Consciousness, Levels of Health Article

Automatic and controlled processing

It's not easy for us to talk on the phone while simultaneously carrying on a conversation with somebody else in the same room. Such difficulty illustrates a fundamental principle of cognition, namely that our cognitive resources are limited. We simply do not have the mental wherewithal to focus on several different tasks at once. If so, how do we manage to execute two activities at the same time, for example reading the newspaper and listening to the radio? The answer is that there are two different levels of conscious control over our behavior. The first is referred to as "automatic processing" because it requires relatively little conscious awareness, and makes little demand on limited attentional capacity. When a person drives a car while mentally reviewing the previous days' events, he is demonstrating automatic processing. Automatic processing develops with practice as the component parts of the activity become well learned.

"Controlled processing" refers to behaviors that require effortful and deliberate concentration. It requires substantial use of cognitive resources. Consequently tasks requiring controlled processing can usually only be performed one at a time. Automatic processing is rapid and effortless, but somewhat inflexible. Controlled processing is slower, effortful, but adaptable.

This distinction between automatic and controlled processing is directly relevant to the current controversy about the use of cell phones while driving. There is good evidence to suggest that such behavior poses significant risks. For most adults, driving a car is a relatively automatic activity. For this reason, talking on the phone while driving may seem like a victimless crime. However, driving is not always automatic. When the unexpected happens, concentration is required. A driver in the midst of an animated conversation may not recognize an impending emergency and/or may not be able to respond with appropriate speed when it is recognized.

Subliminal perception

To what extent can we be influenced by stimuli whose presence we are not even aware of? There are numerous laboratory studies that show that individual words can be processed, even when presented so quickly that the viewer has no awareness of the word's identity. There is also evidence that patients under general anesthesia can apparently remember information (i.e., words) presented while they are unconscious. But what about more extraordinary claims? Can we be induced to buy a product or change our behavior on the basis of images or directives that are presented outside of conscious awareness? In a word, no. Before changing one's habitual response to a stimulus, one would have to be aware of perceiving it. There is no evidence to suggest that people initiate actions on the basis of subliminally presented stimuli.

BOOKS

Merikle, P. M., & Joordens, S. "Measuring unconscious influences." In Scientific Approaches to Consciousness. Ed. by J. D. Cohen & J. W. Schooler. Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum,1997.

PERIODICALS

Greenwald, A. W. "New look 3: Unconscious cognition reclaimed." American Psychologist 47 (1992): 766-779.

Moore, T. E. "Subliminal perception: facts and fallacies."

Skeptical Inquirer 16 (1992): 273-281.

Timothy E. Moore, PhD