Matthias Michel, Stephen M. Fleming, Hakwan Lau, Alan L. F. Lee, Susana Martinez-Conde, Richard E. Passingham, Megan A. K. Peters, Dobromir Rahnev, Claire Sergent & Kayuet Liu
Frontiers in Psychology 9 (2018)
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Abstract |
The scientific study of consciousness emerged as an organized field of research only a few decades ago. As empirical results have begun to enhance our understanding of consciousness, it is important to find out whether other factors, such as funding for consciousness research and status of consciousness scientists, provide a suitable environment for the field to grow and develop sustainably. We conducted an online survey on people’s views regarding various aspects of the scientific study of consciousness as a field of research. 249 participants completed the survey, among which 80% were in academia, and around 40% were experts in consciousness research. Topics covered include the progress made by the field, funding for consciousness research, job opportunities for consciousness researchers, and the scientific rigor of the work done by researchers in the field. The majority of respondents (78%) indicated that scientific research on consciousness has been making progress. However, most participants perceived obtaining funding and getting a job in the field of consciousness research as more difficult than in other subfields of neuroscience. Overall, work done in consciousness research was perceived to be less rigorous than other neuroscience subfields, but this perceived lack of rigor was not related to the perceived difficulty in finding jobs and obtaining funding. Lastly, we found that, overall, the global workspace theory was perceived to be the most promising (around 28%), while most non-expert researchers (around 22% of non-experts) found the integrated information theory (IIT) most promising. We believe the survey results provide an interesting picture of current opinions from scientists and researchers about the progresses made and the challenges faced by consciousness research as an independent field. They will inspire collective reflection on the future directions regarding funding and job opportunities for the field.
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DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02134 |
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References found in this work BETA
Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.John B. Watson - 1913 - Psychological Review 101 (2):248-253.
Consciousness Science: Real Progress and Lingering Misconceptions.Ned Block, David Carmel, Stephen M. Fleming, Robert W. Kentridge, Christof Koch, Victor A. F. Lamme, Hakwan Lau & David Rosenthal - 2014 - Trends in Cognitive Sciences 18 (11):556-557.
Citations of this work BETA
The Measurement Problem of Consciousness.Heather Browning & Walter Veit - 2020 - Philosophical Topics 48 (1):85-108.
On the Dangers of Conflating Strong and Weak Versions of a Theory of Consciousness.Matthias Michel & Hakwan Lau - 2020 - Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 1 (II).
A Concerning Display of Medical Indifference: Reply to ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and an Illness-Focused Approach to Care: Controversy, Morality and Paradox’.Diane O'Leary - 2020 - Medical Humanities 46 (4):e4-e4.
A Bibliometric Evaluation of the Impact of Theories of Consciousness in Academia and on Social Media.Andy Wai Kan Yeung, Cody A. Cushing & Alan L. F. Lee - 2022 - Consciousness and Cognition 100:103296.
Distinguishing the Role of Conscious and Unconscious Knowledge in Evaluative Conditioning.Laurent Waroquier, Marlène Abadie & Zoltan Dienes - 2020 - Cognition 205:104460.
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