Consciousness, states of consciousness, unconscious psychological processes, and psychological states

Abstract

As psychology under the auspices of cognitive science once again welcomes consciousness to sit at its table, it becomes important to know what kind of guest we have invited back. Is he the same unmanageable critter he was in the 19th Century? Will he eat us out of scientific house and home while our behaviorist in-laws tell us, “I told you so”? And what about some of his old friends — mental contents, states of consciousness, and unconscious processes — will they break up the party and force a return to the Spartan fare of psychology’s preconscious era?