Positive Technology Journal

The Association for the Scientific Studies of Consciousness (ASSC) is a society that promotes understanding of the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of consciousness.

 

The ASSC currently has two official journals:

 

CONSCIOUSNESS & COGNITION "provides a forum for a natural-science approach to the issues of consciousness, voluntary control, and self" 

 

PSYCHE "is a free electronic journal dedicated to supporting the interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of consciousness and its relation to the brain"

 

Each year, the ASSC awards the "ASSC William James Prize for Contributions to the Study of Consciousness" for "an outstanding published contribution to the empirical or philosophical study of consciousness by a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar/researcher within 5 years of receiving a PhD or other advanced degree"

 

The 2005 ASSC award was assigned to the article "Attention to Intention" by Hakwan Lau and colleagues (Science, 2004, 303, 1208-1210). The article "describes research showing that attending to the intention to initiate a movement (as contrasted with attending to the movement itself) leads to an enhancement of activity in the pre-supplementary motor area. This finding suggests that activity in the pre-SMA reflects the representation of intention and that attention to intention may be one way in which effective conscious control of action is possible" (from the ASSC prize website)