¶ … attenuation theory which suggests that messages can be muted but not entirely ignored and people can perceive multiple messages at the same time.

Hypnosis significantly improved treatment efficacy, reducing both pre and post-intervention mood.

Psychoanalytic theory revolves around the concept of the 'unconscious.' However, one of the major criticisms of this theory is that it is difficult to 'prove' that the unconscious exists. However, according to the findings of Wikstrom, Lundh, and Westerlund (2003), masked words indicating violence can substantially increase anxiety and a sense of threat for anxious subjects, versus subjects without such an anxious profile. This suggests the presence of a subconscious impact of words. Other support for the existence of the unconscious lies in the 'Stroop' effect, or the ability to more easily identify colors when the written text of the word is in the color it refers to, versus another color.

Q4.

When there was damage to the right parietal regions of the brain, there was a right high rate of error when the patient was inappropriately cued by researchers in the right, as opposed to the left field of vision. This supports the notion that different hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different mental processes and that damage to one hemisphere does not necessarily impact activities relegated to the other hemisphere. It also highlights the role of the brain in visual perception.

Q5.

Automaticity can be useful because when the need for central cognition is minimized a task seems less laborious. Once a driver is accustomed to driving regularly he or she can carry on a conversation while engaged in the task. Unfortunately, this automaticity can mean that the driver will be less inclined to note unexpected events and stimuli.

Q6. While all patients were equally responsive to positive priming, negative priming, or the ability to screen out irrelevant stimuli was markedly deficient in non-medicated, schizophrenic individuals, suggesting that schizophrenia is associated with the inability to block out irrelevant stimuli.