Unconscious cognition

Unconscious cognition is the processing of perception, memory, learning, thought, and language without being aware of it.

The role of the unconscious mind on decision making is a topic greatly debated by neuroscientists, linguists and psychologists around the world. Though the actual level of involvement of the unconscious brain during a cognitive process might still be a matter of differential opinion, the fact that the unconscious brain does play a role in cognitive activity is undeniable. Several experiments and well recorded phenomena attest to this fact, for example the illusion-of-truth effect. There have also been several experiments suggesting that the unconscious mind might actually be better at decision making than the conscious mind when there are multiple variables to take into consideration.

The attitude of the scientific community towards the unconscious mind has undergone a drastic change from being viewed as a lazy reservoir of memories and non-task oriented behavior to being regarded as an active and essential component in the processes of decision making.

Historically, the unconscious mind has been viewed as the source of dreams, implicit memory (which allows people to walk or ride a bicycle without consciously thinking about the activity), and the storing place for memories. But new insight revealing that the unconscious brain might also be an active player in decision making, problem solving, creative writing and critical thinking have revolutionized the predominant view of the importance of the unconscious on cognitive processes. One familiar example of the operation of the unconscious in problem solving is a well-known phenomenon of having a "Eureka!" moment when a solution to a problem in the past presents itself without the involvement of active thinking.

Currently, several experiments are being performed to measure the extent of unconscious' influence on conscious thought.

Sigmund Freud is perhaps the most well-known psychologist and his theories laid the foundation for the serious scientific investigation of the unconscious brain. Consciousness, according to Freud, was the center for perception whereas the unconscious was the storehouse of memories, desires, and needs. According to Freud past thoughts and memories which are deleted from conscious thought are stored by the unconscious and these thoughts help direct the thoughts and feelings of an individual and influence their decision making processes. Freud believed that the Unconscious' influence on thoughts can be accessed by training one’s mind through meditation, or by random association, dream analysis and paying attention to Freudian slips.

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