STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND SYMBOLIC COGNITION

Consciousness(6) carries the connotation of a state of consciousness ( Natsoulas, 1997). It is an emergent property of a gestalt phenomenon, namely the psychophysiological state of the organism (Glicksohn, 1993a ). In this article, I extend my previous discussion of states of consc iousness (consciousness(6)), embedding this within the wider perspecti ve of both Gestalt psychology and psychoanalytic ego psychology. Gesta lt notions, such as Pragnanz and microgenesis, are shown to be highly relevant to this theme. Natsoulas' (1997) recent appraisal of my viewp oint has goaded me into reiterating the argument for looking at a qual itative change in thought, characterizing the shift in consciousness(6 ), as being a promising area for further development. This hypothesize d change in mode of thinking is of a metaphoric-symbolic nature, what such authors as Hunt (1989a) and Haskell (1989) would term symbolic co gnition. I discuss the relationships among perceptual experience, symb olic cognition and state of consciousness, concluding with some commen ts on Natsoulas' reservations.