Toward a standard model of consciousness: Reconciling the attention schema, global workspace, higher-order thought, and illusionist theories

ABSTRACT

Here we examine how people’s understanding of consciousness may have been shaped by an implicit theory of mind. This social cognition approach may help to make sense of an apparent divide between the physically incoherent consciousness we think we have and the complex, rich, but mechanistic consciousness we may actually have. We suggest this approach helps reconcile some of the current cognitive neuroscience theories of consciousness. We argue that a single, coherent explanation of consciousness is available and has been for some time, encompassing the views of many researchers, but is not yet recognized. It is obscured partly by terminological differences, and partly because researchers view isolated pieces of it as rival theories. It may be time to recognize that a deeper, coherent pool of ideas, a kind of standard model, is available to explain multiple layers of consciousness and how they relate to specific networks within the brain.

KEYWORDS:

• Consciousness
• awareness
• attention
• theory of mind
• social cognition

Acknowledgements

Supported by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute Innovation Fund.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Supported by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute Innovation Fund.