Other Forms of Mental Activity

 

         Besides the faculties now named; there are two other forms of mental activity, or mental states, called Consciousness and Attention. These are not regarded as specific faculties of the mind, but as conditions or accompaniments of these faculties.

         Consciousness. CONSCIOUSNESS is the power or attribute of the mind by which it knows its own states or actions. The term is derived from con, with, and scio, I know, and means a knowing with the mental acts or states. It is regarded as an attribute of the mind, involved in the very idea of mind, and not as a mental faculty. Thus, to know is to know we know, to feel is to know we feel, to will is to know we will. The expressions, "I know that I know," "I know that I feel,", etc., are equivalent to I am conscious that I know, I am conscious that I feel, etc. Consciousness is a kind of inner light by which one knows what is going on within his mind; it is a revealer of the internal phenomena of thought, feeling, and will.

         Attention. ATTENTION is the power of directing the mind voluntarily to any object of thought to the exclusion of others. It is the power of selecting one of several objects, and concentrating the mental energies upon it. The term is derived from ad, to, and tendo, I bend, which was probably suggested by the attitude of the body in listening attentively to a sound.

         Attention is not a distinct form of mental activity, but is involved in and underlies the activity of all the faculties. The voluntary operation of any of the mental powers, as Perception, Memory, etc., carries with it an act of attention. It is not the power of knowing, but of directing that which may know. It has no distinct field or province of its own, yet without it the faculties would be of little use to us. It works with them and through them, increasing their efficiency, and giving them a power they would not otherwise possess.