Biological Theory 2 (3):231-243 (2007)
Authors | |
Abstract |
We discuss the evolutionary transition from animals with limited experiencing to animals with unlimited experiencing and basic consciousness. This transition was, we suggest, intimately linked with the evolution of associative learning and with flexible reward systems based on, and modifiable by, learning. During associative learning, new pathways relating stimuli and effects are formed within a highly integrated and continuously active nervous system. We argue that the memory traces left by such new stimulus-effect relations form dynamic, flexible, and varied global sensory states, which we call categorizing sensory states . These CSSs acquired a function: they came to act as internal “evaluators” and led to positive and negative reinforcement of new behavior. They are therefore the simplest, distinct, first-person motivational states that an animal can have. They constitute what we call basic consciousness, and are the hallmark of animals that can experience. Since associative learning has been found in many invertebrate taxa that first appeared during the Cambrian era, we propose that the processes underlying basic consciousness are phylogenetically ancient, and that their emergence may have fueled the Cambrian explosion
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1162/biot.2007.2.3.231 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.Antonio Damasio - 1999 - Harcourt Brace and Co.
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life.David L. Hull - 1997 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (3):435-438.
View all 25 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Unlimited Associative Learning and the Origins of Consciousness: A Primer and Some Predictions.Jonathan Birch, Simona Ginsburg & Eva Jablonka - 2020 - Biology and Philosophy 35 (6):1-23.
The Transition to Minimal Consciousness Through the Evolution of Associative Learning.Zohar Z. Bronfman, Simona Ginsburg & Eva Jablonka - 2016 - Frontiers in Psychology 7.
Analyzing the etiological functions of consciousness.Dylan Black - 2021 - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 20 (1):191-216.
Neuroscience Findings Are Consistent with Appraisal Theories of Emotion; but Does the Brain “Respect” Constructionism?Klaus R. Scherer - 2012 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 35 (3):163-164.
View all 11 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
The Transition to Experiencing: I. Limited Learning and Limited Experiencing.Simona Ginsburg & Eva Jablonka - 2007 - Biological Theory 2 (3):218-230.
Difficulties with Synaptic Theory of Learning and Memory and Possible Remedies.Mikhail N. Zhadin - 2000 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (4):550-551.
Partial Blocking and Associative Learning.Anton Benz - 2006 - Linguistics and Philosophy 29 (5):587 - 615.
Using Variability to Guide Dimensional Weighting: Associative Mechanisms in Early Word Learning.Keith S. Apfelbaum & Bob McMurray - 2011 - Cognitive Science 35 (6):1105-1138.
The Associative Nature of Human Associative Learning.David R. Shanks - 2009 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32 (2):225-226.
Event-Related Brain Correlates of Associative Learning Without Awareness.Philip S. Wong, Edward Bernat, Michael Snodgrass & Howard Shevrin - 2004 - International Journal of Psychophysiology 53 (3):217-231.
The Learning Barrier: Moving From Innate to Learned Systems of Communication.Michael Oliphant - 1988
The Self-Organizing Consciousness.Pierre Perruchet & Annie Vinter - 2002 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (3):297-388.
Anecdotes, Omniscience, and Associative Learning in Examining the Theory of Mind.Steven M. Green, David L. Wilson & Siân Evans - 1998 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (1):122-122.
Associative Grammar Combination Operators for Tree-Based Grammars.Yael Sygal & Shuly Wintner - 2009 - Journal of Logic, Language and Information 18 (3):293-316.
The Evolution of Learning: An Experiment in Genetic Connectionism.David Chalmers - 1992 - In Connectionist Models: Proceedings of the 1990 Summer School Workshop. Morgan Kaufmann.
An Australian Perspective on Research and Development Required for the Construction of Applied Legal Decision Support Systems.John Zeleznikow - 2002 - Artificial Intelligence and Law 10 (4):237-260.
Visual Orienting, Learning and Conscious Awareness.T. Lambert - 2003 - In Luis Jimenez (ed.), Attention and Implicit Learning. John Benjamins.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2010-08-24
Total views
399 ( #25,486 of 2,519,686 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
46 ( #18,321 of 2,519,686 )
2010-08-24
Total views
399 ( #25,486 of 2,519,686 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
46 ( #18,321 of 2,519,686 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads