Research Findings on Nonconscious Acquisition of Information
Summary
A considerable amount of evidence indicates that nonconscious
information-acquisition processes, are much faster and structurally more
sophisticated than consciously controlled thinking. Also referred to as the
characteristics of "preconscious processing", these processes allow for the
development of procedural knowledge that is "unknown" to conscious
awareness.
Research shows that this knowledge can enter the memory system through
channels that are independent from consciousness and involve a more advanced
and structurally more complex organization than could be handled by
consciously controlled thinking. The mechanisms of nonconscious acquisition
of information, also referred to as the "preconscious processor", can
provide efficient processing of multi dimensional and interactive relations
between variables. It also provides a major channel for the development of
procedural knowledge that is indispensable for many important aspects of
cognitive functioning. The preconscious processor seems to be directly
involved in high level cognitive operations such as encoding, the
interpretation of stimuli, drawing inferences, and the triggering of
emotional reactions--all of which are essential to the act of reading.
Details
A considerable amount of evidence indicates that the human cognitive system
is capable of nonconsciously detecting and processing information about
co-variations between features or events in the outside world. Results from
a variety of tests provide evidence that subjects in the experiments have no
access to the newly acquired procedural knowledge and no idea that they have
learned anything from the stimulus material, even though the newly acquired
knowledge consistently guides their behavior.
The mechanism of preconscious processing (the preconscious processor), is
equipped to efficiently process complex information and appears to be
incomparably more able to process complex knowledge faster and "smarter"
overall than our ability to think and identify meanings of stimuli
consciously. Most of the "real work," both in the acquisition of cognitive
procedures and skills and in the execution of cognitive operations, is being
done at the level to which our consciousness has no access.
The sophistication and speed of this inner processing far exceed what can
even be approached by our consciously controlled thinking. The
"responsibility" of this inaccessible level of our mental functioning is
more than routine operations such as retrieving information from memory and
adjusting the level of arousal. It is directly involved in the development
of interpretive categories, drawing inferences, determining emotional
reactions, and other high-level cognitive operations.
Editor's note: The above is paraphrased from an original work titled,
"Nonconscious Acquisition of Information" by Pawel Lewicki, Thomas Hill,
Maria Czyzewska, University of Tulsa, American Psychologist, June 1992,Vol.
47, No. 6, 796-801. Liberties were taken to connect the concepts presented
in the article to other works by Norman F. Dixon (Preconscious Processing,
1981) and by Charles A. Perfetti (Reading Ability, 1985). This has been done
to show supportive evidence for the foundational principles of the
PhotoReading whole mind system.
PhotoReading and New Pathways to the Inner Mind
by Paul R. Scheele, MA
Discovering New Pathways
Graduates of the PhotoReading course report improvements in information
processing including increased reading speed, comprehension, and recall or
use of information. Most interestingly, participants with closed head
injuries, brain-lesion survivors of traumatic head injuries and strokes,
extreme low-vision persons, and diagnosed dyslexics have also reported
benefits after graduating successfully from the course.
PhotoReading presupposes the existence of direct visual pathways to the
brain that are other-than-conscious. However, in 1985, when PhotoReading
was first developed, little research was available that could explain how
the brain produces the results experienced by PhotoReading graduates.
One remarkable case is that of Dr. Isaac Katzeff, a former professor of
neurology at the University of South Africa in Johannesburg. Dr.Katzeff was
trained in PhotoReading and several years later suffered a stroke in the
primary visual cortex (V1, associated with conscious visual perception). He
lost one-quarter of his visual field and his capacity to comprehend written
information. Several months after Katzeff's stroke, he began experimenting
with PhotoReading. He found that any information he would PhotoRead, he
could then read with comprehension. Because he had a confirmed V1 lesion,
he hypothesized that perhaps there is an alternative visual pathway that
allows visual processing and comprehension through a route that is
other-than-conscious.
Within a year, breakthrough research addressed Dr.Katzeff's hypothesis. In
the neuroscience journal Brain, J. L. Barbur et al. wrote an article
entitled "Conscious Visual Perception Without V1." Their conclusion
confirmed Dr. Katzeff's experience and hypothesis. In it they stated "The
results showed that area V5 (specialized for visual motion) was active
without a parallel activation of area V1, implying that the visual input can
reach V5 without passing first through V1 and that such an input is
sufficient for both the discrimination and the conscious awareness of the
visual stimulus" (Barbur et al. 1293).
