Consciousness Flashcards
Consciousness
A person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind
Phenomenology
How things seem to the conscious person
Problem of other minds
The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others
What are the four basic properties of consciousness?
- Intentionality
- Unity
- Selectivity
- Transcience
Intentionality
Being directed toward an object
Unity
Divided attention
Selectivity
The capacity to include some objects but not others
Dichotic listening
The task asked an observer pay attention to one of two different messages, each delivered to one ear over stereo earphones, and then asked about the content of one or both the messages.
Cocktail party phenomenon
Phenomenon of being able to focus one’s auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, as when a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room.
Transcience
Stream of consciousness; tendency for consciousness to change.
What are the levels of consciousness?
Minimal
Full
Self
Minimal consciousness
Consciousness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behaviour
Full consciousness
You know and are able to report your mental state.
Self consciousness
Where the person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object (e.g. embarrassment, introspection of thoughts)
What is experience sampling?
People are asked to report their conscious experience at particular times.
What does experience sampling demonstrate?
That consciousness is dominated by the immediate environment and current concerns
What is daydreaming?
A state of consciousness when seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts comes to mind. Current concerns will shift daydreaming into rumination and worry.
What is daydreaming associated with?
Activation in the default network
Mental control
The attempt to change conscious states of mind
Thought suppression
The conscious avoidance of a thought
Rebound effect
The tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression
Ironic process of mental control
The psychological process whereby deliberate attempts to suppress certain thoughts make them more likely to surface.
