Table of Contents

List of figures and tables; Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. What is to be explained? some preliminaries; Part II. The Basic Model: 2. Model 1: conscious representations are internally consistent and globally distributed; 3. The neural basis of conscious experience; Part III. The Fundamental Role of Context: 4. Model 2: unconscious contexts shape conscious experience; 5. Model 3: conscious experience is informative - it always demands some degree of adaptation; Part IV. Goals and Voluntary Control: 6. Model 4: Goal contexts, spontaneous problem solving, and the stream of consciousness; 7. Model 5: volition as ideomotor control of thought and action; Part V. Attention, self, and conscious self-monitoring: 8. Model 6: attention as control of access to consciousness; 9. Model 7. Self as the dominant context of experience and action; Part VI. Consciousness is Functional: 10. The functions of consciousness; Part VII. Conclusion: 11. A summary and some future directions; Glossary and guide to theoretical claims; References; Name index, Subject index.

Reviews

'A clear-eyed, open-minded analysis of the problems of consciousness, and a wide-ranging synthesis of a variety of approaches. For those who want to join the race to model consciousness, this is the starting line.' Daniel C. Dennett

'With this model, the author sweeps through dozens of phenomena that are well known to students of sensation, perception, learning abstraction, language, thinking, and problem solving. In each case he interprets the model in terms of the global model workplace and thus produces an admirable piece of scholarship. The most enduring contribution of the book may be its challenge to cognitive scientists to return to their roots, to describe and explain consciousness. Without a decent theory of consciousness, cognitive science may be adrift. If that is so, then (this work) deserves to be read by many.' Contemporary Psychology

'The book includes 'numerous whimsical experiments … in order to demonstrate points best appreciated experimentally. Anyone with a playful nature will find these illustrations captivating.' Contemporary Psychiatry

'The powerful core of Baars' model of consciousness is the global workspace, a kind of central bulletin board. It allows scores of specialized mental subsystems (expert but narrow) to contribute to the resolution of novel problems. Baars is careful and thoughtful, and shows constant concern for the testability of his ideas.' Dr. David Galin, Langley Porter Psychiatry Institute, University of California, San Francisco