Colloquium: "How Can We Detect Consciousness in Infants?”
Claudia Passos Ferreira (New York University)
"How Can We Detect Consciousness in Infants?”
Abstract: Can there be a test for consciousness in infants? In the absence of verbal reports, the most promising tests involve neurophysiological and behavioral markers of consciousness suggested by theories of consciousness. I will investigate current markers and discuss whether they are reliable guides to consciousness in infants. I will focus on three potential markers: functional connectivity networks (Hu, Cusack, and Naci 2022); P300-like waves (Moser, Schlegera, Weiss, Sippela, Dehaene-Lambertz, and Preiss 2020); the attentional blink (Hochmann and Kouider 2022). I will review current evidence from global workspace theory and other theories of consciousness that might support these markers while also considering potential evidence against, giving a philosophical analysis of what this evidence establishes. My conclusion is that, as yet, we do not have a reliable marker of consciousness in infants, but it’s not impossible that we could develop one. I conclude by discussing how current evidence bears on the initial emergence and the developmental trajectory of consciousness.