Computational models of consciousness: a taxonomy and some examples

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of existing computational (mechanistic) models of cognition in relation to the study of consciousness, on the basis of psychological and philosophical theories and data. It examines various mechanistic explanations of consciousness in existing computational cognitive models. Serving as an example for the discussions, a computational model of the conscious/unconscious interaction, utilizing the representational difference explanation of consciousness, is described briefly. As a further example, a software agent model that captures another explanation of consciousness (the access explanation of consciousness) is also described. The discussions serve to highlight various possibilities in developing computational models of consciousness and in providing computational explanations of conscious and unconscious cognitive processes. Introduction In this chapter, we aim to present a short survey and a brief evaluation of existing computational (mechanistic) models of cognition in relation to the study of consciousness. The survey focuses on their explanations of the difference between conscious and unconscious cognitive processes on the basis of psychological and philosophical theories and data, as well as potential practical applications. Given the plethora of models, theories, and data, we try to provide in this chapter an overall (and thus necessarily sketchy) examination of computational models of consciousness in relation to the available psychological data and theories, as well as the existing philosophical accounts. We come to some tentative conclusions as to what a plausible computational account should be like, synthesizing various operationalized psychological notions related to consciousness.