| FORM: | ARTICLE |
| Author: | Natsoulas, Thomas |
| Affiliation: | U California, Dept of Psychology, Davis, CA, USA |
| Title: | Two proposals regarding the primary psychological interface. |
| Source: | Journal of Mind & Behavior, 1998 Sum, 1998. 19 (3): p.303-324Reference. |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | Thesaurus terms: Consciousness States Perception Reality |
| Added Keywords: | perceptual awareness as action on ecological environment vs overlap between consciousness & reality as primary psychological interface |
| Classification Code: | Consciousness States (2380) |
| Abstract: | Two proposals regarding what the primary psychological interface is are critically discussed. One proposal posits an actual overlap of consciousness and reality. The parts of the physical world that are directly perceived are also elements of that consciousness. Each such part is supposed to have a kind of double existence in the physical world and also in consciousness. Against this view, it is argued that perceptual awareness makes portions of the physical world self-given only in their being manifested or appearing in consciousness, whereas the portions themselves remain completely external to consciousness. The other proposal claims that the primary psychological interface is an animal’s perceptual activity with respect to the ecological environment and that this interface does not amount to the animal’s perceptual awareness in the sense of experiencing things by means of the senses. Rather, perceptual awareness is a feature of actions upon the ecological environment. Against this view, it is argued that an occurrent perceptual awareness is a central, unperceivable product and part of a larger activity of perceiving and an element of the actual interface between reality and consciousness. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) |