Lecture Notes: Graziano's Attention Schema Theory of Awareness

Introduction

• Lecturer: Matt McCormick, Department of Philosophy, California State University, Sacramento
• Course: Philosophy of Mind, PHIL 153
• Topic: Graziano's Attention Schema Theory of Awareness

Key Concepts

Consciousness and Awareness

• Consciousness: A tiered account developed over several weeks.
• Awareness: A second-order, meta-representation of attention according to Graziano.

Attention

• Definition: Allocation of cognitive resources to stimuli that capture attention.
• Types:
  • Top-down: Goal-directed like searching for keys.
  • Bottom-up: Stimuli like loud noises capturing attention.
• Function: Selective signal enhancement to focus on survival-relevant stimuli.

Graziano's Theory

• Awareness: The brain's internal model of attention, attending to attention itself.
• Evolutionary Role: Helps in modeling attention in oneself and others, advantageous for social interaction and survival.
• Representation: Awareness as a schema - a template for recognizing attending creatures vs. non-attending ones.

Evolutionary Perspective

• Modelling Attention: Important for survival to know what other creatures, especially predators, are focusing on.
• Theory of Mind: Ability to understand that other beings have their own thoughts and awareness.

Experiments and Evidence

• Chimpanzee Studies: Show that chimps can anticipate actions based on another's false beliefs.
• Attention Tasks: Experiments show that awareness aids in better control and task performance by guiding attention.

Implications

• Simplified Models: Awareness simplifies complex stimuli for cognitive processing.
• Phenomenal Experience: Awareness gives rise to subjective, qualitative experiences (e.g., feels of pain, pleasure).
• Dualism: Natural tendency to see minds as separate from physical bodies due to how attention schema operates.

Applications and Predictions

• Social and Cultural Impact: Awareness allows humans to engage in complex social interactions and cultural developments.
• Research and Experiments: Various studies support the theory, showing evolutionary benefits of awareness in social animals.

Philosophical Implications

• Hard Problem of Consciousness: Graziano's theory offers a framework to address the 'hard problem' of explaining subjective experiences.
• Mind and Body: Awareness as a non-physical model influencing perceptions of mind and consciousness.

Conclusion

• Graziano's Attention Schema Theory provides a comprehensive understanding of how awareness functions both individually and socially.
• It combines evolutionary, neuro-scientific, and philosophical insights to explain the nature of consciousness.