Global Workspace Theory (GWT) proposes that consciousness arises from:

A: Activity in the prefrontal cortex alone

B: The broadcasting of information from specialised modules to a "global workspace" accessible to many brain systems simultaneously

C: The quantum coherence of microtubules within neurons

D: Synchronised oscillations at exactly 40 Hz across the entire cortex

Correct: The broadcasting of information from specialised modules to a "global workspace" accessible to many brain systems simultaneously

Bernard Baars' Global Workspace Theory (1988) proposes that the brain consists of specialised, modular processors that normally operate in parallel and unconsciously. Consciousness occurs when information is selected and broadcast into a "global workspace" — a widely connected network accessible to multiple cognitive systems including memory, language, and attention. Dehaene and colleagues extended this into a neural version, identifying fronto-parietal networks as the neural substrate of the global workspace.

The default mode network (DMN) is most active during focused, goal-directed tasks.

Answer: False

The default mode network — including the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and angular gyrus — is paradoxically most active during rest and mind-wandering, and deactivates during focused external tasks. Buckner et al. (2008) showed the DMN supports self-referential thought, episodic memory retrieval, prospection (imagining the future), and theory of mind. Its dysregulation is implicated in depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease.

What is the distinction between "access consciousness" and "phenomenal consciousness"?

A: Access consciousness refers to wakefulness; phenomenal consciousness refers to dreaming

B: Access consciousness is information available for reasoning and report; phenomenal consciousness is the subjective, felt quality of experience

C: Access consciousness involves the prefrontal cortex; phenomenal consciousness involves the occipital cortex

D: They are synonyms — different names for the same phenomenon

Correct: Access consciousness is information available for reasoning and report; phenomenal consciousness is the subjective, felt quality of experience

Philosopher Ned Block (1995) distinguished access consciousness (A-consciousness) — information being available for use in reasoning, reporting, and the rational control of action — from phenomenal consciousness (P-consciousness) — the "what it's like" quality of experience, or qualia. The distinction matters because information can be accessed without any felt quality (as in blindsight), and there may be phenomenal states that outstrip what we can report.

Match each state or disorder of consciousness to its defining feature.

Blindsight provides evidence for which important principle about consciousness?

A: Visual processing can occur without any neural activity in the primary visual cortex

B: Neural processing of a stimulus can occur and influence behaviour without that stimulus being consciously perceived

C: Conscious experience does not require attention

D: The visual cortex is not necessary for conscious vision

Correct: Neural processing of a stimulus can occur and influence behaviour without that stimulus being consciously perceived

Blindsight (Weiskrantz, 1974) is the phenomenon in which patients with damage to primary visual cortex (V1) report no conscious awareness of stimuli in their "blind" field, yet perform above chance on forced-choice tasks about those stimuli (detecting motion, reaching accurately). This demonstrates that neural processing can occur and influence behaviour without giving rise to conscious perception, providing key evidence that consciousness is not equivalent to sensory processing.

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) proposes that consciousness is identical to integrated information (Φ) and can in principle exist in non-biological systems.

Answer: True

Giulio Tononi's Integrated Information Theory (2004) proposes that consciousness is a fundamental property of any system that has high integrated information — measured by Φ (phi). A system is conscious to the degree that its whole generates more information than the sum of its parts. IIT is controversial because it implies that consciousness could exist in simple physical systems (panpsychism), while some complex structures (like a feedforward neural network) might have near-zero consciousness despite processing vast amounts of information.