Distinction between weight-based and activation-based processing

rules Associations Conscious knowledge Unconscious knowledge Where is implicit learning? 49 ➊ The role of consciousness:  Is cognition without consciousness possible? In what sense? ➋ Knowledge representation:  How is abstract knowledge represented? Two central issues Abstract rules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning Unconscious knowledgerules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning Unconscious knowledge Where is implicit learning? 50 ➊ The role of consciousness:  Is cognition without consciousness possible? In what sense? ➋ Knowledge representation:  How is abstract knowledge represented? Two central issues Abstract rules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning Unconscious knowledge Zombiesrules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning Unconscious knowledge Zombies Implicit learning is unconscious symbol manipulation 51 ➊ The role of consciousness:  Is cognition without consciousness possible? In what sense? ➋ Knowledge representation:  How is abstract knowledge represented? Two central issues Abstract rules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning “Data” Unconscious knowledge Zombiesrules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning “Data” Unconscious knowledge Zombies Implicit learning is conscious learning of associations 52  ... tend to question its existence:  O’Brien & Opie (1999) claim that all stable representations result in phenomenal experience and deny the possibility for causally efficacious but unconscious representations  Shanks & StJohn (1994) claim that the distinction between implicit and explicit learning is one of information-processing, not of consciousness, and that “Human learning is almost invariably accompanied by conscious awareness” (p. 394).  Perruchet & Vinter (in press), while not denying implicit learning altogether, consider that unconscious influences on behavior should be exclusively ascribed to noncognitive, neural processes: Representations are always conscious Many theories of implicit learning... 53 ➊ The role of consciousness:  Is cognition without consciousness possible? In what sense? ➋ Knowledge representation:  How is abstract knowledge represented? Two central issues Abstract rules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning “Data” Unconscious knowledge Zombies Priming+rules Associations Conscious knowledge explicit learning “Data” Unconscious knowledge Zombies Priming+ Implicit learning involves relational priming based on functional similarity Measuring Awareness Three challenges: What exactly is consciousness? It is not a single thing, but instead has many aspects: awareness of a stimulus vs. awareness of an intention vs. awareness that my behavior is influenced by some previous episode, etc. What are appropriate measures of consciousness? Simple dissociation logic is not sufficient Are my measures (of awareness and of performance) equally sensitive?