Psychology

Topic THE Unconscious mind
The Unconscious Mind was originally a Freudian notion in which he explained the unconscious to be suppressed memory

For decades, all human processes were thought to be of conscious nature only recently have scientists begun to understand the unconscious mind. Over the decades, the term unconscious has been defined as unintentional thoughtsactions. The things we do consciously are influenced by the unconscious mind - our actions are the effects of stimuli which we are unaware of. There have been various interpretations in this regard. According to cognitive psychology, unconscious information processing likened to subliminal message processing (idea opposed by authors because they thought the definition was unnatural and restrictive). (09No)
Basically research proves the unconscious mind through2 experiments
Person performs an action they did not intend to perform, and is unaware of doing it
Person consciously chooses to perform an action, which, once started, is then performed without the person consciously thinking about it. For instance when one is driving a car, he or she is performing the action without really thinking or focusing too much about it.
Unconscious processes evolved to deal with naturally occurring stimuli - i.e. Stimuli that we repeatedly encounter - because of this, many people think the unconscious is a response to routine stimuli - and therefore, the notion of the unconscious mind is said to be rather dumb (Note that while the unconscious may be dumb in regard to subliminal stimuli, its still smarter than consciousness, which cant even tell that such stimuli have been presented)

Many times people sense things without seeing them or remembering that they sensed it (a lack of memory of sensing something is caused by inattentiveness - but that doesnt mean youre not perceiving it) - for instance, when you find yourself singing along to a song, but you dont know how you know the song - you heard it somewhere, and consciously perceived it without knowing that you were unconsciously hearing it. This is yet another instance which substantiates how the unconscious makes itself felt. We dont know the song, but we recognize the lyrics from somewhere in the back of her head and follow the suit.

In Evolution evolutionary changes occurred as a result of unconscious processes - there was no conscious thought that went into evolution and adaptation For example, things like culture and early learning - we dont think about our culture - we are surrounded by it from an early age and information gets stored in our unconscious mind without our being aware of it - it is inherent.  Same with Early Learning - we learn lots of things at a very young age, which are inherent traits of human kind, which we again, dont consciously think about (for instance, kids, especially infants, learn behavior by passive imitation of parents or friends as infants we unconsciously learn by experience - as we grow up, those learned behaviorsactionsvalues stay with us, and are stored in the unconscious mind - later in life, we dont consciously think about these things - we just know them to be true)

Idea of unconscious goal pursuit  Our unconscious goals will drive conscious actions - for instance, a person with a lot of upcoming deadlines might unconsciously set goals as to when to finish particular tasks in order to stay on trackthis unconscious goal then drives the conscious actions of doing work. In some cases participants are more than willing to continue and accomplish the underlying process no matter what the consequences. They dont care even if it be boring or tiring or if they have more attractive learning alternatives. Their primary aim is to finish the task in hand and to reach that predetermined goal which they set for themselves. In the words of Bergh Moreover, the qualities of the underlying process appear to be   the same, as participants with interrupted unconscious goals
Tend to want to resume and complete a boring task even when they have more attractive alternatives and will show more persistence on a task in the face of obstacles than do participants in control conditions.

All these characteristics have been oft associated with conscious goal pursuits for quite some time (Smith, 2007). There is a distinct line between conscious and unconscious goal pursuit. Keeping in perspective the recent evolutionary arrival of modes of though and behavior, it is probably that the conscious goal is directly or indirectly related to unconscious motivational structures.

We are predisposed, conditioned (genetically predisposed - this is an effect of evolution) as a human race to prefer certain aspects of our environment over others -these are perhaps linked to the behaviors we learn as infants.  For instance in various Muslim families, it has been inculcated in the minds of their females that physical intimacy with men is a no and nor are revealing clothes allowed. They are asked to adapt and mould themselves in this peculiar lifestyle where they shun themselves from the society in general and set their goal in such a way where nurturing their kids and serving their husbands in future becomes central to their survival. This is result of environmental and social pressure most of which becomes innate in the female inhabitant in such families. (Iceberg Metaphor and Unconscious Mind)

Another theory suggests that impulse to act upon a stimuli is an unconscious behavior - the impulse is produced unconsciously, and then the conscious mind takes over plethora of impulses that are driven by behavioral and cultural norms and or our valuestraditions. Some people react at the sight of lizards or their mention without even without seeing the poor animal. This is because a certain kind of unconscious fear exists in the back of their mind about it. Their reaction for the same is involuntary. It rests at the back of their mind subconsciously which tends to act as prime motivator for the same. We are unconsciously inclined towards certain things over others (certain behaviors) even if those behaviors are not consciously carried out.

The unconscious can guide future outcomes example from the text  if a ruler doesnt know what the outcome of war is supposed to be, then there would be no reason for him to go and wage waronly when you know what the outcome is supposed to be can you consciously work toward that outcome.

The unconscious mind encompasses everything that we are not currently aware of - ideas, skills, knowledge that we are not presently using. The conscious mind is continuously supported by the information stored in the unconscious mind.  The conscious mind derives considerable help from the unconscious mind to follow its pursuit. Most of the information is stored in the back of our mind which hits the conscious mind at various points as and when it deems it fit. The unconscious mind is the master of all. It embodies what we dont know and seeks to overpower the conscious mind in a way in its own right. Example we use a plethora of skills when driving without even realizing it - this information is known as learned resources. The information is derived from the unconscious mind which stores it and directs it to the conscious mind as we tend to drive. Another example in this regard is keyboard typing which today for many has come to a point where they type without even looking at the keyboard.  Where, what and how the keys are positioned and how should the fingers be directed are a result of some major information processing of the unconscious mind to the conscious mind.

