week 10, chapter 14 Conscious and Unconscious Thought Flashcards
Blind Sight
term applies to some individuals who are conventionally blind, and themselves insist they cannot see, yet somehow in tests are able to “guess” with high accuracy where an object is, to follow a movement, or interpret a facial expression. Possibly seeing something, yet without any visual awareness.
Possible because some “islands” of intact brain tissue may remain, or because there are several neural pathways between eyeballs and brain, and some are intact.
Cognitive Unconscious
The broad set of mental activities that one is unaware of yet vital in day-to-day activities.
Mental Processes
Often unconscious. Includes seamlessly integrating assumptions into a memory. (thus memory errors are undetectable to participant). Mental processes lead to mental products.
unconscious processes are guided by situation (assume what is reasonable) or by habit.
Mental products
usually we are aware of them, eg recalling a memory-we can describe it
Unconscious Reasoning
Whilst comparatively easy for an onlooker to provide the reasoning which is likely to have occurred in the following examples, the participants seemed to have been completely unaware of it and have since synthesised their memory with feedback etc
eg. Eyewitness recognises perpetrator and gets told they picked right one-loses their doubts and later recall lighting being better etc to strengthen their claim of being able to recognise. Observer might deduce that because the police told participant their were right, they then believed it themselves (without being told were right, might have reserved some doubt).
eg. Given pill and told will limit pain but have side effects of shaking hands, rapid heart rate etc. Pill was a placebo. Then see how much electric shock willing to take. Placebo group tolerated much more. Observer would suspect because interpreted somatic symptoms as due to pill and not own fear or electric shock. The participants claim though that were not thinking about the pill at all as were just worried about the shock!
Mistaken Introspection
even when think decision/response was conscious and cite reasons for it, there still may be much which was unconscious. eg “After the Fact Reconstruction”. Sometimes this assumption strategy is correct, but sometimes it can be wrong.
Unconscious Problem-solving Set
also thought to have an unconscious problem-solving set which confines our unconscious
Subliminal Perception
one may be influenced by visual inputs that one did not consciously perceive. Demonstrated by being shown 3 words; first 2 are too fast for conscious perception, the 3rd is shown longer and is consciously perceived. The 3 words make a statement may be stanadrd or the 3rd word may make the staement startling/unexpected. eg Very Happy War. Demonstrated by an increase in N400 brainwaves which increase when see something violating one’s expectations.
Metacognitive skills
skills in monitoring and controlling one’s own mental processes.
Metamemory
one’s knowledge, awareness of, and control over, one’s own memory.
Brain Areas of Consciousness
Can broadly think of consciousness as involving;
a) level of awareness
& b) content of what thinking about.
The Reticular Activating System in brainstem and Thalamus are of particular importance in determining the overall level of awareness/alertness.
For Content, there are many brain areas involved in consciousness, depending upon what it is, and also if is in imeediate environment or not.
The Neuronal Workspace Hypothesis
believed that neuronal workspace comprises neurons which serve to link different brain areas, carring info back and forth. Suspected that different brain processes compete and only most active ones get communicated to other areas.
Workspace neurons do not carry the content of consciousness, but allow integration of the separate parts.
Neuronal Workspace is likely to accomodate or house the Executive Control. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex (linked to, and slightly caudal to, the frontal cortex) is thought to play a pivotal role in executive control, as it is crucial to conflict detection. The executive control needs to be able to override unconscious processes when it becomes apparent that a goal is not being achieved.
The communication between brain parts is necessary for consciousness, and this seems facilitated by the neuronal workspace.
The Binding Problem
The task of linking together different aspects of an experience, to create and integrated whole. Attention plays an important role in binding. (without attention, a red stimulus and a moving stimulus will trigger neurins in different areas, with attention, neurons fire synchronously and perceive the 2 stimuli as an integrated moving red object).
Mind Wandering
Whilst at some stage become aware that your mind has wandered, there seems an amount of time where one is unaware of it. Mind Wandering may occupy us for up to 25% of waking time. Can be distracting and consequnetial, but can also realive boredom and enhance creativity. Researchers document by asking “what are you thinking about right now?”, detecting changes in brain activity, or finding errors in assigned tasks.
Engagement in task helps avoid mind wandering, as does training in mindfulness or breathing exercises.
Consciousness is selective
Attention can amplify and sustain neural activity.
