Abstract
For 50 years theory in hard-core areas of Anglo-American psychology remained frozen into behaviorist and neo-behaviorist paradigms. In the thaw of the last 10 to 15 years the explanation of the existence and properties of consciousness has reemerged as an acceptable and important problem for cognitive theory. A wide diversity of views has been put forward but those cognitive psychologists who have discussed these issues have almost all accepted a materialist position and attempted to explain consciousness and its properties by using information-processing theories of human cognition (e.g., Miller, 1962; Hochberg, 1970; Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1971; Shallice, 1972; Posner and Klein, 1973; Mandler, 1975).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ach, N. Über die Willenstätigheit und das Denken. Göttingen: Vardenhoek, 1905.
Allport, D. A. On knowing the meaning of words we are unable to report; the effects of visual masking. In S. Dornic (Ed.) Attention and performance. Vol. 6. London: Academic Press, 1977.
Allport, D. A., Antonis, B., and Reynolds, P. On the division of attention: A disproof of the single-channel hypothesis. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972, 24, 225–235.
Atkinson, R. C, and Shiffrin, R. M. The control of short-term memory. Scientific American, 1971, 224, 82–90.
Baddeley, A. D. The psychology of memory. London: Harper & Row, 1976.
Baddeley, A. D., and Hitch, G. Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.) Recent advances in learning and motivation. Vol. 8. New York: Academic Press, 1974.
Baddeley, A. D., Scott, D., Drynan, R., and Smith, J. C. Short-term memory and the limited capacity hypothesis. British Journal of Psychology, 1969, 60, 51–55.
Bartz, W. H., and Salehi, M. Interference in short- and long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970, 84, 380–382.
Bernstein, N. A. The co-ordination and regulation of movements. Oxford: Pergamon, 1967.
Brand, J. Classification without identification in visual search. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1971, 23, 178–186.
Broadbent, D. E. Decision and stress. New York: Academic Press, 1971.
Brown, R., and McNeill, D. The “tip of the tongue” phenomenon. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 1966, 5, 325–337.
Bullock, T. H., and Horridge, G. A. Structure and function in the nervous systems of invertebrates. Vol 1. San Francisco: Freeman, 1965.
Cattell, J. McK. The time taken up by the cerebral operations. Mind, 1886, 11, 220–242, 377–392, and 524–538.
Craik, F. I. M., and Tulving, E. Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1975, 104, 268–294.
Craik, F. I. M., and Watkins, M. J. The role of rehearsal in short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 1973, 12, 599–607.
De Groot, A. D. Thought and choice in chess. The Hague: Mouton, 1965.
Dixon, N. Subliminal perception: the nature of a controversy. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Downey, J. E., and Anderson, J. E. Automatic writing. American Journal of Psychology, 1915, 26, 161–195.
Duncan, J. “Association” and “decision” — S-R compatibility in choice reaction tasks. D. Phil. Thesis: Oxford University, 1976.
Easterbrook, J. A. The effect of emotion on cue utilization and the organisation of behaviour. Psychological Review, 1959, 66, 183–201.
Eccles, J. C. Postsynaptic inhibition in the central nervous system. In G. C. Quarton, T. Melnechuk, F. O. Schmitt (Eds.) The neurosciences study program. New York: Rockefeller University Press, 1967.
Egeth, H., Jonides, J., and Wall, S. Parallel processing of multielement displays. Cognitive Psychology, 1972, 3, 674–698.
Erdelyi, M. H. A new look at the New Look: Perceptual defense and vigilance. Psychological Review, 1974, 81, 1–25.
Eriksen, C. W. and Johnson, H. J. Storage and decay characteristics of nonattended auditory stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1964, 68, 28–36.
Evarts, E. V. Unit activity in sleep and wakefulness. In G. C. Quarton, T. Melnechuk, F. O. Schmitt (Eds.), The neurosciences study program. New York: Rockefeller University Press, 1967.
Fehrer, E., and Raab, D. Reaction time to stimuli masked by metacontrast. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1962, 63, 143–147.
