Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-hzqq2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-18T15:01:19.453Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The problem of consciousness in habitual decision making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

Javier Bernacer ,
Gloria Balderas ,
Ivan Martinez-Valbuena ,
Maria A. Pastor  and
Jose Ignacio Murillo
Javier Bernacer
Affiliation:
Mind–Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. jbernacer@unav.es gcbalderas@gmail.com imartinez.18@alumni.unav.es jimurillo@unav.es http://www.unav.es/centro/cultura-y-sociedad/mind_brain
Gloria Balderas
Affiliation:
Mind–Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. jbernacer@unav.es gcbalderas@gmail.com imartinez.18@alumni.unav.es jimurillo@unav.es http://www.unav.es/centro/cultura-y-sociedad/mind_brain
Ivan Martinez-Valbuena
Affiliation:
Mind–Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. jbernacer@unav.es gcbalderas@gmail.com imartinez.18@alumni.unav.es jimurillo@unav.es http://www.unav.es/centro/cultura-y-sociedad/mind_brain
Maria A. Pastor
Affiliation:
Mind–Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. jbernacer@unav.es gcbalderas@gmail.com imartinez.18@alumni.unav.es jimurillo@unav.es http://www.unav.es/centro/cultura-y-sociedad/mind_brain Neuroimaging Laboratory, Neurosciences Section, Center for Applied Medical Research, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. mapastor@unav.es
Jose Ignacio Murillo
Affiliation:
Mind–Brain Group, Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. jbernacer@unav.es gcbalderas@gmail.com imartinez.18@alumni.unav.es jimurillo@unav.es http://www.unav.es/centro/cultura-y-sociedad/mind_brain
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Newell & Shanks (N&S) carry out an extremely sharp and static distinction between conscious and unconscious decisions, ignoring a process that dynamically transfers decisions and actions between the conscious and unconscious domains of the mind: habitual decision making. We propose a new categorisation and discuss the main characteristics of this process from a philosophical and neuroscientific perspective.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 21 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aznarez-Sanado, M., Fernandez-Seara, M. A., Loayza, F. R. & Pastor, M. A. (2013) Functional asymmetries in early learning during right, left, and bimanual performance in right-handed subjects. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 37(3):619–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernacer, J. & Gimenez-Amaya, J. M. (2012) On habit learning in neuroscience and free will. In: Is science compatible with free will?, ed. Suarez, A. & Adams, P., pp. 177–93. Springer.Google Scholar
Brigandt, I. (2005) The instinct concept of the early Konrad Lorenz. Journal of the History of Biology 38:571–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunswik, E. (1952) The conceptual framework of psychology. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fernandez-Seara, M. A., Aznarez-Sanado, M., Mengual, E., Loayza, F. R. & Pastor, M. A. (2009) Continuous performance of a novel motor sequence leads to highly correlated striatal and hippocampal perfusion increases. NeuroImage 47(4):1797–808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lorenz, K. (1950) The comparative method in studying innate behaviour patterns. In: Physiological mechanisms in animal behaviour, ed. Danielli, J. F. & Brown, R., pp. 221–68. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Murillo, J. I. (2011) Is there room for the will in neuroscientific research? In: Moral behaviour and free will, ed. Sanguineti, J. J., Acerbi, A. & Lombo, J. A., pp. 61–79. IF Press.Google Scholar
Seger, C. A. & Spiering, B. J. (2011) A critical review of habit learning and the basal ganglia. Frontiers in systems neuroscience 5:66. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2011.00066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wegner, D. M. (2004) Précis of The illusion of conscious will . Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27:649–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wu, T., Kansaku, K. & Hallet, M. (2004) How self-initiated memorized movements become automatic: A functional MRI study. Journal of Neurophysiology 91:1690–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed