Consciousness and
Evolutionary Psychology
Haliegh Aaron Hutson
Becoming Conscious
-A Look at Some Evolutionary Approaches to Studying Consciousness-
Defining Consciousness?
 Dictionary definitions are HOPELESS:
 ‘state of being conscious’ (Oxford)
 ‘not sleeping or comatose’ (Collins)
Extreme Theories of
Consciousness
 Monism:
 Dualism
 Consciousness and the
 Consciousness and the
observed universe are
comprised of the same
elements.
 Origins in Aristotelian
metaphysics and
Greek philosophy.
physical world are two
completely different
entities.
 Origins in Cartesian
empirical philosophy.
Dawkins’ Conceptualization
 “Perhaps consciousness arises when the
brain’s simulation of the world becomes so
complete that it must include a model of
itself (Dawkins, 59).”
From an Evolutionary
Perspective
 What is the adaptive value of consciousness?
 What problem was consciousness designed to
solve?
 Input from environment is suppose to inform the
organism of the adaptive problem.
 Is consciousness designed to facilitate the output
of evolved psychological mechanisms?
Necker Cube Illusion!
Mark Newbold's Animated Necker Cube
Antonio Damasio’s Theory of
Consciousness
 Examines the phenomenon of
consciousness using:
– Neurological evidence
– Evolutionary theory
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 Consciousness evolved with an organisms’
ability to “know” itself.
 The 3 evolved processes leading to human
consciousness:
– Proto-Self
– Core Consciousness
– Extended Consciousness
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 The Life Urge: an inexplicable desire to
maintain homeostasis.
– Life urge is common from the single cell to the
human being
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 Proto-Self: A coherent collection of neural
patterns which map, moment-by-moment,
the state of the physical organism.
– Non-conscious
– Solely concerned with homeostasis
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 Core Consciousness: Occurs when the
brain’s representation devices generate a
representation of the relationship between
the organism (the self) and an
environmental stimulus.
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 The relationship between the object and the
organism
– Is generated in a “second order map”
– Recognizing the relationship of the organism
(you) and the object is “knowing oneself”
– This representation is constantly re-generated
and is based on the current affected state of
proto-self
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 Extended Consciousness: The system of
memories that are consciously accessible to
the organism (both of the past and of the
future)
– May be uniquely human
– Working memory is where the action takes
place
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Damasio Continued
 Proto-Self: Installed by genome
– Hypothalamus; brain stem nuclei
 Core Consciousness: Installed by genome
– Cingulate cortex; superior colliculi; thalamus
 Extended Consciousness: Installed initially
by genome, but then accumulates memories
(former pulses of core consciousness)
– Cerebral cortex
Damasio, A.R. The feeling of what
happens: body and emotion in the
making of consciousness. Harcourt
Brace & Co.: Orlando, FL
Rossano’s Proposal
 We can study the evolution of
consciousness by examining animal
behavior and fossil records from hominid
evolution.
 How? By analyzing these sources for
evidence of expertise.
Rossano, M. J. (2003). Expertise and
the evolution of consciousness.
Cognition, 89 (3), 207-236
Rossano’s Proposal
 Three tenets of his proposal
– Expertise requires deliberate practice
– Deliberate practice requires consciousness
– If this is so, we can use evidence of expertise to
study the evolution of consciousness
Rossano, M. J. (2003). Expertise and
the evolution of consciousness.
Cognition, 89 (3), 207-236
Rossano’s Proposal
 Example: the Acheulean hand Axe
– Homo Erectus hard at work
http://www.exn.ca/hominids/handaxehill.cfm
Rossano, M. J. (2003). Expertise and
the evolution of consciousness.
Cognition, 89 (3), 207-236
Methodological Weaknesses
 Are inherent to the study of such an elusive
phenomenon as is consciousness
Strengths
 Beginning to understand that the study of
consciousness will require evolutionary
theory and neurological evidence
 Provides practical method of inquiry
(Rossano) and conceptual theory (Damasio)
– Both grounded in evolutionary thought