Philosophers and scientists have long searched for answers about the origins and mechanisms of consciousness, questions that involve what is, arguably, one of the greatest mysteries of the mind and of life on Earth.
Now, a promising new method of studying consciousness and its phases of cognitive processes has been proposed by professor Ekrem Dere of Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, with a focus on learning curves we experience when we encounter new things, and behavioral observations.
“Learning is often not a gradual process, but takes place in leaps and bounds,” Dere recently said, noting that not just humans, but animals as well, experience “sudden epiphanies every now and then.”
For Dere, while these epiphanic experiences may seem out of the blue, there are probably conscious actions that are occurring beforehand.
“It’s likely that these experiences are preceded by conscious processes,” Dere says.
The new approach Dere proposes offers a potentially viable way to examine the phases of conscious cognitive processes that reveals the precise moments where conscious processing arises from sudden insights, which could potentially allow researchers new applications in the studies of brain imaging.
Continuity of Consciousness
According to Dere, consciousness can be viewed as occurring in separate phases, rather than being a single continuous process. The sudden leaps in learning that all conscious organisms experience are essentially markers that designate these phases, embodied in “eureka” moments preceded by conscious cognitive processing.
“There are different levels of consciousness, depending, for example, on whether we’re sleeping or writing an email,” Dere says, noting the different levels of consciousness. The highest of these is related to the processes we use to solve complex problems, and Dere says that studies require observation of tasks involving conscious effort, as well as the absence of preconceive solutions.
Although cognitive behavioral psychology offers several strategies for such studies, researchers are still met with challenges. Primarily, this involves being able to discern whether humans and animals exhibit conscious cognitive processing over the course of competing tasks where learning is involved.
As a possible solution, Dere proposes that learning curves, which help to plot performance over time, may allow researchers to identify phases of conscious processing when they occur.
Learning in Leaps
It is already known that learning often occurs in leaps, rather than as a slow, steady progression over time. According to Dere, understanding the discontinuous nature of improvements through learning, which involve so-called “eureka” moments through sudden insights, can aid researchers by serving as markers of conscious processing times.
“Conscious cognitive information processing must have taken place at this point and presumably also in the seconds leading up to it,” Dere says. Researchers can spot the brain mechanisms and regions involved in conscious processing, he says, through analysis of the brain’s activity during these moments using devices like electroencephalograms (EEGs).
Dere says this unique approach toward studying phases of learning and their relationship to conscious processes may offer significant benefits for broadening our understanding of consciousness, and how it is defined.
This approach holds significant potential for advancing our understanding of consciousness, allowing scientists better ways of studying the brain mechanisms that underly such processes. Such insights could also lead to significant advancements in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive psychology.
Dere’s recent study, “Insights into conscious cognitive information processing,” appeared in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience on July 24, 2024.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.