The predictive global neuronal workspace: A formal active inference model of visual consciousness

Whyte, Smith · Progress in Neurobiology · 2020 · neuroscience · 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101918 · record Whyte2020-the-predictive-global-neuronal-workspace-a-f
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Where this record's text came from. faceted 2026-08 by reading the locally held text (pdftext); every evidence string verified as an exact substring of that text before merging. Claim type is coded mechanism rather than method because the paper's headline claim is an explanation of what conscious access is (temporally deep inference), with the POMDP model as the vehicle: "Specifically, we present a hierarchical, partially-observable Markov decision process (POMDP) model of visual consciousness based upon Active Inference." The novel predictions about expectation and the P3 are stated as untested, hence replication status untested. The paper's statement that its model has only two levels while the visual system is continuous and multi-level is a further self-declared limitation, but that sentence is split by a page-break artefact in the source text and could not be quoted verbatim. 2026-08-14 and 2026-08-25 schema-0.3 passes: every quote verified as an exact substring of the staged text and anchored at merge time; concept terms verified present; every edge endpoint an existing node.

How to read this page. The article itself is not reproduced here — this paper is not cleared for redistribution, so what follows is the tag layer alone. The evidence sentences are withheld with the article. The table at the foot lists every tag the record carries; each row names the facet it belongs to, and the whose words column says whether the tag records the paper's own wording or the tagger's sentence about the paper. Every tag links to each other paper in the corpus carrying it. The machine-readable edition of the same thing is the TEI file beside this one, where the tags live in standOff, and the article is at its publisher via the link below. When we have changed our mind. Some entries in the table begin with a word in capitals and the reason for it. EVIDENCE CORRECTED — the finding still stands, but we had quoted the wrong sentence from the paper, and the quotation has been replaced with the right one. RETRACTED — the entry itself was wrong; it stays on the page, marked, with the reason, rather than being deleted. WITHDRAWN AND REPLACED — the entry was wrong, and a corrected version of it appears in the entries below. Each mark carries its own reason, in brackets, because the reasons differ from one entry to the next. An entry we have WITHDRAWN is removed from this page and kept in the record, with its reason. A line reading Audit and a date is a later re-reading of the entry against its whole sentence: DOUBTFUL means it was kept, and the reason says what is loose about it. Quotation marks inside the tagger's sentence. Where a tag is the tagger's own sentence, a phrase in quotation marks inside it is borrowed from the paper — the tagger's wording around it is not. The paper's own sentence is the evidence quote for that row; on this page it is withheld with the article, and the article is at its publisher. Nothing inside quotation marks anywhere on this page is ours: if it is quoted, it is the paper's. Whose words a concept carries. A concept entry records a term the paper itself uses, so the term, the sense given for it, and its evidence are the paper's own words, quoted where the paper fixes them. This is the opposite of a sense entry in the tag table, which is the tagger's sentence about how the paper uses a term. Where a concept entry could not be grounded in the paper's words, the entry says so on its own row.

Other fields define these differently the same word, defined another way in another discipline
attention 36 fields · Active Inference 4 fields · simulation 2 fields

Tags on this paper

Every tag the record carries, each linking to every other paper in the corpus that carries it. A tag appears here whether or not its words occur in the article — the spans below are only the ones a sentence in this paper licenses. Of the 7 concept tags on this paper, all 7 are grounded in a quoted sentence.

P3 conscious access task relevance multivariate decoding degenerative research programs phenomenology mdp.erp Conscious access happens because a temporally deep level of the hierarchy infers and integrates lower-level states over a slow enough timescale to contextualise them and drive extended report behaviour. Late ERPs arise because the ERP is the time derivative of the depolarisation variable, so a rapid change in high-level belief produces a large late deflection. Rapid belief change increases the magnitude of the depolarisation derivative, which is what makes a late component appear. Expectations act by raising second-level posterior confidence, which magnifies top-down feedback to sensory populations and pushes marginal trials past the ignition threshold. global workspace theory (GWT) global neuronal workspace (GNW) model ignition access consciousness predictive global neuronal workspace (PGNW) Active Inference partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) attention stimulus signal strength prior probability forced choice performance firing rate state transition variational Bayesian inference inverted using a variational message passing scheme parameter fitting (grid search) searching the parameter space to find consistent values simulation

