What is wrong with the no-report paradigm and how to fix it

“Prefrontalists are represented by the global workspace theory [3] and the higher-order theory [4,5] of consciousness.”

“The frontalists also recently published a manifesto [9] in Science, arguing that if we are to make conscious machines, we should base them on the computations that underlie human consciousness.”

“The densely connected prefrontal cortex (PFC), which we know is involved in conscious report [69, 70] and in metacognition [71] is a good candidate to support such metarepresentations.”

“, 2011), and consciousness (Block, 2019), among others.”

“allow for conscious aspects of conceptual thought and other cognitive processes (which are generally consistent with, and specific to, the acknowledged functional roles played by the PFC) to be based in PFC (Block, 2019).”

“…the contrast between seen and unseen conditions includes neural processes that correlate with but are not part of the underlying neural mechanism of consciousness because they include—for example—report-related neural activity (for discussion on this issue, see Tsuchiya et al. 2015b; Block 2019).”

“…as in the condition of passive listening when no detection was required, representing a biological marker of conscious processing independently from behavioral response (the report), an important dissociation for elucidating the role of the PFC in consciousness (Block 2019, Kapoor et al. 2020).”

“A limitation of the current investigation is that while the Report + No-Report Paradigm eliminates the demands of overt report, participants were free to covertly engage in report-dependent processes 59 .”

“…suggested that brain regions may correlate with conscious perception simply because they are driven by the active report of it (Aru et al., 2012; Block, 2019; Block, 2020; Boly et al., 2017; Frässle et al., 2014; Koch et al., 2016; Overgaard and Fazekas, 2016; Panagiotaropoulos et al., 2020;…”

“In fact, the unheralded faces may have acquired some implicit relevance (Block, 2019), since synchronized IFJ and FG activity has specifically been shown to represent object-based attention to faces ( Baldauf and Desimone, 2014).”

“In fact, the possibility of spontaneous post-perceptual processing has led some researchers to argue for the development of ‘‘no-cognition’’ paradigms that truly eliminate any possibility of post-perceptual processing.(34,39) Unfortunately, it is not clear how to create no-cognition versions of tasks that render stimu…”

“…been recent developments of so-called no-report paradigms to study the neural basis of perceptual consciousness while minimizing such confounds (Block, 2019; Tsuchiya et al., 2015), but there are currently no similar no-report paradigms for the concurrent assessment of metacognitive confidence…”

“In combination with carefully designed experimental approaches, it could help us both understand the relationship and disentangling the mechanisms underlying consciousness from other cognitive processes (76) such as introspection (27, 77), attention (78), decision making (79, 80) or cognitive control (37, 81).”

“…notion seems improbable in the light of our findings of an AAN but o P3 to index consciousness, using different types of delayed- or noeport paradigms ( Tsuchiya et al., 2015 ) or even no-cognition paradigms Block, 2019 ) to substantiate the current findings is worth exploring in uture research.”

“…in the psychological and neural sciences (e.g. Hubel and Wiesel 1968; van Essen et al. 1992; Hilgetag et al. 2016) and has become the primary experimental foothold into scientific issues surrounding consciousness (e.g. Dehaene and Changeux 2011; Tononi et al. 2016; Block 2019; Lamme 2020).”

“As I noted in my recent Trends in Cognitive Sciences article [5], such results cannot be taken to support cognitive theories of consciousness because of the ‘bored monkey problem’: the idea that subjects whose only task is fixating a dot may have thoughts about the noticeably different stimuli, causing prefrontal diff…”

“…Sterzer & Kleinschmidt, 2007), a possible confound between report and introspection-related activity has recently called this into question (Brascamp, Blake, & Knapen, 2015; Frassle et al., 2014; Zou et al., 2016), with competing interpretations of what frontal activity may represent (Block, 2019).”

“Block recently suggested that no-report might still fail to eliminate postperceptual cognitive processes accompanying BR [1,2].”

“This fundamentally compromises Block’s interpretation of Brascamp et al.’s fMRI data.”

