Rich Experience and Sparse Awareness: Sensing More Than We Know (Elements in Perception) - Softcover

Berlinger, Ariel Meir; Eitam, Baruch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009757083 ISBN 13: 9781009757089

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

Consciousness is often treated as unitary phenomenon. We challenge this and propose a framework that parses it into two functionally distinct representational media. Reviewing dominant theories, as well as studies of perceptual failures, neural activity, visual search and attention – we argue that phenomenal experience arises early as a detailed, analogue, and relatively generic representation of the physical world. Awareness, a later and more idiosyncratic representation of the world, results from enriching phenomenal experience via relevance-filtered semantic knowledge. This Multi-Representational Media (MRM) account unifies perception, memory, and cognition, reconciles rich and sparse consciousness views, and reframes concepts in unconscious cognition research.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009757083
• ISBN 13: 9781009757089
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 75