Can Learning Occur Without Consciousness?
In addition to the visual processing studies of Barbur et al., other
researchers have demonstrated nonconscious acquisition of information is
possible (Dixon; Lewicki et al.). The task of the PhotoReading whole mind
system has been to instruct people in an easy-to-use protocol for gaining
utility of this innate capacity of the brain.
The question remains, what accounts for the behavioral demonstration of
learning even though the PhotoReader does not consciously report what
information had been acquired? Studies have revealed two fundamentally
differently ways of learning. We learn what the world is about--acquiring
knowledge of people, places, and things that are available to
consciousness--using a form of memory that is commonly called explicit. Or
we learn how to do things--acquiring motor or perceptual skills that are
unavailable to consciousness--using implicit memory" (Kandel et al. 656).
From anecdotal reports of PhotoReading graduates, the results of
PhotoReading appear coherent in light of studies on implicit memory.
"Implicit memory has an automatic or reflexive quality, and its formation
and recall are not absolutely dependent on awareness or cognitive processes.
This type of memory...is expressed primarily by improved performance and
cannot ordinarily be expressed in words" (Kandel et al. 658). The unique
neurological system through which implicit memory operates may be the same
system through which PhotoReading works. The neurological maps used during
implicit learning with amnesia patients are well charted using PET
(Positron-Emission Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). A
brain scan during PhotoReading sessions might obtain clinical evidence of
the PhotoReading process and confirm its connection with implicit memory.
"Amnesics are able to perform certain tasks involving implicit memory,
despite a lack of conscious knowledge of the information used in performing
those tasks, and without being able to recall when and where they learned
the relevant information or skill" (Farthing 136). PhotoReading seems to
have a profound impact on a form of learning called priming, commonly
associated with implicit memory.
Priming is the recognition of words or objects facilitated by prior exposure
to words or visual clues. Subjects in priming experiments can recall the
cued item better than other items for which no cues had been provided.
Similarly, when shown the first few letters of a previously studied word,
amnesic subjects often correctly select the previously presented word, even
though they cannot remember seeing the word before. Priming has effects
independent from explicit memory. Tulving & Schacter suggest that perceptual
priming indicates a newly discovered type of memory, the perceptual
representation system (PRS).
"The PRS involves specialized brain modules, probably in the anterior
occipital lobes (forward of the striate area) for visual stimuli. The PRS is
normally connected with episodic-semantic memory systems, but it can become
disconnected from them and continue to function on its own, as in amnesia.
The PRS can operate nonconsciously. Thus, the PRS can produce perceptual
priming effects, without subjects being aware that they were previously
exposed to the stimuli in the experimental context." (Farthing 136).
Conclusions
The practice of PhotoReading is one of mentally photographing the written
page at rates that exceed a page per second. It is an unorthodox approach
to processing written information and may involve new visual and neural
pathways into the brain. When PhotoReading is used in conjunction with the
other steps of the PhotoReading whole mind system, the reader has new
options for getting through any form of written materials in the time
available at a needed level of comprehension. The evidence of direct visual
access to regions of the brain that are other-than-conscious supports the
premise of PhotoReading. In addition the existence of the perceptual
representation system and it's nonconscious operation suggest explanation
for many of the anecdotal reports of PhotoReading graduates.
Finally, a well researched form of learning through implicit memory implies
that direct learning of skills could occur without involvement of the
conscious mind. The most significant result of PhotoReading may not be
limited just to improved reading skills. Perhaps this system unlocks the
learning capabilities of the other-than-conscious mind.
References:
Dixon, N.F. Preconscious Processing. NY: Wiley, 1981.Barbur, J. L., et al.
"Conscious Visual Perception Without V1." Brain, 1993, Vol. 116; 1293-1302.
Farthing, G. W. The Psychology of Consciousness. Lewicki, P., et al.
"Nonconscious Acquisition of Information."American Psychologist, June 1992,
Vol. 47, No. 6; 796-801.
Tulving, E. D. L. Schacter.
"Priming and Human Memory System".Quoted by G. W. Farthing in The Psychology
of Consciousness. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.
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