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relation to other work	`claim_relations`	how this paper stands to another: agrees, contradicts, extends, qualifies
claim type	`claim_type`	the shape of the claim: existence, mechanism, method, critique, prediction, null
concept edge	`concept_edges`	an asserted relation between two concepts, with the sentence asserting it
concept	`concepts`	an idea the paper works with, quoted where the paper uses it
content tag	`content_tags`	a finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper
control	`controls`	an experiment run to eliminate a rival explanation
limitation	`limitations`	what the paper says its evidence cannot support
mechanism	`mechanisms`	how the reported effect is said to come about
method	`method`	how the paper produced its evidence
phenomenon	`phenomenon`	the effect or regularity under study
sense	`senses`	a distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it
transfer	`transfers`	a method or concept carried in from another field

The paper

The full text is not reproduced here. This article is not cleared for redistribution, so the page carries the tag layer only. Its evidence sentences are withheld; the grounding status remains with each tag, and the article itself is at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101918. The reading view exists for the papers whose licence permits it.

Every tag on this page

claim_relations 3 · claim_type 1 · concept_edges 2 · concepts 7 · content_tags 29 · controls 1 · limitations 13 · mechanisms 4 · method 1 · phenomenon 1 · senses 4 · transfers 1

Relations on this page carry a quotation for the claim. Where a relation was separately evidenced — and so tested against the vocabulary for its type — the row says so; none of 2 relations here carry that mark. The rest are the tagger’s reading of the sentence quoted beside them.

