ABSTRACT
Two features of our consciousness that are overlooked in the normal course of events are the great extent to which it is nonconscious and its nonunitary nature. As Jaynes (1976) pointed out, consciousness need not be, and often is not, involved in learning, thinking, problem solving, speaking, writing, listening, reading, and the performances of many other tasks. In normal, ordinary functioning, the nonunitary nature of consciousness is manifest in the simultaneous performance of such tasks as listening to a conversation partner, observing and judging his or her facial expressions and gestures, and preparing mentally a reply to the comments made; and the performance of multicomponent skilled tasks, such as driving while simultaneously engaged in a conversation or mental problem solving to the point of being oblivious of the driving process or the terrain covered. It is as if the different levels of mental functioning have become dissociated from one another, each running its own course without communicating with the others. E. R. Hilgard (1986) who has presented a significant body of theory and research on the concept of dissociation and divided consciousness, showed the person as representing a multiplicity of functional systems that are hierarchically organized but that can become dissociated from one another. Dissociationism as a view of the dynamics of human consciousness helps explain many phenomena that have been placed in the category of the occult and the paranormal.