“Block (2019) objects against this paradigm that, while it rules out response-preparation as an explanation of the prefrontal activity that correlates with conscious experience, it can’t rule out thoughts about the conscious experiences in question.”

“While the debate on the necessity of prefrontal cortex in perceptual consciousness continues (Block, 2019; Boly et al., 2017; Northoff & Lamme, 2020; Odegaard et al., 2017) emotional theories of consciousness claiming for a role of the prefrontal cortex face on this point the same methodological…”

“Whether they experience a rivalry or a merger depends on the type of property perceived: rivalry occurs for local (monocular) properties, while merging occurs for global (binocular) properties (Block 2019).”

“…neural correlates of consciousness in alert neurotypical adults that current debates between cognitive and sensory theories of consciousness are situated (Aru et al., 2012; Block, 2007, 2019; Boly et al., 2017; Cohen & Dennett, 2011; Koch & Tsuchiya, 2007; Odegaard et al., 2017; Phillips, 2018).”

“This question has been a matter of ongoing debate (Aru, Bachmann, Singer, & Melloni, 2012; Block, 1995), considered by some as one of the greatest challenges in the neuroscientific study of consciousness (Block, 2019).”

“To overcome this problem, Block (2019) suggested a nocognition paradigm.”

“The central aspect here was the so-called no-report paradigms (Block, 2019; Duman et al., 2022; Overgaard and Fazekas, 2016; Schlossmacher et al., 2020; Tsuchiya et al., 2015; Whyte et al., 2022).”

“Probes designed to distinguish between minimal and higher-order conceptions of “self” will require paradigms that control for the confounding influences of report, reflection, and judgment neural substrates (e.g. Tsuchiya, Wilke, Frassle, & Lamme, 2015; Block, 2019).”

“Furthermore, Block (2019) also concerned that even in these no-report paradigms, participants could still engage in post-perceptual cognitive processing like thinking and wondering.”

“Some adherents of non-perceptual confidence include Block (2018), Cheng (2022), Denison (2017), and Siegel (2020).”

“Furthermore, questions remain about whether the methods used to manipulate conscious experience genuinely affect conscious experience or merely the neural processes involved in reporting or introspecting on it (Block 2019, Michel and Morales 2020).”

“Therefore, the sensory localizer is reminiscent of a so-called noreport paradigm [30,31], but then used to train localizers instead of being used as the main task of interest [22–24,32].”

“An energetic debate as of recent stems from the advent of so-called no-report paradigms (e.g. Block, 2019).”

“Such a decrease is unsurprising, as the default mode has been shown to deactivate in response to task demands, internal planning, and working memory (Li et al., 2007, 2019; Miller et al., 2009; Ossandón et al., 2011; Singh and Fawcett, 2008; Smallwood et al., 2012; Weissman et al., 2006).”

“129 For the same reason, although patients implanted bilaterally received median nerve stimulation on both hands in consecutive NoReport-Report sessions, only recordings relative to the first session were included in the analysis (left hemisphere, 4 patients; right hemisphere, 2 patients).”

“8For a recent overview over the main contenders for the right model of the neural correlate of consciousness see Block (2019).”

“This new approach is particularly important for the search for NCC as it avoids a major hurdle in the current literature – differentiating the processes that generate conscious experience from those that result from it (Block, 2019; Dehaene et al., 2014).”

“In a recent Opinion article, Block (2019) criticizes the “ no-report paradigms ” and calls for a no-cognition paradigm, in which observers ’ perceptual states are not accompanied by corresponding deliberation and reasoning about the stimulus.”

“But the no-report paradigms can be used to disentangle neural correlates of consciousness from that of reports and to eliminate confounding factors related to post-perceptual processes underpinning cognitive accessibility (Block, 2019; Malach, 2022).”

“However, it is debated to what extent overt report introduces confounding signals and whether no-report paradigms are optimal to resolve this potential challenge in isolating the neural mechanisms of consciousness 24,25 .”

