GGR6

Introspection and Cognitive Unconscious

• Consciousness provides necessary information about surroundings and past events without detailing the underlying processes involved.

• The cognitive unconscious operates outside of awareness and makes introspection about processes like perception and memory retrieval unnecessary.

Brain Damage and Unconscious Functioning

• Cognitive unconscious questions:

  • What can the cognitive unconscious achieve?

  • What operations occur without conscious guidance?

• Evidence from brain-damaged individuals:

  • Anterograde Amnesia:

    • Patients show normal implicit memory tests despite a lack of conscious memory.

    • Example: Word list recall with prompts (e.g., "CL A__") reveals memory influence without awareness.

• Memory without Awareness:

  • Patients can utilize memory aids but lack conscious recollection of the original memory list.

  • They can generate words influenced by prior exposure without conscious recognition.

Blindsight and Unconscious Perception

• Definition: Syndrome resulting from injuries in the visual cortex causing apparent blindness.

• Patients demonstrate:

  • Inability to consciously perceive objects or react to visual stimuli (e.g., moving around a room).

  • Ability to perform tasks (e.g., matching card orientation) without conscious visual processing.

• Experiment on Blindsight:

• Patients accurately positioned cards in slots without conscious awareness of visual details.

• Performance compared to sighted controls highlights discrepancies in conscious and unconscious processing capabilities.

Unconscious Attributions

• Memory and perception can operate without conscious awareness, highlighting the complexity of unconscious processes.

• Experiment by Nisbett and Schachter (1966):

  • Subjects underwent electric shocks with a placebo pill indicating effects.

  • Placebo group accepted significantly higher shock levels, evidencing unconscious processing influencing behavior.