facet	tag	field	conf.	whose words
claim_type	mechanism Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_type`		the paper's words
phenomenon	visual consciousness (conscious access) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`phenomenon`		the paper's words
method	simulation Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: simulation	`method`		the paper's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: Conscious access happens because a temporally deep level of the hierarchy infers and integrates lower-level states over a slow enough timescale to contextualise them and drive extended report behaviour.	`mechanisms[0]`		the tagger's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: Late ERPs arise because the ERP is the time derivative of the depolarisation variable, so a rapid change in high-level belief produces a large late deflection.	`mechanisms[1]`		the tagger's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: Rapid belief change increases the magnitude of the depolarisation derivative, which is what makes a late component appear.	`mechanisms[2]`		the tagger's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: Expectations act by raising second-level posterior confidence, which magnifies top-down feedback to sensory populations and pushes marginal trials past the ignition threshold.	`mechanisms[3]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Scope deliberately restricted to settings where visual consciousness is operationalised by report. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: every prediction the model makes: WE HAVE DELIBERATELY LIMITED THE SCOPE OF THE MODEL TO EXPERIMENTAL SETTINGS WHERE VISUAL CONSCIOUSNESS IS OPERATIONALISED VIA REPORT	`limitations[0]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Report paradigms themselves carry known methodological problems. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the same scope as limitations[0], with the cost: REPORT PARADIGMS COME WITH METHODOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES	`limitations[1]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Restricting the model to vision perpetuates the visual bias of consciousness science. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the modality the theory has been tested in, and what that does to the field: IN LIMITING THE SCOPE OF THE PGNW TO THE VISUAL MODALITY, WE ARE AWARE THAT WE ARE REIFYING THE PERVASIVE BIAS IN CONSCIOUSNESS SCIENCE OF PRIMARILY STUDYING VISION	`limitations[2]`		the tagger's words
limitations	The match to the four-way taxonomy is partly built in, since parameters were tuned to the published behavioural results. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the model's match to the four-way taxonomy, which is not independent confirmation: THIS SHOULD NOT BE A SURPRISE, AS WE FINETUNED THE PARAMETER VALUES TO CAPTURE BEHAVIOUR REPORTED IN THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE	`limitations[3]`		the tagger's words
limitations	The model cannot represent partial awareness, because information cannot skip hierarchical levels in it. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any account of partial awareness: THIS REQUIRES INFORMATION TO SKIP LEVELS OF THE HIERARCHY, WHICH IS ALSO NOT POSSIBLE IN THE PRESENT MODEL	`limitations[4]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Simulated report frequencies are only directional, not quantitative, predictions. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the simulated report frequencies: THEY SHOULD BE INTERPRETED AS DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESES, AS OPPOSED TO PRECISE PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE PERCENTAGE OF SEEN VS UNSEEN TRIALS	`limitations[5]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Two predictions of the theory this paper extends are stated to have been falsified. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any appeal to the original global neuronal workspace formulation: the authors state that as experimental paradigms became more sophisticated, two of its predictions have been falsified	`limitations[6]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	The falsifying result is qualified inline by whether its instrument is a fair proxy. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the claim that information is unconsciously maintained by the same structures: the authors qualify it as holding	`limitations[7]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	The P3 is reported to track task relevance rather than conscious access. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any use of the P3 as a signature of conscious access: a masking-paradigm replication is stated to show unequivocally that Quotation withheld	`limitations[8]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	A marker was abandoned without any accompanying theoretical revision, which the authors name as a degenerative pattern. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any reading of the GNW's response to the P3 findings	`limitations[9]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	The replacement model offered for the falsified one is stated to be too idealised for neurobiological predictions. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any neurobiological prediction attributed to the revised computational model of subjective report: the authors state it is too idealised to make them	`limitations[10]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	Where phenomenology sits in the model was chosen to avoid an empirically unfalsifiable consequence. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the model's placement of phenomenology: the alternative would make the presence of a particular phenomenology empirically unfalsifiable, and the authors state they situate it as they do to avoid that conclusion	`limitations[11]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	A parameter that empirical work fits to data was fixed by assumption, and it affects the predicted ERPs. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any ERP predicted by these simulations: the decay parameter that in empirical work needs to be fit to neuronal or behavioural responses was set to 1 here, and the authors state predicted ERPs can be affected by different values of it	`limitations[12]`	1.0	the tagger's words
transfers	the Active Inference formalism used to cast global neuronal workspace dynamics as approximate Bayesian inference, yielding testable behavioural and neural predictions Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`transfers[0]`	0.9	the tagger's words
controls	a debrief after phase one measured how many participants had noticed the task-irrelevant square at all Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: that the stimulus was consciously seen - the inattentional-blindness manipulation is checked rather than assumed, and 50 per cent reported not seeing it · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held	`controls[0]`	0.95	the tagger's words
concepts	P3 Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: P3	`concepts[0]`		the paper's words
concepts	conscious access Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: conscious access	`concepts[1]`		the paper's words
concepts	task relevance Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: task relevance	`concepts[2]`		the paper's words
concepts	multivariate decoding Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: multivariate decoding	`concepts[3]`		the paper's words
concepts	degenerative research programs Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: degenerative research programs	`concepts[4]`		the paper's words
concepts	phenomenology Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: phenomenology	`concepts[5]`		the paper's words
concepts	mdp.erp Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: mdp.erp	`concepts[6]`		the paper's words