“…as well as in methodological analyses like the one on No-report Paradigms – particularly in metacognition studies (Frässle et al. 2014, Michel 2017, Block 2019), but also in discussions about first-person experience and first-person reports in neuroscience and psychology (Jack and Roepstorff…”

“…the use of “no-report paradigms”, in which perceptual experience is not inferred from participants’ responses, but from neural or peripheral signals while participants are passively exposed to stimuli (Frassle et al., 2014; Tsuchiya et al., 2015; but see Block, 2019; Phillips & Morales, 2020).”

“It will also be important to inverse the order of report and no-report conditions to rule out that participants engaged in post-perceptual cognitive processing during experiment 3 after having performed the task extensively during experiment 1 (Block 2019).”

“…are the uncertainty of whether and when the participants are aware of the stimuli, the possible inclusion of non-conscious processing, and that such paradigms do not prevent post-perceptual stimulus related mentation (Pitts et al., 2018; Block, 2019; Duman et al., 2022; Tsuchiya et al., 2016).”

“…reveal whether cortical, subcortical and cerebellar effects reflect changes in functions associated with consciousness (e.g., cognitive processes) 73 , reflect changes in consciousness-imbuing mechanisms, or if such results are relevant to particular aspects of consciousness (e.g., changes in…”

“Whether or not no-report paradigms can be successful is an ongoing debate (e.g., Block, 2019; Michel & Morales, 2020; Overgaard & Fazekas, 2016).”

“…and Tsao, 2020; Kapoor et al., 2022), some have argued that despite their promises, no-report paradigms can be as confounded as standard report experiments (Block, 2019; Overgaard and Fazekas, 2016), and in the end it still depends on how we interpret findings (Panagiotaropoulos et al., 2020).”

“Moreover, attempts to go beyond introspective reports, such as no-report paradigms, remain controversial (see, e.g., Block, 2019; Michel & Morales, 2020) and are still validated by, or should be combined with, subjective reports by humans (Overgaard & Fazekas, 2016).”

“Attempts have been made to circumvent this by employing the so-called no-report paradigms, but it is highly controversial whether this manoeuvre solves the problem (Block 2019; M. Overgaard 2018; Phillips and Morales 2020).”

“It should be noted that the present study did not attempt to disentangle the perceptual from the memorizingaspectsofthetasktotheextentthatthisisatallpossible 69 .”

“However, previous studies of neuroanatomical locations involved in mediating perceptual transitions and conscious perception are still subject of an ongoing debate, not least because conflicting results have emerged (Tsuchiya et al. 2015, Koch et al. 2016, Brascamp et al. 2018, Block 2019).”

“The rise of “no-report paradigms” (Tsuchiya et al., 2015), even “no-cognition paradigm” (Block, 2019), recently manifested a practical step forward in this regard.”

““What’s wrong with the no-report paradigm?” is the question posed by Block (2019) and it refers to the same criticism discussed in the previous section.”

“This is because the former only depends on high-capacity early sensory processing, whereas the latter depends on limited capacity higher-order processing in the prefrontal cortex—as such, we can only report a marginal aspect of our conscious experiences (Block, 2019).”

“Taken together it may be that, under no-report conditions, aware ness is indeed decodable, but to a lesser extent, due to a baseline level of executive processing involved in completing the task (Block 2019).”

“Experimental paradigms that go beyond introspective reports, such as no-report paradigms, are also used, though they remain controversial (see e.g., Block, 2019; Michel & Morales, 2020) and are still ultimately validated (or should be combined with) subjective reports from humans (Overgaard &…”

“In this capacity, the KTC supports the usefulness of the no-report experimental paradigms to tackle the classic issue of how direct first-person experience can be studied by the third person methodology (e.g., Block, 2019; Pitts, Metzler, & Hillyard, 2014; Tsuchiya, Wilke, Frässle, & Lamme, 2015).”

“However, it is noteworthy that the generalization to different stimulus durations does not account for potential confounding effects stemming from report-related activity, such as motor planning and execution (Block, 2019; Odegaard et al., 2017).”

“What exactly each paradigm can contribute to research in perceptual awareness is an open question and ongoing discussion (Block 2019; Phillips and Morales 2020).”