External control of the stream of consciousness: Stimulus-based effects on involuntary thought sequences |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University, United States;2. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States;3. Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, United States;4. Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, United States;1. School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;2. Faculty of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China;3. Faculty of Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China;1. School of Management and IQSCS, University of Leicester, UK;2. International Center for Mathematical Modeling in Physics and Cognitive Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden;1. Civil Engineering Department, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 21941-972 RJ, Brazil;2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;1. Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Koom 32511, Egypt;2. Department of Physics and Engineering Mathematics, Higher Institute of Engineering El Shorouk, Cairo, Egypt;3. Department of Physics and Engineering Mathematics, Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology, Tanta, Egypt |
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| Abstract: | The stream of consciousness often appears whimsical and free from external control. Recent advances, however, reveal that the stream is more susceptible to external influence than previously assumed. Thoughts can be triggered by external stimuli in a manner that is involuntary, systematic, and nontrivial. Based on these advances, our experimental manipulation systematically triggered a sequence of, not one, but two involuntary thoughts. Participants were instructed to (a) not subvocalize the name of visual objects and (b) not count the number of letters comprising object names. On a substantial proportion of trials, participants experienced both kinds of involuntary thoughts. Each thought arose from distinct, high-level processes (naming versus counting). This is the first demonstration of the induction of two involuntary thoughts into the stream of consciousness. Stimulus word length influenced dependent measures systematically. Our findings are relevant to many fields associated with the study of consciousness, including attention, imagery, and action control. |
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| Keywords: | Consciousness Stream of consciousness Cognitive control Mind wandering Involuntary processing |
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