What Is The Subconscious Mind? - iMotions

Conscious – defines all thoughts and actions within our awareness. · Subconscious – defines all reactions and automatic actions we can become ... BlogWhatIsTheSubconsciousMind?BrynFarnsworth,Ph.DPostDoc.&ExpertContentWriterFebruary18th,2020ShareDoyourememberwhenyoutriedtorideabicycleforthefirsttime?Canyoucountthenumberofrepetitions necessarytoperformaflawlessdance?Haveyouevertriedtomasteranewmusicalinstrument?Mostlikely,firstattemptstosynchronizeanewsetofcomplexactions arealwaysdifficult.Oncewebecomemoreskilled,thesemovementsstarttorequirelessconsciousawarenessuntileverythingbeginstoflownaturally.Alltheseautomaticmovementsareguidedbyoneofthemostpowerfulinnerforceswhichdriveshumanbehavior–thesubconsciousmind(alsocommonlyreferredtoasthenonconsciousmind).Content:SubconsciousMind:Wheredoesithide?ScientificDetectionoftheSubconsciousMindActivationofBrainRegionsSimplerWaytoHarnessthePowerofSubconsciousMind SubconsciousMind:WhereDoesItHide?It’snotuncommontohearaboutconsciousandunconscioustypesofactionswhenscientiststalkaboutthebrain.Asaresult,mostofusarefamiliarwiththeideathatourbehaviorislessrationalthanwebelievetobe.Whetherwelikeitornot,ourabilitytocontrolthoughts,synchronizemovements,orexperienceemotionsdependsonthedepthofinformationprocessing.TheideaofdeeperlevelsofinformationprocessingwasdevelopedandextensivelystudiedbyfamousAustrianpsychologistSigmundFreud(1856–1939)whointroducedthe3levelmindmodel.Accordingtohismodel,themindcouldbedividedintofollowinglevels:Three-levelmindmodelConscious–definesallthoughtsandactionswithinourawareness. Forexample,thebeautyandpleasanceofthesmellofaredtulipSubconscious–definesallreactionsandautomaticactionswecanbecomeawareofifwethinkaboutthem. Forexample,ourabilitytodriveacar:oncewegetskilledwestopthinkingwhichgearstouse,whichpedalstopress,orwhichmirrortolookat,yetcanalwaysbecome awareofwhatwasdoneoncewethinkaboutit.Unconscious–definesallpasteventsandmemories, thoughattimesinaccessibletousnomatterhowhardwetrytoremembertobringthingsup. Forexample,thefirstwordwe’velearnedtosay,orhowitfelttobeabletowalkonourown.ScientificDetectionoftheSubconsciousMindUptothisday,theabilitytoexplainhowtheinteractionofdifferentlevelsofthoughtsinfluencesourbehaviorremainsoneofthemostcompellingchallengesinpsychologyandneuroscience.Inordertountanglehowonelevelofthoughtinfluencestheother,scientistsmustbecomeabletodetectdifferentdepthsofthemind.Quiteoften,thelevelsofinformationprocessingcouldbecapturedusingprimingparadigms.Forexample,arecentpsychologicalstudy showedhowirrelevantcuesshapelearningandsuggestedthattheeffectofconscious,subconscious,andunconsciousthoughtscanbemodeledvaryingpresentationtimeofemotionalfaces.Inthisexperiment,participantswerepresentedwithasetofpicturesofhumanfacesandwereaskedtodeterminewhetherthefacialexpressioninapreviouspicturemimickedthesameemotion.Interestingly,resultsshowedthatpeoplewereabletocorrectlyInterestingly,resultsshowedthatpeoplewereabletocorrectlyrecognizethedifferencebetweenfacialexpressionsifpicturesweredisplayedforatleast0.047s.Oncethedurationofpictureswasdecreasedto0.027s–0.033s,therateofcorrectresponsesdroppedbyapproximatelyahalf.Incontrast,respondentsbecameunabletodiscriminatethefacialexpressionsifthedurationofthestimuluswasdecreasedevenmore–to0.020s.Thisway,researchdemonstratedcleardifferentiationofconsciousandunconsciousinfluenceofthoughts:peoplewereonlyabletogiveerror-freeanswersifthepicturecouldreachthelevelofconsciousawareness.Moresurprisingly,durationofpictures,shownforaslongas0.027s–0.033s,couldn’tbesufficientforstimulusverbalizationatthelevelofconsciousawareness,yethadMoresurprisingly,durationofpictures,shownforaslongas0.027s–0.033s,couldn’tbesufficientforstimulusverbalizationatthelevelofconsciousawareness,yethadameasurableinfluenceonbehavior.Specifically,therateofcorrectresponsesdecreasedjustbyhalf,meaningthatparticipantswerestillpartiallyabletoprovidewithcorrectresponsesandindicatedthepresenceofthesubconsciousmind.ActivationofBrainRegionsYoumightgetcuriouswhetherthebrainactivationdifferswhenweexperienceaninfluenceofsubconsciousversusconsciousmind.You mightwanttoknowwhyconsciousthoughtsareoftenprocessedslowerthanunconsciousthoughts.Ormightquestionwhetherscientistscandefineexactprocessingpathwaysofsuchtinysubtleconceptsassubconsciousthought.Untilrecently,itwasimpossibletocapturewhereinthebrainthesethoughtprocessesoccurorvisualizespecificbrainactivationregions.However,theriseofbrainimagingmethods allowedresearcherstostudythoughtprocessingpathwaysbyprovidinganopportunitytopicturechangesintheneuroanatomyofabrain.Today,brainimagingresearch hasindeedthismodelofthemindandsuggestedthatthedepthofthoughtdependsonitsprocessingpathway.Inparticular,studies(study1,study2)showedthatthepathwaysofconsciousandunconsciousthoughtscanbeclearlydifferentiated.Incontrast,thepathwayofthesubconsciousmindismuchdifficulttodefine.Infact,subconsciousthoughtsdonotseemtohavetheirownprocessingpathway.Rather,theysharethebitsofboth–consciousandunconscious–routesofinformationprocessing.SimplerWaytoHarnessthePowerofSubconsciousMindYoumightwanttodefinetheinfluenceofsubconsciousthoughtifyouareinterestedhowitspresenceshapesconsumerbehavior.Whileonlyafewofushaveanextensivescientificbackground,accesstoresearchlaboratories,andsufficientfundstorunthesetypesofstudies,it’sincorrecttoassumethatthere’snootherwaytoharnessthepowerofsubconsciousmind.Asasolution,iMotionsofferacuttingedgeplatformallowingtoaddresssuchchallengesofresearch.Pleasecheckthislink formoreinformation. References:Bargh,J.A.,&Morsella,E.(2008).Theunconsciousmind.Perspectivesonpsychologicalscience,3(1),73-79.Horga,G.,&Maia,T.V.(2012).Consciousandunconsciousprocessesincognitivecontrol:atheoreticalperspectiveandanovelempiricalapproach.Frontiersinhumanneuroscience,6.Meneguzzo,P.,Tsakiris,M.,Schioth,H.B.,Stein,D.J.,&Brooks,S.J.(2014).Subliminalversussupraliminalstimuliactivateneuralresponsesinanteriorcingulatecortex,fusiformgyrusandinsula:ameta-analysisoffMRIstudies.BMCpsychology,2(1),1.Stephan,K.M.,Thaut,M.H.,Wunderlich,G.,Schicks,W.,Tian,B.,Tellmann,L.,…&Hömberg,V.(2002).Consciousandsubconscioussensorimotorsynchronization—prefrontalcortexandtheinfluenceofawareness.Neuroimage,15(2),345-352.Watanabe,N.,&Haruno,M.(2015).Effectsofsubconsciousandconsciousemotionsonhumancue-rewardassociationlearning.Scientificreports,5.RelatedArticlesWhatareheuristics?Checkmate:ThepowerofimplicitfactorsinnegotiationReadmoreabouttheiMotionsPlatform 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