senses	the P3 - A MARKER WITHDRAWN WITHOUT A REVISION: the claim that it is a specific marker of conscious access is no longer defended, but the abandonment was not accompanied by any theoretical revisions and makes no additional predictions, which the authors call a recognized characteristic of degenerative research programs Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[0]`	1.0	the tagger's words
senses	the falsifying evidence - CONDITIONAL ON A PROXY: information is said to be unconsciously maintained by the same structures at least briefly and insofar as multivariate decoding is a defensible proxy for information processing, so the result that overturns the theory is bounded by an instrument assumption stated in its own sentence Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[1]`	1.0	the tagger's words
senses	phenomenology, in this model - SITED TO KEEP IT FALSIFIABLE: the alternative placement would make the presence of a particular phenomenology empirically unfalsifiable, and the authors situate it at the point where lower-level representations update higher-level states to avoid that Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[2]`	1.0	the tagger's words
senses	the consistent parameter set - FITTED, WITH THE AUTHORS' ARGUMENT FOR WHY IT STILL COUNTS: the values were finetuned to capture behaviour reported in the literature, and the authors argue that no consistent set need have existed, so finding one supports the model Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[3]`	1.0	the tagger's words
claim_relations	extends → the global neuronal workspace (GNW) model Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_relations[0]`		the tagger's words
claim_relations	builds-on → Hohwy (2013), Whyte (2019), and Friston et al (2012) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_relations[1]`		the tagger's words
claim_relations	contradicts → Fleming's (2019) higher-order state-space (HOSS) model Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_relations[2]`		the tagger's words
concept_edges	P3 —distinct-from→ conscious access Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. strength of the relation: 1 also in: P3 · conscious access	`concept_edges[0]`		the tagger's words
concept_edges	task relevance —contrasted-with→ conscious access Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. differs in: which of the two the P3 tracks · strength of the relation: 1 also in: task relevance · conscious access	`concept_edges[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	variational Bayesian inference Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: variational Bayesian inference	`content_tags.statistics[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	parameter fitting (grid search) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: parameter fitting (grid search)	`content_tags.statistics[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	With one consistent parameter set the simulated agent reproduced the GNW four-way taxonomy behaviourally: weak signal plus absent attention gave chance forced-choice performance and almost no 'seen' reports. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Simulated first-level ERPs, corresponding to early components such as P100 and N100, barely changed with visibility. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Simulated second-level ERPs, corresponding to the late P3, were strongly modulated by visibility, matching the empirical early-versus-late ERP dissociation. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	The model reproduced the Pitts inattentional-blindness dissociation: only in phase three, when the square was both seen and task-relevant, did a large late P3-like ERP appear. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	The model predicts that visual consciousness will be accompanied by a late ERP whenever high-level confidence changes rapidly. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Adding prior expectation as a third factor, expectations consistent with the stimulus raised both forced-choice accuracy and the rate of 'seen' reports in every quadrant of the taxonomy. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	With a strong attended stimulus, a consistent prior shrank the simulated P3 while an inconsistent prior enlarged it relative to neutral priors. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[6]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	The model reconciles univariate ignition results with multivariate decoding of unseen stimuli, because above-baseline firing persists on unconscious trials and would be readable by a classifier even though mean rates are lower. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[7]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	global workspace theory (GWT) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: global workspace theory (GWT)	`content_tags.definitions[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	global neuronal workspace (GNW) model Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: global neuronal workspace (GNW) model	`content_tags.definitions[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	ignition Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: ignition	`content_tags.definitions[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	access consciousness Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: access consciousness	`content_tags.definitions[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	predictive global neuronal workspace (PGNW) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: predictive global neuronal workspace (PGNW)	`content_tags.definitions[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Active Inference Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: Active Inference	`content_tags.definitions[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP)	`content_tags.definitions[6]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	attention Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: attention	`content_tags.variables[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	stimulus signal strength Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: stimulus signal strength	`content_tags.variables[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	prior probability Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: prior probability	`content_tags.variables[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	forced choice performance Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: forced choice performance	`content_tags.variables[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	firing rate Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: firing rate	`content_tags.variables[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	state transition Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: state transition	`content_tags.variables[6]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	200 trials — size of the proof-of-principle simulation, half with the square present Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	100% — forced-choice and report accuracy of the model under full attention and high signal strength Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	47% — chance-level forced-choice accuracy in the weak-signal, attention-absent quadrant Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	58% and 61% — forced-choice accuracy when signal strength alone, or attention alone, was raised Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	53% — rate at which the calibrated model reported seeing the square in phase one of the simulated inattentional-blindness task, matching the human 50% Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	800 — square-present trials simulated for the expectation-extended taxonomy, 100 per prior-by-quadrant cell Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[5]`		the tagger's words

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