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The Stream of Consciousness: VII. Further Relevancies from Imagination, Cognition and Personality

Thomas Natsoulas

Imagination Cognition and Personality October 1, 1994 DOI: 10.2190/b70d-fqck-m2qj-dqp8 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Citations 8
Key findings The article reviews selected interpretations and facts from Imagination, Cognition and Personality relevant to William James's stream of consciousness, including a thought-sampling experiment in which subjects reported no mental activity at all ten per cent of the time, a finding of similarity between the stream of consciousness and college students' conception of physical time, and an analysis of "non-symbolic" durational components frequently reported as characteristic of mystical experience.

Abstract

Quite naturally, Imagination, Cognition and Personality is the literal context of the present series of articles, which aims to examine what is known and knowledgeably held about the nature and character of the referents of William James's concept of the stream of consciousness. The sixth and seventh installments focus on selected relevant interpretations and facts from Imagination, Cognition and Personality. These relevancies include 1) Lee Tilford Davis and Peder J. Johnson's result of no mental activity at all reported ten per cent of the time by the subjects in an experiment using a thought-sampling technique, 2) Richard A. Block, John L. Saggau, and Leo H. Nickol's finding of similarity between the stream of consciousness and college students' conception of physical time, and 3) L. Stafford Betty's analysis of certain basic durational components of the stream of consciousness (which he calls “non-symbolic”) that are frequently reported as characteristic of mystical experience.