It may sound silly and almost ignorant for one to ask if consciousness be active in our daily lives when it is the fundamental fact of human existence. But there are many reasons why most psychologists have avoided discussing consciousness both of which are of complex reasoning and of historical weight. In their research and clinical practice, psychologists have learned a great deal about various aspects of consciousness, such as perception, mental imagery, thinking, memory, and emotion. But when it begins to boil down to it consciousness is one of the most difficult of all scientific problems. First being the concept in and of itself- what do we even mean by consciousness, what is it that we are even trying to understand, and why should it …show more content…
Some of these problems question the concept of mind and consciousness, as well as the methods used for studying consciousness, what factors influence the stream of consciousness, or the relationship between conscious and non-conscious, and the processes associated with each. Other questions may include- what is the relationship between consciousness, and the brain, or between consciousness and behavior? Or the role it plays in the human mind/brain system. Among the most distinctive topics of the psychology of consciousness are the “altered states” of consciousness. Altered states of consciousness are temporary, reversible conditions in which one’s pattern of subjective experience, and sometimes the ability to control one’s own behavior, appear to be different than in one’s normal waking …show more content…
In other words: being mindful or having awareness in reference to the cognizance or knowing of something. Consciousness is always about something, and concerns perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and actions about those particular something’s. It also has contents, in which the variety is enormous. This can include the familiarity of objects and events in the immediate environment, as well as body sensations like tummy rumblings, and joint pains. It can also include memories of past events, impersonal factual knowledge or even imaginary scenes such as like those in day and night dreams. In also includes emotions and inner speech like thoughts about personal problems and goals. But while it has a variety of different contents, not very many of the contents can occur all at once. In fact, it’s the selectivity of consciousness that is one of its main features. Too much information comes in from the outside world to process it all equally, and it is useful to select the most salient data for deeper
Chapter 4 discusses the several states of consciousness: the nature of consciousness, sleep and dreams, psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, and meditation. Consciousness is a crucial part of human experience, it represents that private inner mind where we think, feel, plan, wish, pray, omagine, and quietly relive experiences. William James described the mind as a stream of consciousness, a continuous flow of changing sensations, images thoughts, and feelings. Consciousness has two major parts: awareness and arousal. Awareness includes the awareness of the self and thoughts about one's experiences. Arousal is the physiological state of being engaged with the environment. Theory of mind refers to individuals understanding that they and others think,
theorists attempt to develop a mode of consciousness and cognition that breaks the identity of
The conscious mind includes everything that we are aware of, all the information that a person is paying attention to at any given time. When Penny revisits the house and the
There is almost no doubt that there is a relationship between psychology and philosophy. Indeed, many people actually considering that the philosophies related to and concerned with the mind and thought are the precursor to modern psychology. Of course, most of these philosophies were decidedly western, or popular in the west. However, the problem with our western views of consciousness in philosophy and psychology is that often times the way we view the conscious process leads to a so-called "infinite regression." That is to say, if we see consciousness as a set of rules guiding our experiences in life, there must also be another set of rules that defines how we know when to use those rules, and so on and so forth. (Kurak 2001, 18-19). In this paper, I will attempt to show how we can turn to Buddhist principles to help us gain a better understanding of human consciousness.
In this term paper, I have tried to tackle the metaphysical issues of consciousness by first defining consciousness and doing a thorough study about the term. Then I proceeded to the metaphysical aspects of consciousness, examining and understanding them.
Mindfulness is a concept or practice that was founded nearly 2600 years ago. It is a very integral component of the Buddhist faith and is believed to be associated with many benefits including self-control, tolerance, flexibility, objectivity, concentration, mental clarity, emotional intelligence, kindness, compassion, acceptance, and equanimity.
To conclude this essay, I like to emphazise that Rosenthal's HOT is more of an empirical hypothesis, rather than an analysis of the term ‘consciousness.’ His aim is precisely to explain the phenomena of consciousness in relation to other mental states, such as thought and perception, and while achieving this, he has elaborated a theoretical structure for comprehending the functions of our mind.
There is a great question on whether or not our conscious thoughts are something greater than a physical state: this question has two responses which state that yes, consciousness state and brain state are two separate states (dualism) and no, brain state and conscious state is one in the same (physicalism). I will be arguing that brain state and conscious state are the same by presenting scientific evidence and theories that support a physicalist view. This evidence will clearly state why the physical stance is supported while the dualist stance is not.
According to cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, author of “The Brain: The Mystery of Consciousness,” he responds to consciousness being very difficult to define and explain how or why any physical state is conscious rather than being unconscious. Another primary issue of consciousness is the issue of having experience. When one thinks and perceives, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is a subjective aspect. A majority of people assume that all mental states are conscious, but none of us know that for sure, and so the problem of describing or explicating consciousness collapses into the problem of explaining mentality. Even though perception can give someone access to knowledge, obtaining your personal perspective cannot only seek knowledge as well, but it can show the spiritual or personal aspect towards
Renner, T., Feldman, R., Majors, M., Morrissey, J., & Mae, L. (2011). States of Consciousness. Psychsmart (pp. 99-107). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Consciousness is a concept that is socially constructed to define a real, yet abstract phenomenon. The point of defining consciousness, in Combs words, is to take an metaphysical idea, something that can not be understood directly in itself, and turn it into an object for humans to understand from a concrete perspective. For the purpose of this paper, the type of consciousness that will mostly be discussed can be described as having consciousness, an adverb that is understood as an experience, not solely the state of being alive (Walden. Lecture. 8/24/16). To define consciousness in words does not do it justice, as it is comprised of the intangible and feelings. Yet, consciousness directly effects the physical world. According to *** , the meaning of consciousness arises in
II. (Introduce Topic) Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to understand the different functions of the human body, how we move, talk, and even act. Many of these physiological behaviors have been explained to some extent. However, one area of the human body that has baffled researchers, is that of the mind. Many things that go on inside the mind that don’t make sense, and serves no real explanation as to why or how things happen. One of the most fascinating and mysterious sections of psychology is that of dreaming. Even though there are numerous theories about dreams; whomever you are, wherever you live, you will dream. Whether it's a good dream or a nightmare is up to your mind, but there must be some reasoning behind dreams, right?
How has perception of consciousness developed overtime and in recent time with the rapid increase in
“Consciousness is defined as everything of which we are aware at any given time - our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions of the external environment. Physiological researchers have returned to the study of consciousness, in examining physiological rhythms, sleep, and altered states of consciousness (changes in awareness produced by sleep, meditation, hypnosis, and drugs)” (Wood, 2011, 169). There are five levels of consciousness; Conscious (sensing, perceiving, and choosing), Preconscious (memories that we can access), Unconscious ( memories that we can not access), Non-conscious ( bodily functions without sensation), and Subconscious ( “inner child,” self image formed in early childhood).
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychology includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes. Many people go through troubles every day, some more than others; this might be related to a mental disorder or condition affecting the mind. This is why psychologist are important in society today. They are always working hard to find new medicines and therapy techniques to help make life a lot easier.