Subjective inflation: phenomenology's get-rich-quick scheme

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Visual Perception
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• The Rich versus Sparse debate addresses the discrepancy between rich visual phenomenology and impoverished peripheral perception.
• Existing theories propose either phenomenological overflow or sparse, cognitively constrained perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the Rich versus Sparse debate in visual phenomenology.
• To investigate the role of subjective inflation in explaining rich visual phenomenology.
• To propose a novel account where phenomenology is constrained by cognitive access but appears inflated.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on visual phenomenology, cognitive access, and subjective inflation.
• Analysis of the phenomenon of subjective inflation, where peripheral perception is subjectively overvalued.
• Theoretical argumentation linking subjective inflation to phenomenological richness.

Main Results:

• Subjective inflation demonstrates that minimally attended or peripheral visual perception is subjectively rated as more reliable than attended or foveal perception, even when objective performance is matched.
• This phenomenon provides an alternative explanation for rich phenomenology without requiring phenomenological overflow.
• Visual phenomenology appears inflated beyond predictions based on sparse sensory content.

Conclusions:

• Subjective inflation offers a parsimonious explanation for rich visual phenomenology.
• Phenomenology is constrained by cognitive access, yet subjectively inflated, reconciling the Rich versus Sparse debate.
• This perspective challenges traditional views of phenomenological content and cognitive access.