CONSCIOUSNESS
SUBMITTED TO:- MISS ISHA PAUL
SUBMITTED BY:SHRADHA
GAUR
MA I
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Definition and characteristics
 History in brief
 Modern theories of consciousness
 Waking states of consciousness:
Controlled and Automatic processing,
Self-Awareness, Effects of SelfAwareness.

Consciousness
George Miller wrote in 1962, "Consciousness is a
word worn smooth by a million tongues.” What he
meant was that, the term means many different things
to many different people, and no universally agreed
"core meaning" exists. This uncertainty about how to
define consciousness is partly brought about by the
way global theories about consciousness have
intruded into definitions.
Consciousness
In classical Indian writings such as the Upanishads,
consciousness is thought to be the essence of Ātman,
that is ultimately identified with Brāhman—a pure,
transcendental, subject-object-less consciousness.
(Sen,2008). In the classical Western tradition,
"substance dualists" such as Plato and Descartes
bifurcated the universe, believing it to consist of two
fundamental kinds of stuff, material stuff and the stuff
of consciousness (a substance associated with soul or
spirit).
History
The concept of consciousness dates back to the pre 18th
century era. Philosophers like Rene Descartes, in defining
consciousness, focused on the subjective experience of
the mind. One of his famous quotes is ‘I think therefore I
am”. Then came the 18th century theorists one of whom
was Wilhelm Wundt who used the term in the very
definition of psychology- the ‘study of mind and
consciousness’. He used the introspective method to study
consciousness. However, soon came Watson’s behaviorism
which out rightly rejected the study of consciousness
because they believed that for psychology to become a
science, it’s data must be objective and measurable.
History
However, soon psychologists began to realize that
various aspect of consciousness are too important to
be neglected. This revived focus on consciousness
and led to the development of theories.
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is defined as our moment-to-moment
awareness of ourselves and our environment.
(Begley,1978)
Another way of defining consciousness could be- all
the sensations, perceptions, memories and feelings we
are aware of in any instant. (Bisiach,1980 )
Another definition could be the phenomenal experience of
sensation, action and thought.
What is consciousness?
According to Niedermeyer (1967), to be conscious is
to be aware of things and the things can be objects
outside ourselves, or in our own memories, thoughts
and feelings.
All these definitions, however, identify only one aspect
of consciousness and ignore the fact that we are
also conscious when we try to solve a problem or
deliberately select one course of actions over others
in response to environmental circumstances.
Consciousness involves:
What is consciousness?
1.
2.
Monitoring ourselves and our environment so that
perceptions, memories and thoughts are
represented in awareness, and
Controlling ourselves and our environment so that
we are able to initiate and terminate behavioral
and cognitive activities. (Kihlstrom,2007)
Consciousness involves both the feeling of awareness
and the content of awareness
(Chalmers,1995,1996).
Characteristics of consciousness
Consciousness is:
1. Subjective and private: Other people cannot
directly know what reality is for you, nor can you
enter directly into their experience.
2. Dynamic(ever changing): We drift in and out of various
states throughout each day. Although the stimuli of which
we are aware constantly change, we typically experience
consciousness as a continuously flowing “stream” of mental
activity, rather than as disjointed perceptions and
thoughts(James, 1890/1950).
Characteristics of consciousness
3. Self-reflective and central to our sense of self: the
mind is aware of its own consciousness. Thus, no
matter what your awareness is focused on—a lovely
sunset or an itch on your back—you can reflect upon
the fact that “you” are the one who is conscious of it.
Finally, consciousness is intimately connected with the
process of selective attention.
Characteristics of consciousness
William James noted that “. . . the mind is at every stage a
theatre of simultaneous possibilities. Consciousness consists in .
. .the selection of some, and the suppression of the rest by
the . . . agency of Attention”(1879, p. 13). Selective
attention focuses conscious awareness on some stimuli to the
exclusion of others. If the mind is a theatre of mental activity,
then consciousness reflects whatever is illuminated at the
moment the “bright spot on the stage”—and selective
attention is the “spotlight” or mechanism behind it(Baars,
1997).
Automatic and Controlled Processing
Many cognitive processes may be differentiated in
terms of whether they do or do not require conscious
control. Two kinds of processes may take place:
Automatic:
Automatic processing uses very little of our
information-processing capacity and seems to occur in
an automatic manner with very little conscious
awareness on our part. Several different activities,
each under automatic control, can occur at the same
time. For example-
Automatic and Controlled Processing
Brushing your teeth while talking to your mother.
 Driving your car while listening to music and singing
along.
 Writing your name or giving your signatures
while talking to someone, or listening to music or
thinking about something else.
Automatic processing occurs most often when we
carry out routine actions or well-learned tasks,
particularly under constant or familiar circumstances
(Ouellette & Wood,1998).

Automatic and Controlled Processing
Through years of practice, typists, athletes, and
musicians program themselves to execute highly
complex skills with a minimum of conscious thought.
According to Posner and Snyder, 1975), three
attributes characterize automatic processes:1)
They are concealed from consciousness
2)
They are unintentional
3)
They consume few attentional resources.
Automatic and Controlled Processing
However, automatic processing has a key
disadvantage too. It can reduce our chances of
finding new ways to approach problems. Though it is
rapid and efficient, it can be relatively inflexible
precisely because it is so automatic.
Controlled :
Controlled processing involves more effortful and
conscious control of thought and behavior. You direct
careful attention to the task at hand and concentrate
on it.
Automatic and Controlled Processing
Processing of this type consumes significant
cognitive resources; as a result, only one task
requiring controlled processing can usually be
performed at a time. Therefore, controlled processing
is slower than automatic processing, but is more
flexible and open to change.
In sum, both play an important role in our efforts to
deal with information from the external world.
Automatic and controlled processing are not hard
and fast categories, but rather ends of a continuous
dimension.
Automatic and Controlled Processing

In fact, many tasks that start off as controlled
processes eventually become automatic ones. For
example, learning to speak a foreign language, is
initially a controlled process because you need to
translate word for word from your native tongue.
Eventually, however, you learn it and speaking in
that language comes naturally to you. This process is
termed as Automatization.