One of the issues facing this emerging branch of science is the fact that many of the concepts shared by consciousness researchers—such as information, representation, and control—have different meanings in different disciplines. “The purpose of this conference is to examine the different meanings these common concepts hold in different disciplines so that we might address whether these meanings need to be integrated. They may—and then again—they may not,” said Dr. J. Scott Jordan, Professor, ISU Department of Psychology. “What we are doing here is simply calling the issue. And given this task, I would argue we will only be able to do our best work if we are willing to back away from the reified meanings our own disciplines hold for these concepts and instead engage the uncertainty necessary to truly understand one another.”

Dr. Bernhard Baars of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego gave the keynote address to an audience of over 80 students and faculty. The event was organized by Drs. Jordan and Dawn M. McBride of ISU’s Department of Psychology, and was sponsored by ISU’s Fell Trust Foundation, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, and Mind Science Foundation.