Overview
This lecture explores the concept of consciousness, its definitions, scientific investigation methods, and the psychological phenomena of attention, inattention, and awareness.
Defining Consciousness
- Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
- William James described consciousness as a "stream," continuously shifting and flowing.
- Consciousness helps us organize sensory information, plan, reflect, and contemplate abstract ideas.
States of Consciousness
- We experience various states: waking, sleeping, and altered (e.g., dreaming, drug-induced, meditative, hypnotic).
- Upcoming lectures will cover these states in detail.
Studying the Brain and Consciousness
- Cognitive neuroscience studies links between brain activity and mental processes (thinking, perception, memory, language).
- Structural neuroimaging shows brain anatomy; functional imaging shows brain activity and can link functions to brain regions.
- Neuroimaging provides correlations between mental states and brain activity, but correlation does not mean causation.
Dual Process Model of Consciousness
- Consciousness may have two layers: the conscious, deliberate mind and the automatic, implicit mind.
- Our senses gather around 11 million bits of info/second, but we only consciously register about 40 at a time.
Selective Attention and Its Effects
- Selective attention focuses consciousness on specific stimuli, filtering out other information.
- The "cocktail party effect" allows focus on a single conversation amid noise.
- Selective inattention means missing obvious things when attention is occupied elsewhere (e.g., inattentional blindness).
- Inattentional blindness: failure to notice unexpected events (e.g., the Invisible Gorilla experiment).
- Change blindness: failure to notice changes in the environment (e.g., person swap experiments).
Real-world Implications and Psychological Tricks
- Selective and change blindness can be exploited by magicians (misdirection) and can cause real-life issues like false memories.
- We are less aware of our surroundings than we think, even more so in altered states.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Consciousness — awareness of self and environment.
- Selective Attention — focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
- Inattentional Blindness — failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.
- Change Blindness — failure to notice changes in the environment.
- Dual Process Model — the idea that consciousness includes both deliberate and automatic processing.
- Cognitive Neuroscience — study of brain activity linked with mental processes.
- Neuroimaging — technology for visualizing brain structure (structural) and activity (functional).
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review key concepts of consciousness and attention.
- Watch the Invisible Gorilla and person swap experiments.
- Prepare for the next lecture on altered states of consciousness.