Attention Schema Theory

The Attention Schema Theory (AST) is a proposed explanation for how people claim to have a subjective consciousness. It proposes that three different phenomena – the control of attention, some aspects of social cognition, and the claim of subjective consciousness – are linked by one mechanism.

First, in the theory, attention – the manner in which processing resources are selectively focused – is controlled partly with the help of an internal model of attention. That model is a representation, or a rich set of information, about attention itself. It includes information about the current state of attention and predictive information. Just as the brain constructs an arm schema to describe, predict, and thus help control the arm as it reaches toward objects, so the brain constructs an attention schema to describe, predict, and thus help control attention as it is directed toward items. In that analogy, endogenous or internally directed attention is like the motor system controlling the arm – requiring an internal model of the arm – whereas exogenous or stimulus-driven attention is like an external object pushing the arm, a movement that does not require an internal control model. The model updates to keep track of ongoing changes, whether those changes are externally or internally induced; but the usefulness of the model is primarily for endogenous control.

Second, in the theory, an attention schema can also be constructed to model the attentional states of other people, thus helping to predict their behavior. Suppose you wish to predict John’s behavior. The more John attends to item X, the more likely he is to react to X or remember X to guide future behavior. Thus, a model of attention – of what it is, what it does, what its typical dynamics are, and what specific state John’s attention is in – would be useful for predicting his behavior. In that perspective, an attention schema is a component of theory of mind.

Third, in AST, the brain’s model of attention supplies the information on the basis of which people claim to have consciousness (here also called awareness). Attention and consciousness have suspiciously similar attributes. Attention is an emergent property in which the brain’s processing resources 'grasp' a specific set of items, enhancing the relevant signals and enabling the brain to make decisions and direct actions toward the attended items. Consciousness is typically seen as a subjective experience with the same properties noted above for attention. Consciousness 'grasps' specific items, bringing them to some level of understanding and vividness, and empowering us to make decisions and direct actions toward those items. One major difference between attention and consciousness is that attention is a physical process of interacting neurons and electrochemical signals, whereas people report consciousness from the first-person perspective as an insubstantial, internal essence, a 'feeling'. In the proposal, when people report the presence of consciousness, the report is based on specific information in the brain, and the information derives from an imperfect model of attention. Consciousness of object X corresponds to the specific condition in which a person is processing object X, at least some of the person’s attention is on X, and the attention schema depicts the attention that is on X. Consciousness, in this account, is literally what the brain makes of its own attention from the inside. Hence the similarity, but not-quite-perfect match, between attention and consciousness. The attention schema depicts the main dynamics of attention while leaving out any description of the underlying physical mechanism. On the basis of that incomplete and schematic information, people believe they have a physically insubstantial, private essence, a subjective experience, that takes possession of items. The theory addresses the problem of how an information-processing machine constructs a self-model that inaccurately describes an intangible conscious experience. On the basis of that self-model, the machine 'thinks' and 'claims' it has an intangible conscious experience.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gwJNQxXkh7U