Glossary
Addiction
A compulsive craving for drugs or certain behaviors (like gambling) despite adverse consequences.
Example:
Someone who continues to gamble away their savings, even after losing their job and home, is demonstrating an addiction to gambling.
Blindsight
A condition in which a person who is cortically blind (due to damage to the visual cortex) can respond to visual stimuli that they do not consciously see.
Example:
A person with blindsight might accurately navigate an obstacle course, stepping over barriers they claim not to see, demonstrating unconscious visual processing.
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain.
Example:
Researchers using fMRI to observe brain activity while participants solve puzzles are engaging in cognitive neuroscience to understand how the brain enables problem-solving.
Conscious (Freud's Model)
According to Freud, this level includes everything you are currently aware of, such as your immediate thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
Example:
Right now, your awareness of reading this definition is part of your conscious mind.
Consciousness
Your awareness of yourself and your environment.
Example:
When you are fully awake and alert, actively listening to a lecture, you are experiencing a high level of consciousness.
Dual Processing
The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
Example:
When you're driving a car, you're consciously navigating the road, but your brain is also dual processing unconscious information like maintaining balance and adjusting to minor road changes.
Mere-Exposure Effect
The phenomenon where people tend to prefer stimuli that they have been exposed to previously, even if they don't consciously remember the exposure.
Example:
You might find yourself liking a new song more after hearing it several times on the radio, even if you initially didn't care for it, due to the mere-exposure effect.
Neurogenesis
The growth and formation of new neurons in the brain.
Example:
Learning a new, complex skill like playing a musical instrument can stimulate neurogenesis in areas of the brain associated with memory and motor control.
Neuroplasticity
The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
Example:
After a stroke, a patient might regain motor skills as their brain forms new pathways to compensate for damaged areas, demonstrating remarkable neuroplasticity.
Nonconscious
Body processes that occur without any conscious awareness or control, such as heartbeat, respiration, and digestion.
Example:
Your heart continues to beat and your lungs continue to breathe even when you are asleep, as these are nonconscious physiological processes.
Preconscious (Freud's Model)
In Freud's model, this level contains information not currently in your awareness but easily retrievable, like memories or stored knowledge.
Example:
Thinking about what you ate for dinner last night, which wasn't on your mind a moment ago, brings that information from your preconscious into your conscious awareness.
Priming
A phenomenon where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus, often without conscious awareness.
Example:
If you see the word 'doctor,' you might later recognize the word 'nurse' more quickly than if you had seen an unrelated word, illustrating priming.
Psychological Dependence
A psychological need to use a drug or engage in a behavior, often to relieve negative emotions or for a sense of well-being.
Example:
A person who feels anxious and irritable if they don't have their morning coffee is experiencing psychological dependence on caffeine.
Subconscious
Information that influences our behavior without us being consciously aware of it.
Example:
While driving, you might subconsciously adjust your speed based on subtle cues from other drivers, even if you don't consciously register those cues.
Unconscious (Freud's Model)
According to Freud, this is a reservoir of unacceptable thoughts, feelings, memories, and desires that are processed without awareness but still influence behavior.
Example:
Freud might suggest that a recurring dream about being chased could stem from an unresolved conflict or repressed fear residing in the unconscious mind.