Measures of Consciousness
Abstract
Consciousness is now a hot topic in both philosophy and the cognitive sciences, yet there is much controversy over how to measure it. First, it is not clear whether biased subjective reports should be taken as adequate for measuring consciousness, or if more objective measures are required. Ways to benefit from the advantages of both these measures in the form of ‘Type 2’ metacognitive measures are under development, but face criticism. Research into neurophysiological measures of consciousness is potentially very valuable, but often hindered by its dependence on behavioural measures that are themselves controversial. Newer informational measures are theoretically interesting, but as yet not easily applicable, while other measures of consciousness are designed for application in clinical cases (e.g. vegetative state). Although much optimism accompanies research into measures of consciousness, the controversies and methodological problems reviewed here suggest that making progress in this area may be more difficult than is often acknowledged.
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The scientific study of consciousness relies on assumptions about links between consciousness and behaviour.
“The scientific study of consciousness relies on assumptions about links between consciousness and behaviour (Irvine 2013).”
From Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness (2023) · cites this paper as Irvine 2013
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Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness
Butlin, P., Long, R., Elmoznino, E., Bengio, Y., Birch, J., Constant, A., Deane, G., Fleming, S. M., Frith, C., Ji, X., et al. (2023) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.08708 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
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Wiese, W., & Friston, K. J. (2021) · Philosophy and the Mind Sciences · doi:10.33735/phimisci.2021.81 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Irvine, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Irvine, Elizabeth
- ORCID
- Irvine, Elizabeth
- Venue
- Philosophy Compass
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-02-12
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 285-297
- ISSN
- 1747-9991 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1506833703
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Philosophy Compass (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Free Will and Agency
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
- Keywords
- consciousness, consciousness assessment, subjective reports, metacognition, neurophysiological measures, vegetative state, methodological issues
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