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Blindsight is qualitatively degraded conscious vision
1Department of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University.
Psychological Review
|August 8, 2020
Summary
Blindsight, previously thought to be unconscious vision, is actually severely degraded conscious vision. This finding challenges the traditional understanding of consciousness and performance in neuropsychological studies.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- Blindsight is characterized by residual visual function after primary visual cortex damage.
- It's traditionally viewed as voluntary discrimination without awareness.
- This concept significantly impacts consciousness research, suggesting a performance-awareness dissociation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the orthodox understanding of blindsight.
- To propose that blindsight is a form of degraded, yet conscious, vision.
- To re-evaluate the relationship between performance and awareness in consciousness science.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing signal detection theory models.
- Analyzing extensive behavioral and first-person evidence.
- Addressing counterarguments from psychophysical and functional perspectives.
Main Results:
- Blindsight is argued to be qualitatively degraded but conscious vision.
- Conservative response biases lead to unacknowledged awareness.
- Distinctive predictions supporting the degraded conscious vision hypothesis are validated by data.
Conclusions:
- Blindsight does not demonstrate a dissociation between performance and awareness.
- The findings necessitate a re-evaluation of blindsight's role in consciousness science.
- The study offers insights into the subjective experience and response criteria in blindsight.
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