Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Cognitive Microgenesis pp 79–91Cite as

Meaning and Consciousness: Microgenetic Perspectives on Levels of Processing and Hemispheric Asymmetry

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Neuropsychology ((SSNEUROPSYCHOL))

Abstract

The concept of levels in information processing or levels of awareness is one of the central themes in cognitive psychology. Literature in experimental psychology sufficiently documents the importance of levels of processing (see Broadbent, 1958; Hunt & Lansman, 1975; Sperling, 1967), though without making any explicit reference to the brain mechanisms involved. It is also acknowledged that, somewhere along the information processing sequence, meaning is captured first and conscious awareness is a much later outcome (Neisser, 1967). Although tacitly assumed, these intuitions were not sufficiently integrated in the models of cognition, and the neuropsychological models of hemispheric specialization also failed to pay sufficient attention to integrate the phenomena of primacy of meaning and levels of awareness within their framework.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allen, K. (1983). Models of hemispheric specialization. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 73–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Altman, J. (1978). Three levels of mentation and the hierarchic organization of the human brain. In E. Lenneberg & G.A. Miller (Eds.), Psychology and biology of language and thought: Essays in honour of Eric Lenneberg (pp. 87–109). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J.R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bever, T.G. (1980). Broca and Lashley were right: Cerebral dominance is an accident of growth. In D. Caplan & N. Chomsky (Eds.), Biology and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bever, T.G. (1983). Cerebral lateralization, cognitive asymmetry, and human consciousness. In E. Perecman (Ed.), Cognitive processing in the right hemisphere (pp. 19–39). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, J.L., & Nettleton, N.C. (1983). Human cerebral asymmetry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broadbent, D.M. (1958). Perception and communication. London: Pergamon.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1977). Mind, brain and consciousness. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1983a). Rethinking the right hemisphere. In E. Perecman (Ed.), Cognitive processing in the right hemisphere (pp. 41–53). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1983b). The microstructure of perception: Physiology and patterns of breakdown. Cognition and Brain Theory, 6, 145–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1985a). Clinical evidence for the concept of levels in action and perception. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 1, 79–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1985b). Imagery and the microstructure of perception. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 1, 89–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.W. (1989). The nature of voluntary action. Brain and Cognition, 10, 105–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carr, T.H., Posner, M.I., Pollatsek, A., & Snyder, C.R.R. (1979). Orthography familiarity effects in word processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108, 389–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. (1980). Cognitive structures and their development: A reply to Piaget. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Ed.), Language and learning. The debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky (pp. 35–52). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corballis, M.C. (1983). Human laterality. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corballis, M.C. (1989). Laterality and human evolution. Psychological Review, 96, 492–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, N. (1988). Evolving conceptions of memory storage, selective attention and their mutual constraints within the human information processing system. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 163–191.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, N.F. (1971). Subliminal perception: The nature of a controversy. London: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, N.F. (1981). Preconscious processing. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J.C. (1979). The understanding of the brain. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farah, M.J. (1985). Psychophysical evidence for a shared representational medium for mental images and percepts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 114, 91–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farah, M.J. (1989). Mechanisms of imagery-perception interaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 15, 203–211.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, C.A., Worford, G., Slader, R., & Tassinary, L. (1981). Lexical access with and without awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 110, 341–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groeger, J.A. (1984). Evidence of unconscious semantic processing from a forced error task. Journal of Psychology, 75, 305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamad, S. (1982). Consciousness: An afterthought. Cognition and Brain Theory, 5,29–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter, M.R., Mine, C., & Schroeder, C. (1982). Hemispheric differences in neural processing of stimulus location and type: Effects of selective attention on visual evoked potentials. Neuropsychologia, 20, 421–438.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heilige, J.B., Cox, P.J., & Litvac, L. (1979). Information processing in the cerebral hemispheres: Selective hemisphere activation and capacity limitations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108, 251–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, J.E. (1980). Interaction between global and local levels of a form. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 222–234.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holender, D. (1986). Semantic activation without conscious identification in dichotic listening, parafoveal vision, and visual masking: A survey and appraisal. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 9, 1–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, G.W. (1981). Direct vs indirect tests of the information available from masked displays: What visual masking does and does not prevent. British Journal of Psychology, 72, 323–330.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, E., & Lansman, M. (1975). Cognitive theory applied to individual differences. In G.H. Bower (Ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes (Vol. 1, pp. 81–110). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inhoff, A.W. (1982). Parafoveal perception: A further case against semantic preprocessing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 8, 137–145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. (1982). The integrative action of the cerebral hemispheres. Perception and Psychophysics, 32, 423–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kihlstrom, J.F. (1987). The cognitive unconscious. Science, 237, 1445–1452.