Editing Global workspace theory (section)

{{Short description|Model of consciousness}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

'''Global workspace theory''' ('''GWT''') is a framework for thinking about [[consciousness]] introduced in 1988, by [[cognitive scientist]] [[Bernard Baars]].{{sfn|Baars|1998|}}{{sfn|Baars|2018}} It was developed to qualitatively explain a large set of matched pairs of conscious and unconscious processes. GWT has been influential in modeling consciousness and higher-order cognition as emerging from competition and integrated flows of information across widespread, parallel neural processes.

Bernard Baars derived inspiration for the theory as the cognitive analog of the [[blackboard system]] of early artificial intelligence system architectures, where independent programs shared information.{{sfn|Finkel|2023b}}

Global workspace theory is one of the leading theories of consciousness.{{sfn|Zimmer|2023}}{{sfn|Costandi|2023}}{{sfn|Finkel|2023a}}{{sfn|Maillé|Lynn|2020}}  While aspects of GWT are matters of debate, it remains a focus of current research, including brain interpretations and computational simulations.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}