Consciousness in psychology - features, structure and functions

Updated July 24, 2021 835 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. What is human consciousness?

Perhaps this is the voice of the soul, and then we will not cease to exist even after the death of the body. Of course, provided that the soul exists.

And if it lives thanks to the activity of the brain, then along with the cessation of the latter’s life, consciousness also disappears. This phenomenon is of interest to representatives of various scientific fields. What does humanity know about him today?

About consciousness in simple words

It has long been proven that only man is endowed with consciousness: it is his main distinguishing feature in comparison with other living beings. A flower does not think about what time to close its petals or open them - it does it at a certain hour, because it is in its DNA.

The lion will not be upset if he does not catch his prey and will not make Napoleonic plans to take revenge on the tiger with whom he recently fought. Aquarium fish do not remember what the food tasted like yesterday, and do not draw a mental image of it. All this is available only to a representative of the human race.

Thus, consciousness is a property of mental matter, with the help of which we can reflect reality.

A simple example: I see a cup in front of me. It is a beautiful red color. By the way, can I have some tea? The one I bought a week ago at the tea exhibition. The seller highly praised this variety. It's time to make sure of his honesty and brew this promising drink.

In one minute, a bunch of thoughts and images associated with them flashed through my head. I visited the past, future and present, experienced certain emotions and even sensations. This is what we call consciousness.

Consciousness can be compared to the wind, which cannot be seen, but traces of its activity can be observed.

I got this idea from this interesting video:

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Development of consciousness

In the process of learning, obtaining new information, as well as as a result of a person’s interaction with other people and society, a transformation of his consciousness occurs. Depending on what information a person chooses and what people he interacts with, this transformation can lead to degradation or, conversely, to the development of consciousness.

As a result of the development of consciousness, a person’s rational behavior increases, and his aspirations are directed toward creation and become more conscious.

The better the consciousness is developed, the higher the quality of life of this person becomes , and his actions and actions are carried out under the influence of a conscious and reasonable choice (the person becomes wiser, more restrained, patient, quick-witted, friendly). The development of consciousness is simply necessary for man, since this is a requirement of evolution, dictated by nature itself.

The concept of consciousness in psychology

From the point of view of psychology, consciousness is the ability to reflect on oneself, one’s actions and the surrounding world, which is the highest mental function.

That is, I know that I am me, and you are you. I see the cause-and-effect relationships of events and phenomena, and if I don’t see them, then I can imagine them abstractly and fantasize.

I can feel my body, be aware of the feelings and emotions that belong to me. I even know how to broadcast all this through speech, facial expressions and gestures (verbal and non-verbal).

Altered states of consciousness

Human consciousness can be in different states. While awake, a person is fully aware of what is happening, can control and be aware of his actions.

During sleep, consciousness enters another state called an altered state of consciousness. In this state, some functions of the body are switched off, but consciousness continues to work and process previously received information.

In a state of hypnosis or meditation, consciousness also enters an altered state. In these cases, immediately before the transition to such a state, you can set some task for consciousness, and consciousness will perform it during this state.

What philosophers say

Philosophers believed that consciousness does not exist in isolation from reality. It is the relationship of oneself with reality.

We see the world around us and feel, perceive, think, and fantasize something in connection with it.

Different directions of philosophy interpreted this concept in their own way:

dualism tends to divide man into consciousness and matter, where the first is spirit, the second is body. Consciousness is eternal, since it continues to live even after the physical death of the body;
According to idealism, consciousness comes first, then the surrounding world. Matter does not exist if it is unconscious;
materialists wrote that only highly organized matter, which is capable of creation, has consciousness (I understand that we are talking about a person).

Mind control

Consciousness in psychology is an intangible part of the human body, with the help of which a person can be controlled. In psychology, there are techniques with which some people can influence the behavior of other people.

With the help of these psychological techniques, using the characteristics of a person’s character, his social and individual needs, there is an impact on the emotional side of a person’s consciousness.