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Konstandov, E.A., & Arzumanov, Y.L. (1986). The influence of subliminal emotional words on functional asymmetry. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 4, 143–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kosslyn, S.M. (1987). Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres: A computational approach. Psychological Review, 94, 148–175.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, L. (1970). Visual comparison in a redundant display. Cognitive Psychology, 1, 341–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunst-Wilson, W.R., & Zajonc, R.B. (1980). Affective discrimination of stimuli that cannot be recognized. Science, 207, 557–558.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, D.H. (1971). Two studies of visual search for word targets with controlled rates of presentation. Perception and Psychophysics, 10, 85–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.L. (1970). Semantic processing of unattended messages using dichotic listening. Journal of Experimental psychology, 85, 225–228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Libet, B. (1965). Cortical activation in conscious and unconscious experience. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 9, 77–86.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Libet, B. (1985). Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8, 529–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Libert, B. (1987). Consciousness: Conscious, subjective experience. In G. Adelman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of neurosciences (Vol. 1, pp. 271–275). Boston: Birkhäuser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcel, A.J. (1983). Conscious and unconscious reading: The effect of visual masking on word perception. Cognitive Psychology, 15, 177–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marr, D. (1978). Representing and computing visual information. In P.H. Winston & R.H. Brown (Eds.), Artificial intelligence: An MIT perspective (pp. 17–80). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marr, D. (1980). Visual information processing: The structure and creation of visual representation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 290, 199–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, J.C. (1982). Models of the mind in health and disease. In A.W. Ellis (Ed.), Normality and pathology in cognitive functions (pp. 1–18). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marzi, C.A., Stefano, M.D., Tassinary, G., & Crea, F. (1979). Iconic storage in the two hemispheres. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 5, 31–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, G., & Donchin, E. (1978). Brain potentials associated with structural and functional visual matching. Neuropsychologia, 16, 571–585.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley, C., Parmelee, C.M., Sperber, R.D., & Carr, H. (1980). Early extraction of meaning from pictures and its relation to conscious identification. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 265–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moscovitch, M. (1983). The linguistic and emotional functions of the normal right hemisphere. In E. Perecman (Ed.), Cognitive processing in the right hemisphere (pp. 57–82). New york: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moscovitch, M., & Klein, D. (1980). Material specific interference for words and faces: Implications for models of capacity limitations, attention and laterality. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 590–604.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, R., & Beatty, J. (1980). Brain events underlying detection and recognition of weak sensory signals. Science, 210, 80–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1961). The psychology of intelligence. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1980). The psychogenesis of knowledge and its epistemological significance. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Ed.), Language and learning. The debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky (pp. 23–34). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K.R., & Eccles, J.C. (1977). The self and its brain. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandran, V.S., & Anstis, S.M. (1986). The perception of apparent motion. Scientific American, 254, 102–109.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ruggs, M.D., & Beaumont, J.G. (1978). Interhemispheric asymmetries in the visual evoked potential response: Effect of stimulus lateralization and task. Biological Psychology, 6, 283–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S., & Kirsner, K. (1982). Laterality effects in visual information processing: Hemispheric specialization or the orientation of attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 34A, 61–77.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seamon, J.G., Marsh, R.L., & Brody, N. (1984). Critical importance of exposure duration for affective discrimination of stimuli that are not recognized. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 10, 465–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sergent, J. (1982a). About face: Left-hemisphere involvement in processing physiognomies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 8, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sergent, J. (1982b). The cerebral balance of power: Confrontation or cooperation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 8, 253–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sergent, J. (1983). The role of input in visual hemispheric asymmetries. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 481–512.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simion, F., Bagnara, S., Bisiacchi, P., Roncato, S., & Umilta, C. (1980). Laterality effects, levels of processing and stimulus properties. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 184–195.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sperling, G. (1967). Successive approximations to a model for short term memory. Acta Psychologica, 27, 285–292.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stroop, J.R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treisman, A. (1964). Selective attention in man. British Medical Bulletin, 20, 12–16.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Treisman, A. (1986). Features and objects in visual processing. Scientific American, 255, 114–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tulving, E. (1985). Memory and consciousness. Canadian Psychology, 26, 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. George Kurian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Rehabilitation and Neuropsychology, University of California at Los Angeles, 300 U.C.L.A. Medical Plaza, B100, 90024, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Robert E. Hanlon PhD

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kurian, G. (1991). Meaning and Consciousness: Microgenetic Perspectives on Levels of Processing and Hemispheric Asymmetry. In: Hanlon, R.E. (eds) Cognitive Microgenesis. Springer Series in Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3056-4_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3056-4_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7778-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3056-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation