Visual Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study
Introduction
It is worth noting that the degree of consciousness affects the attention status of an individual. The relationship between attention and consciousness has posed great debate in the field of psychology. The two terms have been described to be psychological concepts that have to work together to achieve the purpose of information processing. Modern psychologists have been able to successfully show the difference between the degree of attention that is affected by the state of the conscious of the mind. However, there are still controversies that revolve around the degree of attention and the state of consciousness of a person. Such ambiguity is brought about by questions such as can human beings become conscious of an object without attending to the object, and it is possible for human beings to attend to objects that are invisible in their conscious states.
Lastly, are there different order of degree of consciousness and attention depending on how the object ranked in mind as important at the time of the event. Such questions have led to studies such as visual Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study by Simione, Pace, Chiarella, & Raffone, (2019). This paper explores the finding from this study in relation to the higher-order theory and the information integration theory of consciousness.
A Brief Overview of the Findings
The Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study by Simione, Pace, Chiarella, & Raffone, (2019) was carried out to determine if there is a degree of attentiveness with respect to the different state of conscious or the priority that is consciously given to the object. The study involved the application of change detection by subjecting the detection to different arrays. Different delays were applied after offsetting the memory array. The result of the study showed that consciousness affects information access. This implies that the degree of consciousness of the mind and the attention is given to the object results in the degree of information that the memory is able to extract from the object.
In other words, it can be deduced that there is a different degree of consciousness, which also determines the degree of attention that is accorded to the object. A study by Rogers (2014) echoed the same sentiment that consciousness affects how the brain decodes the information. While trying to figure out what is the status of consciousness, Dehaene, S., Lau, H., & Kouider (2017) denote that the neurons in the brain send signals to the brain, which makes the brain either to be alert of not. The state of alertness affects information decoding or coding. The same sentiment has also been encoded by Seinelä, Hämäläinen, Koivisto, & Ruutiainen, (2002) in their article on consciousness and unconsciousness. Different theories have been brought forward to try and explain the relationship between consciousness and attention. Such theory includes higher-order theory, and information integration theory of consciousness, as explained below in relation to the finding of the article on Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study.
How the Findings Explain Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness
According to Higher-order theories of consciousness, the degree of information processing is significantly influenced by the mental state of the person (Lau & Rosenthal 2011). The theory was first denoted by Locke and Kant (Coventry & Kriegel, 2008). Higher-order representation reflects the mental state whereby the brain is fully aware of the surrounding environment (Rosenthal & Weisberg, 2008).
References
Coventry, A., & Kriegel, U. (2008). Locke on consciousness. History of Philosophy Quarterly, 25(3), 221-242.
Dehaene, S., Lau, H., & Kouider, S. (2017). What is consciousness, and could machines have it?. Science, 358(6362), 486-492.
Lau, H., & Rosenthal, D. (2011). Empirical support for higher-order theories of conscious awareness. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(8), 365-373.
Rogers, T. (2014). Consciousness and the brain: deciphering how the brain codes our thoughts.
Rosenthal, D., & Weisberg, J. (2020). Higher-order theories of consciousness. Retrieved 19 April 2008, from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Higher-order_theories_of_consciousness.
Simione, L., Di Pace, E., Chiarella, S. G., & Raffone, A. (2019). Visual attention modulates phenomenal consciousness: evidence from a change detection study. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2150.
Seinelä, A., Hämäläinen, P., Koivisto, M., & Ruutiainen, J. (2002). Conscious and unconscious uses of memory in multiple sclerosis. Journal of the neurological sciences, 198(1-2), 79-85.