Discussion Paper

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Discussing a paper: 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 (Merikle & Daneman (1998). 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 (Greenwald & Banaji, (2017). 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 (Wegner 2002). 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).  Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study constitutes a significant research paper in this field of science for its role in proving that the state there is a degree of conciseness that affects the information processing and the amount of attention that is accorded to the object. 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,., Lau, & Kouider (2017) denote that the neurons in the brain send signals to the brain, which makes the brain either to be alert or 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). According to the finding of this research article, Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study, the state of the unconscious can be said to be on a scale of 1-10 or percentage at a given time. The full memory or the full state of consciousness can be said to be in at 100%, while the state of unconsciousness can be said to be 0%.

This has been echoed by scholars such as Dienes, & Seth (2010), Velmans, (2007), Zelazo, Moscovitch, & Thompson, (2007), Jacoby, Toth, Lindsay, & Debner  (1992), Bornstein, & Pittman, (1992),  and Fassler, Lynn, S& Knox 2008). Hence, comparison of the result from the article named above and the higher-order theory implies that the state of the mind where the mind is fully alert, that is fully attentive, that correlate to higher order can be said to be 100% just as explained by Gennaro, (2004) in his article on higher-order and consciousness.

How the Findings Explain Information Integration Theory of Consciousness

Information integration theory denotes that the quantity of consciousness can be measured Dijksterhuis, (2004). The theory stipulates that consciousness correlates to the capacity of a system to absorb information from the surrounding (Merikle, Smilek, & Eastwood, (2001). According to the finding from the article, Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study, it is evidence that there is great biasness on the information processing of objects considered to have low priority in mind than those objects that are considered to have a higher priority in mind. The author links this to be a result of a presentation of neurons that are associated with higher priority objects and suppressing the neurons that are associated with low priority objects.

The art of amplification and suppression leads to the concept of phenomenal consciousness and affects the cognitive ability of the person with respect to the object at hand (Laurence & Perry (1988). Different authors in their journals have been able to bring the concept of suppression and amplification of the memory with respect to the priority given to the object. Just like the information integration theory suggest, the magnitude of amplification or suppression can be quantified by a value that can show that objects with higher priority are amplified in the consciousness by value δ. Such scholars include Custers, & Aarts, (2007), Unkelbach, (2007), Overgaard, Rote, Mouridsen, & Ramsøy, (2006) and Marcel, (1983) on their articles about how the degree of consciousness affect perception and hence the information that human beings convey.

Just like the information integration theory, the global workspace theory also denotes that consciousness can be quantified. The global workspace theory suggests that the mind is composed of working memory and non-working memory. Depending on the percentage of the memory that has been put to work, information processing, and integration c will highly be dependent on the quantitative space given to the object being observed or processed (Dehaene, Changeux, Naccache, Sackur, & Sergent, (2006). Other authors that have written on cognitive consciousness such as Cleeremans, Destrebecqz, & Boyer (1998), Shanks (2005), Berry, Berry, Berry, & Dienes (1993), Fu, Fu & Dienes (2008) and Gebauer, & Mackintosh, (2007) have also explored the topic of how the cognitive memory is affected by the conscious and the unconscious status of the brain.

Conclusion

Attention Modulates Phenomenal Consciousness: Evidence from a Change Detection Study serves as an important article in the field of psychology that has explained many grey areas which have characterised the topic of consciousness and unconsciousness with respect to information processing. The result of the study shows that the state of consciousness of human beings can be quantified. This implies that human beings and other animals use a certain percentage of their brain in information processing. The determination for the amount of working memory to use for a given object is denoted to be caused by the priority given to the object. The findings from this article can be explained and supported by information integration and higher-order theories. The paper shows a great milestone in the field of psychology. However, further research out to be carried to strengthen the findings.

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