Schrödinger's cat and mouse: An adapted thought experiment for the context of consciousness.

Consciousness can be divided into access consciousness (A-C), which involves reasoning and memory and is measurable, and phenomenal consciousness (P-C), the subjective experience of 'what it's like,' which is harder to test directly. Researchers previously developed indirect measures of P-C using subjective questions informed by objective dimensions of A-C. To bridge the gap before clinical validation, they adapted a thought experiment from quantum physics—'Schrödinger's cat and mouse'—to test the principles underlying their operationalization of P-C. This thought experiment suggests their theories on consciousness, particularly P-C, resonate with disorders of consciousness such as delirium.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Consciousness, at its simplest, represents awareness of self in relation to the outside world. This can be divided further into the reasoning and rationality of Access consciousness (A-C) versus the experiential and 'what it's like' of Phenomenal consciousness (P-C). A-C is directly measurable, using standard tests of cognition and memory. However, owing to the subjective nature of P-C, its direct testability remains problematic. We have previously derived indirect measures of P-C that incorporates a combination of subjective questions that are informed by objective dimensions of A-C. This battery of questions have shown sound proof of principle but have not yet been fully tested in the clinical space. As a bridge to clinical validation and in the challenge of a quantification gap, a thought experiment (TE) provides supporting evidence from the philosophy of science. We propose testing the foundational principles upon which operationalization of P-C questions has been designed through the prism of such a TE. We identified that a late-stage theory confirmation type of TE was appropriate for context. In the absence of suitable candidate TEs from cognitive science, we explored adaptation of a classical thought experiment from quantum physics. The 'Schrödinger's cat' TE was refined for purpose into a novel 'Schrödinger's cat and mouse' TE. Using this novel TE, our stated theories on consciousness, specifically P-C, and means of testing resonate with disorders of consciousness, not least delirium.