global workspace theory

Global Workspace Theory (GWT) was proposed by Bernard Baars (1988, 1997). It is based on the concept of a human working memory the "inner domain in which we can rehearse telephone numbers to ourselves or, more interestingly, in which we carry on the narratives of our lives. It is usually thought to include inner speech and visual imagery." The contents of this small, short-term memory closely correspond to what we are conscious of, and get broadcast to the vast multitude of unconscious cognitive brain processes which require entrance into the workspace to be globally accessible. These subconscious processes, operating in parallel with limited communication between them, can form coalitions whose participants cooperate to achieve certain goals. Individual as well as allied processes compete for access to the global workspace, striving to disseminate their messages to all other processes in an effort to obtain more cohorts and thereby increase the likelihood of achieving their goals. While Baars (1997) concedes that the global workspace "is closely related to conscious experience, though not identical to it", GWT can successfully explain several characteristics of consciousness, such as its role in handling novel situations, its limited capacity, and its sequential nature. Moreover, it lends itself well to computational modeling.

References

Baars, Bernard (1988), A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press)
Baars, Bernard (1997), In the Theater of Consciousness (New York, NY: Oxford University Press)

Global Workspace Theory

References

See also