Integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious

Am Psychol. 1994 Aug;49(8):709-24. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.49.8.709.

Abstract

Cognitive-experiential self-theory integrates the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious by assuming the existence of two parallel, interacting modes of information processing: a rational system and an emotionally driven experiential system. Support for the theory is provided by the convergence of a wide variety of theoretical positions on two similar processing modes; by real-life phenomena--such as conflicts between the heart and the head; the appeal of concrete, imagistic, and narrative representations; superstitious thinking; and the ubiquity of religion throughout recorded history--and by laboratory research, including the prediction of new phenomena in heuristic reasoning.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Ego*
  • Emotions
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Unconscious, Psychology*