#ConsciousProcessing

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Research triggers revision of a leading theory of consciousness | Big Think

Research triggers revision of a leading theory of consciousness | Big Think

Source: Research triggers revision of a leading theory of consciousness – Big Think Sounds interesting. Largely adopted consciousness theories are being put to the test again. https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/revision-leading-theory-consciousness/ artist’s rendition of activated neural pathways in transparent head depiction Credit: agsandrew / Adobe Stock

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Brief reading in psychology

PSYCHOLOGY 

- A STUDY OF MENTAL LIFE

BY ROBERT S. WOODWORTH, Ph.D.

“...Stimulus-response psychology is solid, and practical as well; for if it can establish the laws of reaction, so as to predict what response will be made to a given stimulus, and what stimulus can be depended on to arousea desired response, it furnishes the " knowledge that is power ". Perhaps no more suitable motto could be inscribed over the door of a psychological laboratory than these two words, " Stimulus-Response."Such a motto would not frighten away the modern intro- spectionists, for they, no less than the behaviorists, could find a congenial home in a stimulus-response laboratory. They would begin by studying sensations, and, advancing to more complex responses, would observe the consciousprocesses entering into the response.But, however useful the reaction may be as affording a sound basis for psychological study, we must not allow it to blind our eyes to any of the real facts of mental life; and, at first thought, it seems as if motives, interests and pur- poses did not fit into the stimulus-response program. Many hard-headed psychologists have fought shy of such matters, and some have flatly denied them any place in scientific psychology. But let us see.Suppose we are looking out on a city street during the noon hour. We see numbers of people who—lunch over, nothing to do till one o'clock!—are standing or walking about, looking at anything that chances to catch their eye, waving their hands to friends across the street, whistling to a stray dog that comes past, or congregating about an automobile that has broken down in the crowded thorough- fare. These people are responding to stimuli, obviously enough, and there is no difficulty in fitting their behavior into the stimulus-response scheme.But here comes some one who pays little attention to the sights and sounds of the street, simply keeping his eyes open enough to avoid colliding with any one else. He seems in a hurry, and we say of him, " He must have business on hand; he has to keep an appointment or catch' a train ". He is not simply responding to the stimuli that come to him, but has some purpose of his own that directs his movements.Here is another who, while not in such a hurry, is not idling by any means, since he peers closely at the faces of the men, neglecting the women, and seems to be looking for some one in particular; or, perhaps, he neglects men and women alike, and looks anxiously at the ground, as if he had lost something. Some inner motive shuts him off from most of the stimuli of the street, while making him extra respon- sive to certain sorts of stimuli..” 

“...The purposeful person wants something he has not yet got, and is striving towards some future result...”