Two-stage process for consciousness
There is a two-stage process for consciousness. The first is a large-capacity short-term memory, which was sometimes referred to as the Blickfield. The second is a narrow-capacity focus of selection attention, or apperception, under voluntary control. The second moves through the first. Wundt's main difference between his position and that of empiricists was that he emphasized the role of attention. When someone pays attention to elements, these elements can be arranged and rearranged according to that person's will. This is how things that have not actually been experienced, can result in the brain as if they had. Wundt believed that creative synthesis was entwined with all acts of apperception. It was believed by Wundt that this apperceptive process was important for normal cognitive functioning. The creative synthesis principle was continually being expanded ''Wilhelm Wundt in History: The Making of a Scientific Psychology'', 2002 edition, Springer, 2001, p.131 Factors regarding this are: #Mental states are dependent on the context in which they occur # #They usually take the path of least resistance in their constructive acts # #They fluctuate through opponent processes – this is called the principle of contrastsThe principle of contrasts
The principle of contrasts is the idea that opposite experiences intensify one another.''Classics in the History of Psychology'', Christopher D. Green, Toronto, 1997 For example, a pleasant experience always seems more pleasant if it follows one that is interpreted as painful. A theory that is somewhat similar to this is the principle toward the development of opposites. This is the phenomena that occurs after a prolonged experience of one type, there becomes an increasing tendency to seek out the opposite experience A major manifestation of creative synthesis is the concept of heterogony of ends. Heterogony of ends is the development of new motives during the series of events.''Wilhelm Wundt in History: The Making of a Scientific Psychology'', 2002 edition, Springer, 2001, p. 108 There is an exchange of motives in our immediate experience and it defines the social behaviors that are engaged in as well as, the cognitive reaction to the world that occurs. An example of this would be going to the store with the intention of buying food and to come home to make dinner. But after getting to the store, you run into a friend that you have not seen in a long time, who you have missed. This adds a new set of motives to the pre-existing or original motives. There is almost always something that happens that changes a person's entire motivational pattern.References
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