title: The evolutionary function of conscious information processing is revealed by its task-dependency in the olfactory system.
abstract: Although many responses to odorous stimuli are mediated without olfactory information being consciously processed, some olfactory behaviors require conscious information processing. I will here contrast situations in which olfactory information is processed consciously to situations in which it is processed non-consciously. This contrastive analysis reveals that conscious information processing is required when an organism is faced with tasks in which there are many behavioral options available. I therefore propose that it is the evolutionary function of conscious information processing to guide behaviors in situations in which the organism has to choose between many possible responses.
authors.affiliation: Philosophy Program, Graduate Center, The City University of New York New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
keywords: consciousness; evolution; information processing; olfaction; task-dependency