{
  "abstract": "This paper proposes the \"Three-Level Structure of Consciousness\" (TLSC), a model of consciousness closely related to Evolutionary Valence Labeling Theory (EVLT) and the Memory Hierarchy Comparison Mechanism (MHCM). The model divides conscious activity into three functional levels: the input level, the experience level, and the reflective level. The input level receives and preliminarily processes sensory signals and remains unconscious at all times; the experience level integrates multimodal input into unified experience episodes and simultaneously generates basic valence and a core sense of self; the reflective level reprocesses experiential content, forms the narrative self, and coordinates long-term behavior. The three levels correspond respectively to sensory memory, short-term memory/working memory, and long-term memory, and are driven by a unified source of dynamics provided by MHCM. The model is primarily a functional structural division—it bears a correspondence to brain regions, but takes functional division of labor as its core, with the aim of providing a clear and unified descriptive language for consciousness research. The paper also discusses the model's explanatory power for the self, attention, the unconscious, and psychopathological phenomena, and offers testable predictions.\n\nKeywords: Three-Level Structure of Consciousness; Evolutionary Valence Labeling Theory; input level; experience level; reflective level; Memory Hierarchy Comparison Mechanism; valence labeling; experience episode",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Changhong Yun"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ch5a72205s7x6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.23627749",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ch5a72205s7x6",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://zenodo.org/records/23627749",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/23627749/files/The%20Three-Level%20Structure%20of%20Consciousness3.pdf/content",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ch5a72205s7x6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:20:34Z",
      "native_id": "23627749",
      "source": "zenodo",
      "url": "https://zenodo.org/records/23627749"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "The Three-Level Structure of Consciousness: A Functional Model of Consciousness",
  "title_text": "The Three-Level Structure of Consciousness: A Functional Model of Consciousness",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:20:34Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ch5a72205s7x6",
  "venue": "Zenodo",
  "versions": []
}