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Abstract

This paper examines three articles/chapters that discuss the unconscious mind. Epstein (1994)

talks about multiple processing theories, influences of emotions on thinking, thinking on

emotions, and much more. McAdams, Dan P. (2001) talks about repressors, perceptual defense,

implicit learning, and much more. Kihlstrom (2008) talks about the cognitive unconscious,

implicit memory, the motivational unconscious, and much more. This paper will discuss how

these three articles/chapters are alike, different, strengths, and weaknesses.

 

Various alternative concepts of the unconscious mind

Repression is the act of forcing something out of the conscious mind. An intensely

negative experience from the past may no longer be consciously remembered, but the event lives

 in the unconscious and plays itself out in conscious experiences, anxiety, aggression, and dread.

McAdams, Dan P. (2001) Repressors are described as persons who experience little anxiety on a

conscious level and who adopt highly defensive approaches to life. McAdams, Dan P. (2001)

cognitive unconscious is a fundamentally adaptive system that automatically, effortlessly, and

intuitively organizes experience and directs behaviors. Epstein (1994) Epstein’s article briefly

talks about how most societies have formed some sort of Religion. Because for many

individuals, rational, analytical thinking fails to provide a satisfying way to explain how the

world works. There are two major systems in which people adapt to the world: experiential and

rational. Those in the experiential system are called implicit beliefs, or also schemata while those

in the rational system are called beliefs. Schemata consists mostly of generalization’s glean from

highly emotional significant past experiences. Epstein (1994)

 

            Perceptual defense is the unconscious monitoring of sensory perception by the censoring

force of repression within the person. McAdams, Dan P. (2001) Implicit learning is learning

something without focusing on it. For example being raised with bilingual parents a person will

learn both languages naturally without a whole lot of effort an focus. In every article/chapter the

writers discuss Sigmund Freud all speaking highly of Freud. Because Freud popularized the

psychological unconscious mind however he did not discover it.  Freudian unconscious are

closely tied to sexual urges, aggression, and survival. All the writers agree and disagree with

Freud’s theory, behavior an thoughts don’t always have to revolve around sexual urges or

aggression. Every article/chapter gives examples to what the writers are trying to explain,

because examples help understand things better, also making it easier to comprehend. Here is an

example from the writers point of view gathers from all the required reading. Ones behavior can

change over the simplest of things, take a song on a radio. Person is driving down the road and a

song came on the radio the listener hasn’t heard in a very long time. All of a sudden the driver is

tearing up, the song has triggered an unconscious memory an brought it to conscious awareness

 causing the driver to feel emotions of sadness.

 

            In implicit memory, the subject was perceptually aware of the event at the time it

occurred, but the memory of the event has been lost to conscious recollection. In implicit

perception, the subjects were unaware of the event at the time it occurred: thus, it is the

perception itself that is unconscious. Kihlstrom (2008) Explicit motivation is defined as the

desire to engage in some sort of activity presented by a craving for sex or lusting for love.

Freud’s belief that repression and other defense mechanisms were designed to provide humans

unaware of their true emotional state, especially anxiety. Take fear for example when people feel

scared their heart rates go up dramatically causing panic an anxiety. Kihlstrom (2008) But what

 causes people to get scared? Everyone is different, scared in their own ways which some of the

cause is in the unconscious mind.

 

            Epstein describes repression as occurring when a person has tacit thoughts or impulses

that are too guilt arousing to be consciously accepted. Epstein (1994) The result is that certain

 material gets forced into the unconscious mind which can’t be accessible.  Epstein states that

Freud has a critical weakness in the unconscious theory, that it makes no sense from an

evolutionary view point. Thinking on emotion is influenced strictly on emotional feeling. If a

person feels targeted the person might instantly respond defensively most likely feel angry and

highly aggressive. However it’s all in how the person interoperates the actions or words directed

at them. When people are highly emotional they tend to not think rationally, people just act out.

In some cases people tend to over think a situation conjure up things that were supposedly

said and or actions that supposedly happened that never did.

 

            Experiential and Rational System consist of eleven different items on both sides

comparing the two systems. Epstein made the list however in the McAdams Dan P. (2001)

chapter the writers minimalized the system down to eight instead of eleven. Experiential system

 is compared to the rational system. In McAdams Dan P. (2001) description is holistic compared

to analytic, emotional compared to logical. Past intuition “vibes” compared to conscious

appraisal of events. Understands reality in metaphors, narratives, and concrete images compared

 to understanding reality in words, numbers, and abstract symbols. Rapid processing compared to

slower processing, Slower to change compared to rapid change. Makes broad generalizations

compared to making finer distinctions. Passively and preconsciously compared to actively and

consciously. Self-evident compared to justification. List is stating Experiential system first

comparing it to the Rational system second for each example. The two McAdam’s left out of

Epstein’s comparison are, associationistic connections to logical connections. And crudely

integrated compared to highly integrated. Both lists get the overall point across with the

comparisons.