Levels of Consciousness
...active during attention to verbal stimuli and parietal is active during attention to visual and spatial information. Another level of consciousness is the preconscious level. Items are not currently in consciousness, mental events are outside of our awareness but can easily be brought back into awareness. For example, you go to Italy over spring break, you could remember what Italy looks like, but it’s not in your mind all the time. Items such as automatic behaviors and tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon demonstrate the existence of the preconscious level. Automatic behaviors don’t require conscious decisions, for instance, driving to your house without thinking where to turn right, left, etc. Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is when we try to remember something we already know but can’t bring it back, for instance, someone asks you the name of your 8th grade history teacher, you know it but you not always think about it so it takes time for it to come to mind, eventually you remember the name is Daniel. Subliminal perception is also part of the preconscious. People have the ability to detect information without knowing. These forms of preconscious knowledge are outside the view of our conscious minds, but they are available to our conscious minds under many circumstances. The third level of consciousness is the subconscious level, where items stored in here are not easily brought into consciousness. Some people classify the subconscious level as being the same as the unconscious level, although the unconscious is preferred by followers of Freud. The subconscious level is when other mental events alter thoughts, feelings, and behavior, but are more difficult than preconscious material to bring into awareness. Items stored in the unconscious level were interpreted by Freud as being repressed. Inaccessible mental processes, but still have a great effect on our behavior and personality; define who we are. For example, if you grow up listening that you are stupid, then you’ll eventually believe it and have a low self-esteem. You might not b...