Experimental phenomenology, a challenge.

Albertazzi, Liliana

doi:10.1037/cns0000287

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…An approach that has made significant contributions to the understanding of conscious perception is experimental phenomenology, i.e., the study of appearances in subjective awareness (Albertazzi, 2019(Albertazzi, , 2021Albertazzi et al, 2021). It aims to uncover the principles of organization that guarantee (qualitative) invariants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hidden structure of consciousness

Forti

2024

Front. Psychol.

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According to Loorits, if we want consciousness to be explained in terms of natural sciences, we should be able to analyze its seemingly non-structural aspects, like qualia, in structural terms. However, the studies conducted over the last three decades do not seem to be able to bridge the explanatory gap between physical phenomena and phenomenal experience. One possible way to bridge the explanatory gap is to seek the structure of consciousness within consciousness itself, through a phenomenal analysis of the qualitative aspects of experience. First, this analysis leads us to identify the explanandum concerning the simplest forms of experience not in qualia but in the unitary set of qualities found in early vision. Second, it leads us to hypothesize that consciousness is also made up of non-apparent parts, and that there exists a hidden structure of consciousness. This structure, corresponding to a simple early visual experience, is constituted by a Hierarchy of Spatial Belongings nested within each other. Each individual Spatial Belonging is formed by a primary content and a primary space. The primary content can be traced in the perceptibility of the contents we can distinguish in the phenomenal field. The primary space is responsible for the perceptibility of the content and is not perceptible in itself. However, the phenomenon I refer to as subtraction of visibility allows us to characterize it as phenomenally negative. The hierarchical relationships between Spatial Belongings can ensure the qualitative nature of components of perceptual organization, such as object, background, and detail. The hidden structure of consciousness presents aspects that are decidedly counterintuitive compared to our idea of phenomenal experience. However, on the one hand, the Hierarchy of Spatial Belongings can explain the qualities of early vision and their appearance as a unitary whole, while on the other hand, it might be more easily explicable in terms of brain organization. In other words, the hidden structure of consciousness can be considered a bridge structure which, placing itself at an intermediate level between experience and physical properties, can contribute to bridging the explanatory gap.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hidden structure of consciousness

Forti

2024

Front. Psychol.

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“…It is well-documented that, when it came to underlying neural processes, the Graz school was in opposition to the Berlin school of Gestalt psychology (the latter subscribing to Kohler’s isomorphism, Henle, 1984). However, similarly to the Berlin school, the “Grazers” fiercely defended the separate domain and explanatory jurisdiction, if not the primacy, of phenomenological explanation as opposed to accounts formulated in terms of brain or cognitivist information processing (see Albertazzi, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental phenomenology meets brain information processing: Vividness of voluntary imagery, consciousness of the present, and priming.

Reeves¹

2021

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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Revisiting the neglected empirical and theoretical work of two pioneers in experimental phenomenology, we tested Enzo Bonaventura's hypothesis that vividness is the intensive variation of the consciousness of the present, and explored a possible generalization of Renata Calabresi's hypothesis that such quale may be linked to the brain's intrinsic cycle of ∼1 s. We tested both hypotheses through experiments using a semantic repetition priming paradigm from the information processing tradition. Participants (N = 81) were asked to read one-/two-noun object descriptions and recall the same target image corresponding to the verbal cue (i.e., apple) following single paired trials in which they were asked to retrieve four types of priming images ( perceptually related, i.e., ball; conceptually related, i.e., banana; perceptually & conceptually related, i.e., orange; and unrelated, i.e., accordion). We found that the most vivid visual mental images for the targets, regardless of prime type, image content, or explicit knowledge of the prime-target relations, occurred between 700 and 1,200 ms-the window of the conscious present hypothesized by Calabresi. Target images occurring within that time-window were faster (positive priming); beyond that interval, however, they were slower (negative priming). The metric extension of the phenomenological experience tied with either positive or negative priming supports a genuine shift in the perception of image duration either as subjective contraction or expansion, respectively. The time-course points to an eventrelated potential signature usually linked with verbally evoked visual imagery (the late positive potential) which warrants further empirical confirmation.

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“…6 The use of reduction enables more reliable introspective material, provided that the subjects are properly prepared (Gallagher, 2003; Giorgi, 2009). There is no need to specifically justify the position of Husserl and phenomenology in the Brentano movement; his philosophy is the source not only of phenomenological psychology, currently experiencing a certain renaissance, but also of original qualitative research (Davidsen, 2013; Giorgi, 1985; Langdridge, 2007), neurophenomenology (Varela, 1996), and experimental phenomenology (Albertazzi, 2021).…”

Section: The Brentano School and Its Inspirations For Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative psychology of the Brentano school and its inspirations (another look at empirical qualitative research)

Citlak

2023

Theory & Psychology

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This article explores a psychological tradition inspired by or originating from Franz Brentano and which played a vital role in the development of qualitative empirical psychology. This was the psychology of acts with a focus on the analysis of mental phenomena and a first-person perspective. Brentano’s psychology directly influenced the emergence of the main schools of European psychology in the first half of the 20th century: the Würzburg School, Gestalt psychology, phenomenological psychology, the Dorpat School, and the Lvov–Warsaw School. These schools cultivated a psychology of mind and consciousness par excellence, the theoretical and methodological assumptions of which effectively inhibited reductionist tendencies. The aim of this article, however, is not so much to reconstruct the historical achievements but rather to indicate their relevance for contemporary qualitative psychology, which can be seen in a broader perspective than simply as an alternative to quantitative research.

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Experimental phenomenology, a challenge.

Cited by 6 publications

References 73 publications

The hidden structure of consciousness

The hidden structure of consciousness

Experimental phenomenology meets brain information processing: Vividness of voluntary imagery, consciousness of the present, and priming.

Qualitative psychology of the Brentano school and its inspirations (another look at empirical qualitative research)

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