Garner, W. R. The processing of information and structure. New York: Wiley, 1974.
Gazzaniga, M. S., Bogen, J. E., and Sperry, R. W. Some functional effects of sectioning the cerebral commissures in man. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 1962, 48, 1756–1759.
Gibbs, C. B. Servo-control systems in organisms and the transfer of skill. In D. Legge (Ed.), Skills. London: Penguin, 1970.
Greeno, J. G. Indefinite goals in well-structured problems. Psychological Review, 1976, 83, 479–491.
Gregory, R. C. Eye movements and the stability of the visual world. Nature, 1958, 182, 1214–1216.
Hamilton, P., Hockey, G. R. J., and Rejman, M. The place of the concept of activation in human information processing theory: an integrative approach. In S. Dornic (Ed.), Attention and performance. Vol. 6. London: Academic Press, 1977.
Hawkins, H. L. Parallel processing in complex visual discrimination. Perception and Psychophysics, 1969, 5, 56–64.
Hebb, D. O. The organization of behavior. New York: Wiley, 1949.
Hillyard, S. A., and Picton, T. W. Event-related brain potentials and selective information-processing in man. In J. E. Desmedt (Ed.), Cerebral evoked potentials in man. Basel: Karger, 1977.
Hillyard, S. A., Hink, R. F., Schwent, V. L., and Picton, T. W. Electrical signs of selective attention in the human brain. Science, 1973, 182, 177–180.
Hochberg, J. Attention, organisation and consciousness. In D. I. Mostofsky (Ed.), Attention: Contemporary theory and analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1970.
Hockey, G. R. J. Effect of loud noise on attentional selectivity. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970, 22, 28–36.
Humphrey, C. Thinking. London: Methuen, 1951.
Humphrey, N. K. What the frog’s eye tells the monkey’s brain. Brain, Behaviour and Evolution, 1970, 3, 324–337.
Humphrey, N. K., and Weiskrantz, L. Vision in monkeys after removal of the striate cortex. Nature, 1967, 215, 595–597.
Hyde, T. S., and Jenkins, J. J. Recall for words as a function of semantic, graphic and syntactic orienting tasks. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 1973, 12, 471–480.
James, W. T. Principles of psychology, New York: Holt, 1890.
Jonides, J., and Gleitman, H. A conceptual category effect in visual search: “O” as letter or as digit. Perception and Psychophysics, 1972, 10, 457–460.
Kahneman, D. Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
Kinsbourne, M. Lateral interactions in the brain. In M. Kinsbourne and W. L. Smith (Eds.), Hemispheric disconnection and cerebral function. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C Thomas, 1974.
Kinsbourne, M. The mechanism of hemispheric control of the lateral gradient of attention. In P. M. A. Rabbitt and S. Dornic (Eds.), Attention and performance. Vol. 5. London: Academic Press, 1975.
Konorski, J. Integrative activity of the brain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967.
Laberge, D. Acquisition of automatic processing in perceptual and associative learning. In P. M. A. Rabbitt and S. Dornic (Eds.), Attention and performance. Vol. 5. London: Academic Press, 1975.
Lewis, J. L. Semantic processing of unattended messages under dichotic listening. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970, 85, 225–228.
Lissauer, H. Ein Fall von Seelenblindheit nebst einem Beitrag zur Theorie derselben. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 1890, 21, 222–299.
Logue, V., Durward, M., Pratt, R. T. C., Piercy, M., and Nixon, W. L. B. The quality of survival after rupture of an anterior cerebral aneurysm. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1968, 114, 137–160.
Luria, A. R. Higher Cortical Functions in Man. London: Tavistock, 1966.
MacKay, D. G. Spoonerisms: The structure of errors in the serial order of speech. Neuropsychologia, 1970, 8, 323–350.
MacKay, D. G. Aspects of the theory of comprehension, memory and attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1973, 25, 22–40.
Mandler, G. Mind and Emotion. New York: Wiley, 1975.
Marcel, A. J. Perception with and without awareness. Paper presented to the Experimental Psychology Society, Stirling, July, 1974.
