The Development of Consciousness in Infants

Presented by Dr. Claudia Passos-Ferreira

This webinar was presented live on Wednesday June 4, 2025 at 4pm US Eastern time. Through the kindness of the presenter, a recording of the webinar is available here.

Dr. Claudia Passos-Ferreira

Claudia Passos-Ferreira is a philosopher and a psychologist. She is Assistant Professor at NYU Center for Bioethics. She has PhDs in Philosophy and in Public Health, and has trained as a child and adolescent clinical psychologist. Her current research focuses on the development of consciousness, including what theories of consciousness say about infant, animal and machine consciousness, and how these theories shed light on ethical issues. She is the principal investigator of the project What do theories of consciousness predict about consciousness in animals, infants, and machines?funded by Templeton World Charity Foundation. She has spoken at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, The Science of Consciousness, The Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science, Mindfest, and many other events. She recently delivered a TED Talk on the topic of infant consciousness. 

The Development of Consciousness in Infants When does consciousness begin? There is still no consensus on when consciousness first emerges in the life of a human being.  Our best method for detecting consciousness involves first-person verbal reports of conscious states. When first-person reports are absent, as in infants and fetuses, our methods for studying consciousness are limited. In this talk, I will explain the challenge of detecting consciousness in infants. I will shed light on recent neuroscientific discoveries suggesting an early onset of consciousness during infancy. Additionally, I will explore the spectrum of experiences infants might undergo, and unravel the developmental journey of infant consciousness, progressing from perceptual awareness of the environment to complex self-awareness, mind-wandering, and beyond.