Join with a free account for more service, or become a member for full access to exclusives and extra support of WorldSupporter >>
How does unconscious processing work? - Chapter 19
Conscious and unconscious processing
Scientists had a very early interest in unconscious processing (also called implicit or subliminal perception ). We know that there can be perception without consciousness. People can think for themselves that they have not perceived anything consciously, while their behavior shows that they have observed something.
We do not assume that we have two selves: one for conscious processing and one for unconscious processing. In earlier experiments, conscious experiences were defined in terms of what people themselves said they had observed. This sounds logical, but this method has a disadvantage. Whether someone says that he or she has perceived something consciously depends on how careful someone is with his or her judgment. There is no clear limit to indicate between when someone has observed something or not. Behaviorists did not want to be dependent on whether people said they had observed something. They wanted to make objective measuring instruments so that there was no need for them. This is a strange idea, since saying whether you have observed something,is as reliable (or unreliable) as pressing a button to make it clear that you have observed something.
Priming
Marcel showed that people react faster to a target if the prime matches this. Marcel made the primes unrecognizable to participants by placing a visual distractor on the image immediately after the prime appeared. People could not consciously perceive the prime. Even so, the target was reacted even faster. This phenomenon is also called ' semantic priming' .
Cheesman and Merikle distinguished between:
objective threshold value, and
subjective threshold value.
The objective threshold value represents the level of detection in which a distinction is made between perceptual information on the basis of random phenomena. The subjective threshold value is about the value at which participants say that they could not distinguish between perceptual information and that their answers come from random phenomena.
Cheesman and Merikle used the Stroop test where participants have to name the color of a word after being primed with a colored word. Corresponding (congruent) colors and words provide a faster response time. When colors and words do not match, there is incongruity. Cheesman and Merikle drew the conclusion that there is unconscious processing when information is presented below the subjective limit value and above the objective limit value.
Unconsciousness and emotion
It is also possible that unconscious perception affects the emotions of people. Threatening images (which people deny having seen) can evoke emotional reactions and change perceptual thresholds. Sometimes it even happens that people who have been sedated have nevertheless unconsciously observed what the surgeon said during the operation.
Merikle and Daneman state that unconsciously observed information leads to automatic reactions and that consciously observed information leads to more flexible reactions. However, it can not be said with certainty that unconsciously observed information causes automatic reactions . It is also possible that more flexible reactions cause awareness or that flexible responses and conscious processes are the same.
Brain scans also show that unconscious perception can be found in the brain. Unconsciously perceived images of frightened faces lead to more activity in the amygdala compared to happy faces. This confirms that even when information is unconsciously processed, there can still be effects on different parts of the brain that would also be activated when the same stimuli were consciously observed.
The implications of unconscious perception
The idea of a Cartesian theater must be wrong, since it has been found that unconscious processing also influences the actions of the human being. Cartesian theater assumes that information enters consciousness and that "I" can choose what he or she does with this information.
Cartesian materialism is also wrong, because in this vision it is also believed that something 'comes' into consciousness, as is the case with Cartesian theater. In Cartesian materialism, it is not believed in a "self" that looks at a mental screen in its own head (which is an assumption in Cartesian theater). With our findings about the influence of unconscious processing, we can conclude that these visions can not be correct.
Solve problems
Opinions vary widely as to whether unconscious problem solving takes place. Broadbent and Berry have conducted studies showing that it is possible to unconsciously solve problems. It happens that people who are good at performing a task can explain very poorly how they accomplish the task. Sometimes people do not even know what information they used to complete a task during an experiment.
Lewicki proved that without people knowing it, they can become better at performing a task on a computer screen. He believes that unconscious information processing processes are faster than conscious ones and that they are also more refined. Among scientists there are differences of opinion about how 'smart' unconscious cognition is.
Claxton states that many tasks can best be performed without interference from consciousness. Many experiments show that when trying to learn something explicit, implicit learning can suppress.
Intuition
Sometimes insight can come much later than desired. Intuition can be seen as making decisions or drawing conclusions without explicit processing or reasoning.
There are three parts of intuition. First, there are cognitive processes that allow the brain to derive information from complex patterns and guide behavior. Cognitive processes probably contribute to many everyday skills; from playing computer games to guessing which row will probably be the shortest in the supermarket. In addition, there are social skills that make us feel that someone is unreliable, for example. We also use social skills when we want to estimate when the best time is to bring bad news to someone. These skills are quickly picked up by children. Women have better verbal skills and are more interested in social relationships. For these reasons they might well have a better developed intuition.Finally, there are still emotions. Intuitive knowledge is often accompanied by emotions.
People with damaged frontal lobes become very superficial on an emotional level. This ensures that they become indecisive. They find it difficult to make choices about the smallest things. They can rationally weigh alternatives, but they lack in-depth emotions. Because of this they can not sense which choice is right.
Creativity
Creativity can be seen as a way in which explicit and intuitive skills come together. However, it is not clear where creativity comes from. For example, many famous writers and painters say that their best work comes to them. The question is where it comes from. They do not feel that they consciously make a beautiful painting or write a beautiful poem; it all seems to go by itself. It therefore seems as if there is 'selfless' creativity, being a force that comes from the outside.
