholars on...