ABSTRACT
The background introduction culminates with the rise of cognitive science in the latter half of the 20th century, as dual-systems theories claimed that the mind had two forms of processing: an unconscious system that is associative, fast, and automatic and a conscious system that performs sequential, deliberative, and slow mental functions. Unconscious processes are mental states that occur in the absence of subjective awareness. Unconscious processes arguably play an influential role in causing a pervasive number of our everyday thoughts and actions. The inferential observation that these states mediate the workings of our mind has a rich history. Theories of this period allow for autonomous and independent unconscious processing that can manipulate the same kinds of mental representations found in conscious states, but in the absence of subjective awareness. Beginning in the late 19th century, psychology transitioned into an experimental science.
