You are here

How the Mind Works

18 November, 2015 - 16:22
Available under Creative Commons-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/e9870125-e711-4b95-b8a1-46ba7f0fbf48@19.1

Through a discussion of schema and dual-process theories I introduced a little of how the mind thinks. The mind conceives notions of the world and stores these notions or ideas in their mind as schema. The mind also works consciously and unconsciously - from the ideas of dual process theories 'system 1' is the unconscious; which is low effort, large capacity, rapid, automatic, non-verbal and non-logical while 'system 2' - basically the conscious mind - is the opposite.

I guess the question is when exactly is system 1 and system 2 engaged? Are some thoughts strictly 'unconscious' while other thoughts strictly 'conscious' - or can a thought have unconscious components? Similarly, can a performance or action have conscious and unconscious aspects?

Whenever a behavior is more automatic it is then more learned and unconscious because you don't have to think about it as much as when you learned it or are thinking about it in a new way or something. I already mentioned how this is similar to understanding what in psychology is termed 'flow' or in sports is simply termed being in the 'zone'. Conscious thinking and feeling can be difficult or easy - it is probably easier when you are using unconscious processes and influences because then the thinking or feeling is more automatic.