All Rights Reserved.
This work has been summarised from the textbook Psychology: An Introduction
5e, by authors L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, V. O’Neill, and
M. Makhubela.
ISBN 9780190748906
It includes notes taken based on lecture slides from relevant topic lecturers, all of
whom are named in the appropriate section. These notes are elaborations based on
the author’s own understanding.
This document, including all content and materials contained within, is the
intellectual property of Arièlle Denis. No part of these notes may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,
recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by the copyright law.
For permission requests, please contact the author at
© 2025 Arièlle Denis,
University of Cape Town. All rights reserved.
, INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY iI
PSY1005S | Term 4
Consciousness | Chapter 22 of Swartz et al. textbook & Chalmers (1995), Solms
(2021)
by Jason Hall
Consciousness is at the root of all psychology. It is hard to define, but is essentially when a
person has thoughts about their sense of self within the world. This has various meanings to
various people.
History
● Ancient 50 000 BCE: Trance, dreams, rituals
● 400 BCE: Greek philosophy, e.g. Plato, Aristotle
● 1st-15th Century CE: Religious frameworks
● 1640s: Dualism, mind-body split, e.g. Descartes
● 1879: First psychology lab and introspection, e.g. Wundt
● 1890s-1930s: Psychoanalysis and unconscious, e.g Freud
● 1910s-1950s: Behaviourism, focus shifts to observable
● 1980s-1990s: Neuroscience revival, aka cognitive models, brain imaging, dedicated
journals
● What’s next?
→ Consciousness: An organism’s awareness of something internal or external to itself.
→ Perceptual consciousness: The subjective experience of sensory input (e.g. the five senses).
→ Phenomenal consciousness: The subjective experience of living.
→ Narrative consciousness: The capacity to construct a continuous sense of self through time
and space.
Thomas Nagel (2024)
● The conscious experience is subjective
○ It therefore can’t be reduced to singular components
● Knowing facts about a system does not equal knowing about being the system OR being
the system
● There is an EXPLANATORY GAP → The distance between brain mechanisms and the
lived experience.
NB! Problems Facing Consciousness Research
1. The “Easy” Problem
, ● How consciousness arises from brain activity
● Functionally explains mechanisms, like attention and reporting
● Which brain regions are associated with particular conscious experiences – mapping the
brain
2. The “Hard” Problem
● Why the subjective experience of consciousness exists at all (more philosophical than
scientific)
● The existence of qualia – the quality of that experience, e.g. the redness of a rose, the
taste of chocolate: why does it look red like that? Why does it taste like that?
Theories of Consciousness
1. Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
By Giulio Tononi
● Consciousness arises where the highest degree of integration occurs.
● The more interconnected and irreducible the information structure, the higher the level of
consciousness.
● This is corresponding to the capacity of the system to integrate information.
● CONTROVERSIAL: “Panpsychism”, that consciousness is fundamental to the universe.
2. Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWS)
By Stanislas Dehaene
● There is a global broadcast of information.
● Awareness allows for sustained attention, decision-making, and verbal reporting.
● This affects the broadcast of information.
3. Higher Order Theories (HOT)
By David Rosenthal
● Metacognition
● The brain has a higher-order thought about something.
● This represents itself being in that state, reflecting on one’s own experience.
4. Predictive Processing (PP)
By Karl Friston
● Based partially on theoretical and computational neuroscience
This work has been summarised from the textbook Psychology: An Introduction
5e, by authors L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, V. O’Neill, and
M. Makhubela.
ISBN 9780190748906
It includes notes taken based on lecture slides from relevant topic lecturers, all of
whom are named in the appropriate section. These notes are elaborations based on
the author’s own understanding.
This document, including all content and materials contained within, is the
intellectual property of Arièlle Denis. No part of these notes may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,
recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by the copyright law.
For permission requests, please contact the author at
© 2025 Arièlle Denis,
University of Cape Town. All rights reserved.
, INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY iI
PSY1005S | Term 4
Consciousness | Chapter 22 of Swartz et al. textbook & Chalmers (1995), Solms
(2021)
by Jason Hall
Consciousness is at the root of all psychology. It is hard to define, but is essentially when a
person has thoughts about their sense of self within the world. This has various meanings to
various people.
History
● Ancient 50 000 BCE: Trance, dreams, rituals
● 400 BCE: Greek philosophy, e.g. Plato, Aristotle
● 1st-15th Century CE: Religious frameworks
● 1640s: Dualism, mind-body split, e.g. Descartes
● 1879: First psychology lab and introspection, e.g. Wundt
● 1890s-1930s: Psychoanalysis and unconscious, e.g Freud
● 1910s-1950s: Behaviourism, focus shifts to observable
● 1980s-1990s: Neuroscience revival, aka cognitive models, brain imaging, dedicated
journals
● What’s next?
→ Consciousness: An organism’s awareness of something internal or external to itself.
→ Perceptual consciousness: The subjective experience of sensory input (e.g. the five senses).
→ Phenomenal consciousness: The subjective experience of living.
→ Narrative consciousness: The capacity to construct a continuous sense of self through time
and space.
Thomas Nagel (2024)
● The conscious experience is subjective
○ It therefore can’t be reduced to singular components
● Knowing facts about a system does not equal knowing about being the system OR being
the system
● There is an EXPLANATORY GAP → The distance between brain mechanisms and the
lived experience.
NB! Problems Facing Consciousness Research
1. The “Easy” Problem
, ● How consciousness arises from brain activity
● Functionally explains mechanisms, like attention and reporting
● Which brain regions are associated with particular conscious experiences – mapping the
brain
2. The “Hard” Problem
● Why the subjective experience of consciousness exists at all (more philosophical than
scientific)
● The existence of qualia – the quality of that experience, e.g. the redness of a rose, the
taste of chocolate: why does it look red like that? Why does it taste like that?
Theories of Consciousness
1. Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
By Giulio Tononi
● Consciousness arises where the highest degree of integration occurs.
● The more interconnected and irreducible the information structure, the higher the level of
consciousness.
● This is corresponding to the capacity of the system to integrate information.
● CONTROVERSIAL: “Panpsychism”, that consciousness is fundamental to the universe.
2. Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWS)
By Stanislas Dehaene
● There is a global broadcast of information.
● Awareness allows for sustained attention, decision-making, and verbal reporting.
● This affects the broadcast of information.
3. Higher Order Theories (HOT)
By David Rosenthal
● Metacognition
● The brain has a higher-order thought about something.
● This represents itself being in that state, reflecting on one’s own experience.
4. Predictive Processing (PP)
By Karl Friston
● Based partially on theoretical and computational neuroscience
