What is the difference between the unconscious and conscious mind

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Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. The famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed that behavior and personality were derived from the constant and unique interaction of conflicting psychological forces that operate at three different levels of awareness: the preconscious, conscious , and unconscious.

In order to understand Freud's theory, it is essential to first understand what he believed each part of personality did, how it operated, and how these three elements interact to contribute to the human experience. Each level of awareness has a role to play in shaping human behavior and thought. Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalytic theory. While his ideas were considered shocking at the time and create debate and controversy even now, his work had a profound influence on a number of disciplines, including psychology , sociology, anthropology, literature, and even art.

Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies of his patients when he formed his theory of personality development. Freud delineated the mind in the distinct levels, each with their own roles and functions.

Freud likened the three levels of mind to an iceberg. The top of the iceberg that you can see above the water represents the conscious mind. The part of the iceberg that is submerged below the water, but is still visible, is the preconscious. The bulk of the iceberg that lies unseen beneath the waterline represents the unconscious.

One way to understand how the conscious and unconscious minds operate is to look at what is known as a slip of the tongue. Many of us have experienced what is commonly referred to as a Freudian slip at some point or another. These misstatements are believed to reveal underlying, unconscious thoughts or feelings. Freud believed that while the unconscious mind is largely inaccessible, the contents can sometimes bubble up unexpectedly, such as in dreams or slips of the tongue.

An example of a Freudian slip is a man who accidentally uses a former girlfriend's name when referring to a current girlfriend.

Interestingly, subconscious memories can be brought easily to the level of consciousness either with a strong or specific trigger.

Conscious Mind : Conscious mind takes control over logical and intellectual processes. Subconscious Mind : Subconscious mind has the control mainly over physical functions.

Conscious Mind : Decision making, details about life, planning, strategy making, communication through language and skills of organization, are some functions performed by the conscious mind.

Subconscious Mind : Breathing and digestion, memory, feelings, emotions, beliefs, attitudes and gut instincts are some functions that can be controlled by the subconscious mind.

Conscious Mind : Conscious Mind does not depend on accessible information. Subconscious Mind : Subconscious mind depends on accessible information. For example, a person can walk down a lane to his home while talking on the phone without the real need of concentrating on where he is heading to. All this happens, because the directions to his familiar places are stored accurately in the subconscious mind which can easily be brought to the level of consciousness if necessary.

For example, a person can concentrate on the wind blowing out the window while paying attention to his own pattern of breathing. Consciousness vs Subconsciousness.

Discover what these parts of the mind are responsible for with research into the theories of Sigmund Freud, Marisa Peer, and more. Sigmund Freud advocated the analogy of the iceberg in the sea. He believed that each of these parts of the mind plays an important role in influencing behavior. In order to understand the ins and outs of Freud's theory, it is essential to first understand what he believed each part of personality did.

This includes how it operated, and how these three elements interact to contribute to the human experience. Learn more about each of these levels of awareness and the role that they play in shaping human behavior and thought. For example, you may become aware of feeling thirsty so you decide to get a drink. The preconscious contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness. It exists just below the level of consciousness, before the unconscious mind.

The preconscious is like a mental waiting room. Thoughts remain until they succeed in attracting the eye of the conscious. This is often referred to as available memory. For example, you are presently not thinking about your mobile telephone number, but now it is mentioned you can recall it with ease.

Mild emotional experiences may be in the preconscious, but sometimes traumatic and powerful negative emotions are repressed and hence not available in the preconscious. According to Freud, the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, and stored in the unconscious. This part of the mind is regularly referred to in therapy.

Examples of your subconscious mind include fears, beliefs, desires, and memories that you may not be aware of. But some of these can be accessed with some work, such as therapy.

Self-Development Author, Brian Tracy , summarises the importance of the subconscious mind:. Its capacity is virtually unlimited and it permanently stores everything that ever happens to you. Under hypnosis , older people can often remember, with perfect clarity, events from fifty years before.

Your unconscious memory is virtually perfect. It is your conscious recall that is suspect. The function of your subconscious mind is to store and retrieve data.

Its job is to ensure that you respond exactly the way you are programmed. Your subconscious mind makes everything you say and do fit a pattern consistent. The subconscious and unconscious mind are used interchangeably. Michael Craig Miller, M.

For Freud, it was a key element of the theory he was developing to explain the causes of mental disorders and how to treat them. But he eventually stuck with the latter term to avoid confusion. Quite often, your mind can be torn between the beliefs of your conscious and your subconscious. This article by investment manager Ray Dalio on Linkedin explores why this happens.

These same sorts of instructions come to us from the same parts of our brains, sometimes for good evolutionary reasons and sometimes to our detriment.