Dimensions of Animal Consciousness.
Trends Cogn Sci August 20, 2020 Jonathan Birch, Alexandra K. Schnell, Nicola S. Clayton 394 citations
A multidimensional framework is proposed for understanding how consciousness varies across animal species. Rather than ranking species on a single scale of consciousness, the framework identifies five key dimensions: perceptual richness, evaluative richness, integration at a time, integration across time, and self-consciousness. For each dimension, existing experiments are reviewed and future experiments suggested. By assessing a species against each dimension, a distinctive consciousness profile can be constructed, indicating that no species is simply more or less conscious than another.