As a result, if a person is not familiar with such methods or if his consciousness is not sufficiently developed, he can be manipulated by other people and encourage him to do certain actions that are beneficial to these people, and not to the person himself.

There are several types of mind control, the main ones being agitation, propaganda and manipulation.

All types of mind control use the following techniques:

Reception of influence	Description of the impact process	Opposition
Feelings of guilt or pity	The manipulator pretends to be offended and tries to convince the person that this person is to blame for something. If a person believes in his guilt, which in fact is not, then the manipulator can easily induce him to take certain actions, since the person will be ready to do something to make amends for his guilt.	It is necessary to soberly assess the situation, and if there is no fault, tell the manipulator directly. You should also always remember that almost always, everyone is to blame for their own problems and must be responsible for themselves.
Flattery, vanity	The manipulator flatters the person, as a result of which the person relaxes and feels the way he wants to appear in the eyes of others. In a state of euphoria from an imaginary elevation above other people, this person can do what his manipulator asks.	Instead of reacting internally to revealed flattery, you can externally thank your opponent and also respond with some kind of compliment. It should be remembered that a person by nature is more focused on himself than on others, so excessive admiration and praise from any people should be alarming.
Anger	The manipulator tries to scare the person by humiliating him and demonstrating his anger in the form of a threat to harm this person if he does not make a concession or does not do what the manipulator asks.	You need to remain calm and explain to the manipulator that the action being imposed on you is unacceptable to you (or offer a compromise solution). Since the manipulator uses artificial anger, he will not carry out his threats and will change his behavior.
Hope and Promise	The manipulator promises a person a better life, a lot of money and mountains of gold that will appear if this person takes a certain action (joins any organization, buys any goods or securities). If a person believes the manipulator and has a feeling of hope, he can be under the influence of the manipulator for a long time, during which he will perform the actions imposed by the manipulator, expecting that life will improve thanks to these actions.	As a rule, life can improve only through the independent decisions and actions of the person himself. If some decisions are dictated by a manipulator, then they are usually beneficial only to the manipulator himself. It is recommended to always rely only on your own strength and intelligence, without succumbing to other people’s promises to improve anything.
Taking on the weak	The manipulator, using a person’s need for self-realization and recognition by society, demonstrates to him doubt that this person is capable of performing this or that action. As a result, in order to receive recognition, a person can perform this action, and the manipulator will reinforce the performer’s action with praise.	Recognition by individuals is not really what a person needs at all, and he does not have to prove anything to them. Recognition and self-realization are important only in front of that part of society in which a person really works and self-realizes. A person can explain to the manipulator that the imposed action is not interesting to him, and if he cannot perform it, there is nothing wrong with that.
Suggestive questions	With the help of leading questions, the manipulator leads the person to one single answer, which is the action that the person must perform.	Do not allow the manipulator to narrow the circle of thoughts around the thought that is beneficial only to the manipulator. To do this, you can change the topic of conversation.

Structure, properties and functions of consciousness

Structure is what consciousness actually consists of:

Cognitive processes - perception of the surrounding world through 5 senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, mouth), memory, thinking, speech.
Spectrum of emotional states.
Will as the ability to control one's actions.

Properties

Consciousness can be described by two main properties:

Activity – implies the continuity of the process of awareness of reality (stream of consciousness). At every moment of time (and even in a dream), a person is focused on something. The world is huge and diverse, so items are chosen according to their degree of personal significance.
For example, if you sit next to a hungry person and someone dying of thirst, put plates of food and glasses of drinks in front of them, the first will look at the food, the second - the drink. Anyone who dreams of children will notice children everywhere. Anyone planning to buy a car turns their attention to a car of the desired brand.
Each individual captures in space what is relevant to him at a given moment in time. That is why the attention of different people focuses on completely different figures.
Intentionality is direction, desire, attraction.
If you observe yourself from the outside (engage in reflection), you will see that your thoughts are always directed somewhere: towards a goal, an object, an action. For example, in the discussion about the red mug above, my thoughts were directed towards tea drinking.

