Focusing attention on silence can serve as a paradigm similar to sensory deprivation for studying consciousness without content. This hypothesis paper reviews influential models of consciousness and their views on the relationship between consciousness and its contents. After assessing strengths and weaknesses of current models, the authors propose an extension based on the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC), introducing new definitions for identification and self-awareness as states of consciousness. They compare Paoletti's theoretical model for self-development with other models, noting similarities and differences. The paper concludes by discussing how attentional focus on silence can be empirically tested.
Exposure to a monotonous sensory environment can alter time perception and subjective experience. Participants spent 20 minutes in a whole-body altered sensory chamber with white and colored light, relaxing with eyes closed. Before entering, they completed a time-production task; one group repeated it inside the chamber, another after exiting. The main effect of the sensory environment was a change in the intercept of the psychophysical function when produced time was plotted against target duration on a log-log scale. For participants reporting a marked change in time experience, such as the sensation of time disappearing, their time-production data could not be linearized on a log-log plot, suggesting a possible break in the psychophysical function.