"The conscious field is composed of all that one is conscious of at one moment in time, including, for example, objects in the environment, a smell, an afterimage, or a memory. According to some theories, the conscious field permits our decisions regarding what to do next to be influenced by all these conscious contents."
"It has been proposed that this is because the different dimensions of the stimulus activate competing action plans: that is, the word's hue and its name activate incompatible action plans (for example, saying red and blue). When such conflict arises amongst these action plans (sometimes called response codes), response selection is slowest, and the strongest action plans win and have the greatest influence over behavior."
"The field permits for the stimuli, which are processed at different speeds, to be evaluated simultaneously."
The conscious field comprises all conscious contents at a given moment, including environmental objects, sensations, and memories. These contents activate associated action plans that collectively influence behavioral decisions. In tasks like the Stroop test, conflicting stimulus dimensions activate competing action plans, slowing response selection until the strongest plan dominates. The field's primary function is temporal: it permits stimuli processed at varying speeds to be evaluated simultaneously rather than sequentially. This simultaneous evaluation enables integrated decision-making where multiple conscious contents influence action selection collectively. Even unselected action plans leave subtle muscular traces in behavior.
Read at Psychology Today
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