The Hidden Spring- Chap 4, What is experienced?

Question 1

Do you have to be aware of what you are perceiving and learning in order to perceive and learn?

Answer 1

No

Question 2

What 2 systems were thought to give rise to consciousness and is this accurate?

Answer 2

Perceptual and memory, No

Question 3

Why are the memory images that form in the cortex not literal representation of the outside world?

Answer 3

The periphery of the body communicates to subcortical structures, which then through intermediate links communicate with the cortex. So the cortex learns through what its fed by subcortical structures, which is fed by body.

The cortex is the last stage in multilevel processing

Question 4

What did Freud believe the demands of the body provide?

Answer 4

The mainspring of psychical mechanism aka biological drives influence conscious thought

Question 5

In an experiment where 2 images of people were flashed in front of participants and were then followed by negative and positive adjectives, a preference of the participants was placed on the image associated with positive adjectives, although they were unaware why they chose that person.

What does this tell us about the cortex and consciousness?

Answer 5

Language is a function of the cortex, and if the cortex is the seat of consciousness then language is a part of that. However, in this experiment the participants ended up choosing someone based off the adjectives that flashed, HOWEVER THEY WERE UNAWARE OF WHY. This indicates they weren’t conscious of what decisions they were making.

Cortical functions are not inherently conscious.