Volition and the Function of Consciousness (draft for Book Chapter to Appear in Cognitive Neurosciences Iv, Ed. Michael Gazzaniga, Mit Press)

8 What are the psychological functions that could only be performed 9 consciously? People have intuitively assumed that many acts of volition are not 10 influenced by unconscious information. These acts range from simple examples 11 such as making a spontaneous motor movement, to higher cognitive control. 12 However, the available evidence suggests that under suitable conditions, 13 unconscious information can influence these behaviors and the underlying neural 14 mechanisms. One possibility is that stimuli that are consciously perceived tend to 15 yield strong signals in the brain, which makes us think that consciousness has the 16 function of such strong signals. However, if we could create conditions where the 17 stimuli could yield strong signals but not the conscious experience of perception, 18 perhaps we would find that such stimuli are just as effective in influencing 19 volitional behavior. Future studies that focus on clarifying this issue may tell us 20 what the defining functions of consciousness are. 21