ABSTRACT
Theoretical interest in defining and explaining consciousness has surged dramatically in recent years (CIBA Foundation, 1993; Dennett, 1991; Marcel, & Bisiach, 1988; Searle, 1990). Indirectly, empirical studies in cognitive psychology have also addressed consciousness by the intensive analysis of non-conscious information processing, both by normal people (Schacter, 1992, and several chapters in this volume) and by patients with neuropsychological syndromes that selectively constrain awareness, such as amnesia, blindsight, and unilateral neglect (McGlynn, & Schacter, 1989; Moscovitch & Umiltà, 1994). By a subtractive logic, nonconscious processing supposedly casts light on consciousness. These debates all revolve around issues best addressed by neuropsychological research.
