Philip David Zelazo (1992) The Dissociation of Consciousness
. Psycoloquy: 3(38) Consciousness (20)
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Psycoloquy 3(38): The Dissociation of Consciousness
THE DISSOCIATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
AND THE CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR
Commentary on Bridgeman on Consciousness
Philip David Zelazo
Dept. of Psychology
Yale University
P.O. Box 11A Yale Station
New Haven, CT 06520
zelphid@yalevm.bitnet
Abstract
There is clearly a relation between consciousness and
planned action, this has been recognised since the time of
Aristotle. Many of our plans are conscious; the execution of those
plans often requires conscious activity, and much of our conscious
activity is involved in the goal-directed control of action. In so
far as he attempts to explain the phylogenetic evolution of
consciousness, Bridgeman seems to be looking in the right place; an
account of the evolution of consciousness that emphasizes its
connection to behavioral consequences. The assimilation of
communication to planned behavior more generally would also seem to
be promising. However, there are a number of reasons to believe
that the connections that lie at the crux of Bridgeman's account
are less straightforward than he caimss.
Keywords
consciousness, language, plans, motivation, evolution,
motor system
References
- Bridgeman, B. (1992). On the evolution of consciousness and language. PSYCOLOQUY 3(15) consciousness.1.
- Dempster, F. (1992). The rise and fall of the inhibitory mechanism: Toward a unified theory of cognitive development and aging. Developmental Review 12: 45-72.
- James, W. (1950). The principles of psychology, vol. 1. New York: Dover. (Originally published in 1890).
- Zelazo, P.D., Palfai, T., & Frye, D. (1992). Embedded-rule use in sorting, causality, and theory of mind. Infant Behavior and Development (Special ICIS Issue) 15: 784.
- Zelazo, P.D., & Reznick, J.S. (1991). Age-related asynchrony of knowledge and action. Child Development 62: 719-735.
- Zelazo, P.D., & Spinazolla, J.F. (1992). Representational flexibility and response control in a search task. Infant Behavior and Development (Special ICIS Issue) 15: 785.