Where's My Consciousness-Ometer? How to Test for the Presence and Complexity of Consciousness.
Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science – July 01, 2022
Source: PubMed
Summary
Measuring consciousness is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with various tools aimed at assessing its presence and complexity. A taxonomy categorizes these measurements into three subtypes: neural (brain activity), behavioral (actions), and creative correlates (expressive outputs). By analyzing 50 different tests, insights into the nature of consciousness can emerge, potentially influencing philosophical perspectives like materialism and panpsychism. This approach bridges empirical data with philosophical inquiry, enhancing our understanding of consciousness as a profound aspect of human experience.
Abstract
Tools and tests for measuring the presence and complexity of consciousness are becoming available, but there is no established theoretical approach for what these tools are measuring. This article examines several categories of tests for making reasonable inferences about the presence and complexity of consciousness (defined as the capacity for phenomenal/subjective experience) and also suggests ways in which different theories of consciousness may be empirically distinguished. We label the various ways to measure consciousness the measurable correlates of consciousness (MCC) and include three subcategories in our taxonomy: (a) neural correlates of consciousness, (b) behavioral correlates of consciousness, and (c) creative correlates of consciousness. Finally, we reflect on how broader philosophical views about the nature of consciousness, such as materialism and panpsychism, may also be informed by the scientific process.