Functions of consciousness

Consciousness has its own functions, the main ones being:

The reflective function is the organization of mental processes (memory, thinking, perception, representation) aimed at understanding the surrounding world.
Creative or creative - creating something new.
Evaluative - we evaluate everything that we are aware of, we give it an emotional and sensory assessment.
The transformative function is to build certain goals and translate them into reality through actions. That is, we are transforming the world around us.
Time-forming - the formation of a general picture of the world, where there is a past, present and future.
Reflexive function or self-awareness is the ability to observe oneself as if from the outside, to evaluate one’s thoughts and behavior.

Structure

What is included in the structure of consciousness? In psychology, important structural components of consciousness are identified:

being,
reflection,
self-awareness.

It performs the following functions:

Reflection . This includes an individual's ability to perceive, perceive, remember and store information.
Reflection . This is an opportunity to realize oneself as an object of the world, to understand one’s “I”.
Transformation . A person is able to set goals and achieve them.
Creative . With the help of the mind, a person shows imagination and creativity.
Grade . This includes emotions.
Communication . A person conveys his knowledge with the help of certain signs. That is, consciousness cannot exist without communication.
Time formation .
This is a holistic picture of the world, containing memories of the past, understanding of the present and future. This property is the main difference between humans and animals.

Consciousness vs subconsciousness

The human psyche contains consciousness and subconsciousness. To better understand this information, scientific literature often shows an image of an iceberg, most of which is hidden under water.

Its tip, sticking out above the surface, is consciousness. What is hidden under water and invisible is the subconscious. The surface of the water is the boundary between consciousness and subconsciousness, which are interconnected but never mixed.

Something can, of course, be fished out from the lower layer (psychologists use various techniques for this), but it is impossible to pull out and understand literally everything. A lifetime is not enough.

We have found out what consciousness is. This is what exists at a given moment in time, and what we can control. What is the subconscious? Freudians contrast both of these concepts as directly opposite.

By the way, it was Freud, the creator of psychoanalysis, who actively spoke about unconscious processes, and his psychotherapy was to penetrate into the deep layers of the human psyche and discover unconscious conflicts there that become the cause of neuroses.

The subconscious mind stores all the information about what an individual has ever seen, heard, felt, sensed, said and thought about. You can call the subconscious a warehouse or repository of mental experience.

Imagine that you are walking through a park: there are many flowers, trees, people with children, strollers, dogs, benches, etc. around. And so you look at passers-by, not paying attention to the vegetation.

But since the latter still caught your eye (you just didn’t realize it), the information about green plants will be imprinted and go straight to the subconscious. That same night you will see trees in a dream and you will be surprised why and why did you have such a dream?

And dreams are “hello from there,” from the unconscious part. They are often strange and illogical: this happens because in the world of dreams (what dreams are) no laws (scientific, political, personal, etc.) work.

Also, the subconscious mind stores negative experiences, elements of reality that a person cannot realize painlessly for himself, which have a destructive effect on the human psyche (shocking events, deaths, rapes, etc.).

The main function of the subconscious is to maintain mental health. If we were aware of literally everything, we would go crazy long ago.

For this purpose, there is a censor in the psyche, standing on the border between consciousness and subconsciousness. Conditioned by multiple indicators, it is he who decides what will pass into the zone of awareness and what will remain hidden.

Author of the article: Liliya Sergeevna Kovalenko (psychologist)

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages KtoNaNovenkogo.ru

Comments and reviews (6)

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the soul is consciousness

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after: It has long been proven that only man is endowed with consciousness: it is his main distinguishing feature in comparison with other living beings.

You don't have to read it. Author, if you are watching Chernigovskaya’s video and are interested in issues of consciousness, then how can you write this?

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Good article, thanks! A small request to indicate the authors of the articles. Or are they on Her Majesty's secret service?!