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Reappraising the relationship between working memory and conscious awareness
1Imperial College London, Division of Brain Sciences, Charing Cross Campus, St Dunstan's Road, W6 8RP, London, UK.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|July 30, 2014
Summary
This study re-evaluates the link between working memory (WM) and conscious awareness. It questions if awareness is mandatory for WM operations and proposes a new framework for their relationship.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology of Consciousness
Background:
- Working memory (WM) has traditionally been linked to conscious states.
- It's believed WM operates on conscious input and its contents are consciously accessible.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate the relationship between working memory and conscious awareness.
- To question the necessity of awareness for WM operations and conscious accessibility of WM contents.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and theoretical analysis.
- Re-evaluation of current data on WM and consciousness.
Main Results:
- Challenges the classical view of mandatory awareness for WM.
- Suggests WM contents may not always be consciously accessible for report.
Conclusions:
- Proposes a novel framework redefining the WM-consciousness relationship.
- Highlights the need to differentiate WM operations from conscious experience.
Keywords:
attentionawarenesscognitive controlconsciousnessintrospectionmetacognitionneural recurrencyprefrontalvisionworking memoryMore Related Videos
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