CFP: Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice is a new, cross-disciplinary journal that encompasses neuroscience, social, cognitive, experimental, and clinical psychology. It publishes articles on theory, research, methodology, and clinical applications related to the psychology of consciousness. The journal devotes substantial coverage to topics that traditionally fall under the rubric of …

What do out of body experiences tell us about self-consciousness; Or, Disorders of Self-Consciousness Part 5

Another attempt at popularising my work from over at idontknowwhatiam “I awoke at night – it must have been about 3am – and realized that I was completely unable to move. I was absolutely certain I was not dreaming, as I was enjoying full consciousness. Filled with fear about my …

Authoring choices and constructing the self

In the last post I offered examples of confabulatory explanations as attempts to give reasons for attitudes whose source might escape introspection or be otherwise difficult or impossible to access. The interesting philosophical question for me is whether confabulation carries any epistemic benefit.

Confabulatory explanations

Here are some examples of confabulatory explanations in the clinical population. In anosognosia people deny some serious impairment. When a person with a paralysed leg is asked why she cannot climb stairs, she may say she suffers from arthritis and she is less mobile as a result. In the Capgras delusion, people believe …

Epistemic definitions of delusion and confabulation

In my previous post I suggested that the epistemic faults listed in most definitions of delusions are not distinctive of delusions. Although delusions may diverge from norms of rationality to a greater extent than non-delusional beliefs, they are irrational in no special way. Excessively positive beliefs about ourselves, and widespread …

The Analytic Functionalists Were (Probably) Right!

The mind-body problem asks: How are mental states related to physical states of the brain, the body, and behavioral states more generally? Functionalists claim that mental states are identical with functional roles, defined as relations between environmental impingements, external behaviors, and other mental states.Analytic functionalists contend that these identities are imposed …

Of particular relevance to those receiving job offers…

From the work of Hannah Riley Bowles and Linda Babcock, the former of whom headlined a workshop at the Cognitive Science Society this past summer on the topic (https://www.cognitivesciencesociety.org/uploads/2011-w6.pdf): “Perhaps, the most direct contribution of this research is to the study of the compensation negotiation dilemma for women. This research adds …

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