Creative people score high on fantasizing, hypnotizability, and 'absorption'. This last term stands for being able to easily blend into a book or film. We could also show creativity from an evolutionary framework. Perhaps creativity allows people to bring together cultural knowledge ('memes') in special ways to form new memes. They must be motivated for this and can sense which combinations of memes go well together.
Resources:Blackmore; Susan. (2010). Consciousness, Second Edition An Introduction. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis.
Book Summary of Consciousness: An Introduction - by Susan Blackwell
What is the problem of consciousness? - Chapter 1
What is the world made of?
The problem of consciousness is related to some of the oldest questions of philosophy: what does the world consist of? Who am I? It relates to the mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the physical and the mental?
Despite the fact that we are learning more and more about the functioning of the brain, consciousness remains a mystery. In the past, they used the term 'élan vital' to explain how non-living things could be made alive. Nowadays this concept is no longer used, since we know that biological processes are responsible for this. Some scientists believe that the same will also happen with the term consciousness. Once we understand how brain processes create a sense of consciousness, then we might not need to use this term anymore.
Consciousness requires some sort of dualism: objectivity vs. subjectivity, inner vs. outer, mind vs. body...
For example: Take a pencil in your hand and look at it. You see the pencil from your own unique perspective, which you cannot share with others. The pencil is part of the outside world, your experience with the pencil is part of your inner world.
Philosophical theories
The way philosophers view the consciousness problem can generally be divided into monist theories, which suggest that there are one kind of things in the world, and dualist theories, which suggest that there are two kinds of things. Some theories state that the mental world is fundamental and some theories state that the physical world is fundamental.
Monism
Monistic theories assume that the world consists of only one kind of matter (body or mind). Some monistic theories state that everything consists of the mind, according to these theories we only have ideas and perceptions of a pencil. We do not know if a pencil really exists. People who assume this are called mentalists or idealists. Berkeley supported this principle. The disadvantage of this perspective is that we can never know for certain whether objects with fixed characteristics exist.
Materialists are also monists. They believe that there is only matter. An example for this is the identity theory, which states that mental experiences are the same as physical experiences. Another example is functionalism, which assumes that mental experiences are the same as functional experiences.
Epiphenomenalism assumes that physical processes cause mental events, but that mental events have no effect on physical events. Huxley was a supporter of this idea. He did not deny that consciousness or subjective experiences existed, but stated that they have no (causal) connection with physical processes. He used the concept of 'conscious automata' to indicate that people and animals
.......read moreJoHo can really use your help! Check out the various student jobs here that match your studies, improve your competencies, strengthen your CV and contribute to a more tolerant world
Online access to all summaries, study notes en practice exams
- Check out: Register with JoHo WorldSupporter: starting page (EN)
- Check out: Aanmelden bij JoHo WorldSupporter - startpagina (NL)
How and why would you use WorldSupporter.org for your summaries and study assistance?
- For free use of many of the summaries and study aids provided or collected by your fellow students.
- For free use of many of the lecture and study group notes, exam questions and practice questions.
- For use of all exclusive summaries and study assistance for those who are member with JoHo WorldSupporter with online access
- For compiling your own materials and contributions with relevant study help
- For sharing and finding relevant and interesting summaries, documents, notes, blogs, tips, videos, discussions, activities, recipes, side jobs and more.
Using and finding summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter
There are several ways to navigate the large amount of summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter.
- Use the menu above every page to go to one of the main starting pages
- Starting pages: for some fields of study and some university curricula editors have created (start) magazines where customised selections of summaries are put together to smoothen navigation. When you have found a magazine of your likings, add that page to your favorites so you can easily go to that starting point directly from your profile during future visits. Below you will find some start magazines per field of study
- Use the topics and taxonomy terms
- The topics and taxonomy of the study and working fields gives you insight in the amount of summaries that are tagged by authors on specific subjects. This type of navigation can help find summaries that you could have missed when just using the search tools. Tags are organised per field of study and per study institution. Note: not all content is tagged thoroughly, so when this approach doesn't give the results you were looking for, please check the search tool as back up
- Check or follow your (study) organizations:
- by checking or using your study organizations you are likely to discover all relevant study materials.
- this option is only available trough partner organizations
- Check or follow authors or other WorldSupporters
- by following individual users, authors you are likely to discover more relevant study materials.
- Use the Search tools
- 'Quick & Easy'- not very elegant but the fastest way to find a specific summary of a book or study assistance with a specific course or subject.
- The search tool is also available at the bottom of most pages
Do you want to share your summaries with JoHo WorldSupporter and its visitors?
- Check out: Why and how to add a WorldSupporter contributions
- JoHo members: JoHo WorldSupporter members can share content directly and have access to all content: Join JoHo and become a JoHo member
- Non-members: When you are not a member you do not have full access, but if you want to share your own content with others you can fill out the contact form
Quicklinks to fields of study for summaries and study assistance
Field of study
- All studies for summaries, study assistance and working fields
- Communication & Media sciences
- Corporate & Organizational Sciences
- Cultural Studies & Humanities
- Economy & Economical sciences
- Education & Pedagogic Sciences
- Health & Medical Sciences
- IT & Exact sciences
- Law & Justice
- Nature & Environmental Sciences
- Psychology & Behavioral Sciences
- Public Administration & Social Sciences
- Science & Research
- Technical Sciences
Add new contribution