The unconscious mind is said to control the autonomic nervous system - things like Heart Rate, Breathing, etc. things we do without being consciously aware of it. We exercise no control on our heart beat, and heart rate.  It is an involuntary exercise within the body yet we know it is there.  We have no hold over it. It is the unconscious mind that takes charge of it and makes it felt. The way cardiac muscles flex and act while we are in motion without us having to do anything about it.

Imagination is the two-way street between consciousness and unconsciousness - it allows the two to communicate. Imagination functions as the membrane through which material and processes happening in the unconscious mind come into conscious awareness.

Unconscious mind converses with the conscious much more than the conscious converses with the unconscious New ideas, intuitions, daydreams are all materialized in consciousness via imagination from all the information stored in the unconscious mind.

Dreams are another example of unconscious communicating with consciousness. Many times, our dreams, if and when remembered, give us ideas and insight into real-world, conscious eventsexperiences. When things we do or say sound goodright but feel wrong, this feeling of wrong-doing comes from the unconscious mind. A whole lot of this has to do for instance with our behavior and interpersonal communication associated with them. Interpersonal communication is governed by four basic principles. First, this form of communication is inescapable. It is impossible not to communicate. Even the attempt to not communicate is indicative of communication itself. But this type of communication takes form of gesture, postures, facial expressions etc. one can constantly receive information from others .Even when one sleeps, one communicates. Ergo, it goes that the world does not comprise of mind readers and humans are mostly judged by the way they behave.  Second, interpersonal communication cannot be reversible. What has been said cannot be taken back. The effect will never cease to exist. Third interpersonal communication is a complex form of communication. It is not simple and owing to the number of variables involved, even the simplest of requests tend to appear as extremely complex. According to various theorists, whenever one communicates, the minimum number of people involved in the process is 6(Kradin, 2007). These include what one thinks who one is, what one thinks who the other person, who the other person thinks she is, who the other person thinks of one and who the other person thinks one thinks. All this begins resting in the back of our mind at a point and becomes embedded in its subconscious state.
Ideas cannot be swapped but symbols are swapped. Symbols themselves stand for ideas which further make communication complicated. Words do not follow any innate meaning. We mould them and use them in our own way and it goes unsaid that no two people would use the same word which go and rest somewhere in the back of our mind. As per Oslo Wino, certain communication maxims resembling Murphys Law include

If communication can fail, it will.
If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.
There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.
The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.
These are modes which become more or less relatable to our mind and hence it inevitably begins reacting in a particular way in different situations. Four, interpersonal communication is extremely contextual. It cannot occur in isolated locales. There are innumerable contexts in which interpersonal communication take place. These include the psychological context, the relational context, the situational context, the environmental context and the cultural context.

Psychological context stems from what one is, and what brings one to the point of interaction. Their needs, desires, ethics, characteristics and conjure up to form the psychological context. And this holds true for both the sender and the receiver involved in the interaction. Relational context is all about the kind of relationship the sender and the receiver have with each other. In other words the mix. Psycho-social aspects of communication are referred to as the situational context. It is all about where one is communicating. Its obvious that a communication that takes place in a bar will be very different from what takes place in a class. Environmental context is all about the surroundings in which one is communicating. Furniture, location, noise level, temperature, season, time of day etc are all instances of environmental context. Cultural context involves all forms of behavior which directly affect interaction. For instance if one belongs to a culture foreign or domestic, where long, direct eye contacts is considered rude, one will out of sheer politeness avoid eye contacts. Thus, this is the direct result of sub conscious behavior when one automatically begins avoiding eye contacts in such areas.

Conclusion
During the course of history the concepts of thought and intentional behavior have held sway over most other concepts. It was only after the 1800s that different developments started taking place. Two important discoveries in this regard the hypnotism and the evolutionary theory are quiet commendable.  They both pointed to the concept of unconscious, unintended clauses of human behavior and attitude. Almost two centuries later, contemporary psychological science remains glued to a conscious central model of the higher mental processes. Psychologists have found it difficult to accept that the unconscious mind may have powers of its own and most of the theories are a result of research into subliminal information processing. (Beargh)

In the words of Locke and Latham ., with its operational definition of the unconscious
As a system that handles subliminal-strength stimulation from the environment, has helped to perpetuate the notion that conscious processes are primary and that they are the causal force
Behind most, if not all, human judgment and behavior.

What I propose is a different perspective which states that most unconscious processes are characterized by their unintentional nature.  The lack of awareness is primarily due the impact of triggering stimuli and not of the triggered stimuli. Through this original and ancient definition of the unconscious, contemporary social cognition research on priming and automaticity effects shows that substantiate the presence of adaptive conscious behavior guidance systems.

As elaborated earlier on evolutionary changes occurred as a result of unconscious processes - there was no conscious thought that went into evolution and adaptation For example, things like culture and early learning - we dont think about our culture - we are surrounded by it from an early age and information gets stored in our unconscious mind without our being aware of it - it is inherent.  Same with Early Learning - we learn lots of things at a very young age, which are inherent traits of human kind, which we again, dont consciously think about (for instance, kids, especially infants, learn behavior by passive imitation of parents or friends as infants we unconsciously learn by experience - as we grow up, those learned behaviorsactionsvalues stay with us, and are stored in the unconscious mind - later in life, we dont consciously think about these things - we just know them to be true)