PART II
Empirical Validation of IIT
(in development)
To validate the framework of integrated information theory (IIT) scientifically, the theory turns to the human brain—the one indisputable substrate of consciousness.
Empirical validation of IIT is ongoing, and this section of the Wiki will be populated with content gradually in the coming years. For the time being, an overview—albeit outdated—can be found in the Explanations and Predictions sections of Tononi, Boly, Massimini & Koch 2016.
Below is information on two ongoing adversarial collaborations in which IIT is involved, in addition to literature lists of studies and reviews that lend empirical support to the IIT framework.
Adversarial collaborations between IIT and other theories of consciousness
IIT is currently being tested in two adversarial collaborations, supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation:
ARC-COGITATE: IIT vs. Global Neuronal Workspace theory
ARC-INTREPID: IIT vs. two predictive processing frameworks—Active Inference and Neurorepresentationalism
The experiments of these projects are co-designed by proponents of the theories involved, with the idea that the empirical results should favor the predictions of one theory over the other. The projects are facilitated by neutral third parties, and the hypotheses of each theory are publicly pre-registered before experimentation begins. All predictions are then tested empirically by independent research laboratories.
The results from the first round of ARC-COGITATE experiments have been published in Melloni et al. 2023.