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Preview of Chapter Themes
 Throughout this text, we have discussed
processes that provide an unnoticed support
structure for cognition. We begin, therefore, by
reviewing themes from earlier chapters, in order
to ask what sorts of things are accomplished
within the "cognitive unconscious."
Overall, it appears that we can perform a task
unconsciously if we arrive at the task with an
already-established routine, directly applicable to
that task, and if the routine can be guided by
strong habits or by powerful cues within the
situation.
This reliance on unconscious operations is fast
and efficient, but also inflexible and difficult to
control. It frees us to pay attention to higher-order
aspects of a task, but also leaves us
ignorant about the sources of our ideas, beliefs,
and memories.
From a biological perspective, we know that
most operations of the brain are made possible
by highly specialized modules. These modules
can be interrelated by means of workspace
neurons, literally connecting one area of the
brain to another, and allowing the integration of
different processing streams.
The workspace neurons create a "global
workspace," and this is literally what makes
consciousness possible; the operations of this
workspace fit well with many things we know to
be true about consciousness.
However, profound questions remain about how
(or whether) the global workspace makes
possible the subjective experience that for many
theorists is the defining element of
consciousness.
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