Marcel, A. J., and Patterson, K. Word recognition: reciprocity in clinical and normal studies. In J. Requin (Ed.), Attention and performance. Vol. 7. Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum, 1978.
Maruyama, M. The second cybernetics: deviation — amplifying mutual causal processes. American Scientist, 1963, 51, 164–179.
Miller, G. A. Psychology: the science of mental life. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.
Miller, G.A., and Johnson-Laird, P. N. Language and perception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Miller, G. A., Galanter, E. H., and Pribram, K. Plans and the structure of behaviour. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960.
Milner, P. M. The cell assembly: mark II. Psychological Review, 1957, 64, 242–252.
Milner, P. M. Physiological psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
Murdock, B. B., Jr. Effects of a subsidiary task on short-term memory. British Journal of Psychology, 1965, 56, 413–419.
Neisser, U. The multiplicity of thought. British Journal of Psychology, 1963, 54, 1–14.
Neisser, U. Cognition and reality. San Francisco: Freeman, 1976.
Newall, A., and Simon, H. A. Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.
Newall, A., Shaw, J. C., and Simon, H. A. Elements of a theory of human problemsolving. Psychological Review, 1958, 65, 151–166.
Pew, R. W. Human perceptual-motor performance. In I. B. H. Kantowitz (Ed.), Human information-processing. Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum, 1974.
Polanyi, M. The tacit dimension. Garden City: Doubleday, 1966.
Posner, M. I. Psychobiology of attention. In M. Gazzaniga and C. Blakemore (Eds.), Handbook of psychobiology. New York: Academic Press, 1974.
Posner, M. I., and Klein, R. M. On the functions of consciousness. In S. Kornblum (Ed.), Attention and performance. Vol. 4. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Posner, M. I., and Snyder, C. Facilitation and inhibition in the processing of signals. In P. M. A. Rabbitt and S. Dornic (Eds.), Attention and performance. Vol. 5. London Academic Press, 1975.
Posner, M. I., Nissen, M. J., Ogden, W. C., and Davidson, B. J. Attention to position in space. Paper presented to the Psychonomics Society, October, 1975.
Ratliff, F. Mach bands. San Francisco: Holden Day, 1965.
Reason, J. Absent minds. New Society, 4 November 1976.
Reicher, G. M. Perceptual recognition as a function of stimulus material. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1969, 81, 275–280.
Saffran, E. M., and Marin, O. S. M. Immediate memory for word lists and sentences in a patient with deficient auditory short-term memory. Brain and Language, 1975, 2, 420–433.
Saraga, E., and Shallice, T. Parallel processing of the attributes of single stimuli. Perception and Psychophysics, 1973, 13, 261–270.
Schneider, G. E. Two visual systems. Science, 1969, 163, 895–902.
Selfridge, O. Pandemonium: A paradigm for learning. In Mechanization of thought processes. London, H. M. S. O., 1959.
Selz, O. Über die Gesetze des geordneten Denkverlaufs. Stuttgart: Speman, 1913.
Selz, O. Zur Psychologie des produktiven Denkens und des Irrtums. Bonn: Cohen, 1922.
Shaffer, L. H. Multiple attention in continuous verbal tasks. In P. M. A. Rabbitt and S. Dornic (Eds.), Attention and performance. Vol. 5. London: Academic Press, 1975.
Shallice, T. Dual functions of consciousness. Psychological Review, 1972, 79, 383–393.
Shallice, T. On the contents of primary memory. In P. M. A. Rabbitt and S. Dornic (Eds.), Attention and performance. Vol. 5. London: Academic Press, 1975.
Shallice, T. Neuropsychological research and the fractionation of memory systems. In L.-G. Nilsson (Ed.) Perspectives in memory research. Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum, in press.
Shallice, T., and Evans, M. E. The involvement of the frontal lobes in cognitive estimation. Cortex, 1978 (in press).
Shallice, T., and McGill, J. The origins of mixed errors. In J. Requin (Ed.), Attention and performance. Vol. 7. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1978.
