Quantifying Consciousness: An Empirical Approach

ISBN-13: 9781489906311 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 422 str.

R. J. Pekala

Opis

This book presents an approach to quantifying consciousness and its various states. It represents over ten years of work in developing, test- ing, and researching the use of relatively simple self-report question- naires in the retrospective assessment of subjective or phenomenologi- cal experience. While the simplicity of the method allows for subjective experience to be reliably and validly assessed across various short stim- ulus conditions, the flexibility of the approach allows the cognitive psy- chologist, consciousness researcher, and mental health professional to quantify and statistically assess the phenomenological variables associ- ated with various stimulus conditions, altered-state induction tech- niques, and clinical procedures. The methodology allows the cognitive psychologist and mental health professional to comprehensively quantify the structures and pat- terns of subjective experience dealing with imagery, attention, affect, volitional control, internal dialogue, and so forth to determine how these phenomenological structures might covary during such stimulus conditions as free association, a sexual fantasy, creative problem solving, or a panic attack. It allows for various phenomenological pro- cesses to be reported, quantified, and statistically assessed in a rather comprehensive fashion that should help shed greater understanding on the nature of mind or consciousness.

Spis treści

The Background.- Consciousness and Introspection.- Phenomenological Perspectives on Consciousness.- The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology.- Quantifying the Structures and Patterns of Consciousness.- The Instruments.- Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Questionnaire.- Development, Reliability, and Validity of the (Abbreviated) Dimensions of Consciousness Questionnaire.- The Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory.- Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Dimensions of Attention Questionnaire.- The Methodology.- Graphing Devices for the Retrospective Phenomenological Assessment Instruments.- Using Retrospective Phenomenological Assessment Instruments.- Applications.- The Trait of Absorption and Subjective Experience.- Using the PCI to Investigate Trait-State Aspects of Hypnosis and Several Stress Management Conditions.- The Differential Organization of the Structures of Consciousness during Hypnosis.- Predicting Hypnotic Susceptibility with the PCI.- Assessing an Out-of-the-Body Experience with the PCI and the DAQ.- Consciousness.