Bernard J. Baars

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗

Bernard J. Baars also known as Bernie Baars (born 1946, Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a cognitive neuroscientist, best known as the originator of global workspace theory (GWT), a concept of human cognitive architecture and consciousness.[1][2]

Life and work

Baars was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and moved to California with his family in 1958, aged around 12.[3]

Before moving into consciousness studies he trained as a language psychologist.[3] He served as a professor of psychology at Stony Brook University, where he conducted research into the causation of human errors and the Freudian slip,[4] and as a faculty member at the Wright Institute.[5] He was a senior fellow in theoretical neurobiology at the former Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California. Baars co-founded the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness[6] and the Academic Press journal Consciousness and Cognition, which he also edited, with William P. Banks, for "more than fifteen years".[7]

In addition to research on global workspace theory with Stan Franklin and others,[8] Baars has done work to reintroduce the topic of the conscious brain into the standard college and graduate school curriculum, by writing college textbooks and general-audience books, web teaching, advanced seminars, and course videos.[9]

Bibliography

  • A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness, NY: Cambridge University Press 1988, ISBN 0-521-30133-5.
  • Cognition, Brain and Consciousness: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience. (Second edition). London: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2010, with Nicole M. Gage, ISBN 978-0-12-375070-9
  • The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology, NY: Guilford Press, 1986, ISBN 0-89862-912-8.
  • The Experimental Psychology of Human Error: Implications for the Architecture of Voluntary Control, NY: Plenum Press, Series on Cognition and Language, 1992, ISBN 0-306-43866-6
  • In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-514703-0.

References

  1. "Firing on all neurons: Where consciousness comes from".
  2. According to The Information Philosopher (link to website), Baars has restored credibility to the "ancient metaphor of the mind as theater", accessed 6 January 2014.
  3. "Consciousness". routledgetextbooks.com. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  4. Goleman, Daniel (27 November 1984). "Do 'Freudian Slips' Betray a Darker, Hidden Meaning?". The New York Times.
  5. "The grand illusion".
  6. "theASSC.org – Association of Scientific Studies of Consciousness".
  7. According to Psychology Today (link) Archived 7 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 6 January 2014.
  8. "CCRG – Cognitive Computing Research Group – Papers".
  9. "Conseminar".