Shallice, T., and Warrington, E. K. Independent functioning of the verbal memory stores: a neuropsychological study. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970, 22, 261–273.
Shallice, T., and Warrington, E. K. The possible role of selective attention in acquired dyslexia. Neuropsychologia, 1977a, 15, 31–42.
Shallice, T., and Warrington, E. K. Auditory-verbal short-term memory impairment and conduction aphasia. Brain and Language, 1977b, 4, 479–491.
Sherrington, C. S. The integrative action of the nervous system. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1906.
Sloman, A. The computer revolution in philosophy. London: Harvester, 1977.
Smith, K. U., and Akelaitis, A. J. Studies on the corpus callosum. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1942, 47, 519–543.
Sokolov, E. N. Perception and the conditioned reflex. London: Macmillan, 1963.
Solomons, L., and Stein, G. Normal motor automatism. Psychological Review, 1896, 3, 492–512.
Spelke, E., Hirst, W., and Neisser, U. Skills of divided attention. Cognition, 1976, 4, 215–230.
Sutherland, N. S. Intelligent picture processing. Proceedings of the conference on the evolution of the nervous system and behavior, Florida State University, 1973.
Treisman, A. M. Contextual cues in selective listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1960, 12, 242–248.
Treisman, A. M., Sykes, M., and Gelade, G. Selective attention and stimulus integration. In S. Dornic (Ed.), Attention and performance. Vol. 6. London: Academic Press, 1977.
Trevarthen, C. B. Functional interactions between the cerebral hemispheres of the splitbrain monkey. In G. C. Ettlinger (Ed.), Functions of the corpus callosum. London: Hurchill, 1965.
Trevarthen, C. B. Two mechanisms of vision in primates. Psychologische Forschung, 1968, 31, 299–337.
Trevarthen, C. B. Functional relations of disconnected hemispheres with the brainstem and with each other: monkey and man. In M. Kinsbourne and W. L. Smith (Eds.), Hemispheric disconnection and cerebral function. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C Thomas, 1974.
Turvey, M. T. Constructive theory, perceptual systems and tacit knowledge. In W. B. Weimer and D. S. Palermo (Eds.), Cognition and the symbolic processes. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1974.
Turvey, M. T. Preliminaries to a theory of action with reference to vision. In R. Shaw and J. Bransford (Eds.), Perceiving, acting and knowing: toward an ecological psychology. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1977.
Walley, R. E., and Weiden, T. D. Lateral inhibition and cognitive masking: a neuropsychological theory of attention. Psychological Review, 1973, 80, 284–302.
Warrington, E. K. Constructional apraxia. In P. J. Vincken and G. W. Bruyn (Eds.), Handbook of clinical neurology. Vol. 4. Amsterdam: North Holland, 1969.
Warrington, E. K. The selective impairment of semantic memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1975, 27, 635–658.
Warrington, E. K., and Taylor, A. M. The contribution of the right parietal lobe to object recognition. Cortex, 1973, 7, 152–164.
Watt, H. J. Experimentelle Beiträge zu einer Theorie des Denkens. Archiv für die Gesamte Psychologie, 1905, 4, 289–436.
Waugh, N. C. Retrieval time in short-term memory. British Journal of Psychology, 1970, 61, 1–12.
Weiskrantz, L., Warrington, E. K., Sanders, M. D., and Marshall, J. Visual capacity in the hemianopic field following a restricted occipital ablation. Brain, 1974, 97, 709–728.
Wheeler, D. D. Processes in word recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 1970, 1, 59–85.
Winograd, T. Understanding natural language. Edinburgh: University Press, 1972.
Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical investigations. Oxford: Blackwell, 1953.
Woodworth, R. S., and Schlosberg, H. Experimental Psychology. New York: Holt, 1954.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1978 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shallice, T. (1978). The Dominant Action System: An Information-Processing Approach to Consciousness. In: Pope, K.S., Singer, J.L. (eds) The Stream of Consciousness. Emotions, Personality, and Psychotherapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2466-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2466-9_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-2468-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-2466-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive