Telling More Than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental Processes

The “thinking mind” is the part of the mind that seeks to make sense of the world; it analyses situations, imagines scenarios, evaluates solutions, and tells stories. It’s an inherent aspect of what makes us human. However, it’s limited by multiple cognitive bottlenecks.

The human mind has many limitations. For instance, our limited sensory capabili... See more

we know that we are unable accurately to introspect about the workings of our minds. We thematize the results of our introspection in certain ways. One way we tend to thematize the experience of a particular intention is to adopt it as a product that arises solely from some exercise of free (causally-exempt) will.

But the simple truth was that he didn’t know how it happened. He couldn’t explain it. His brain did it without his permission, the way his heart pumped blood or his lungs infused cells with oxygen. It latched on to patterns and sequences without his consent or, at times, his awareness and filled his head with a deluge of numbers and images. When he

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The human mind perceives, forms concepts, learns, makes judgements, feels emotions, uses language, remembers, invents, dreams, desires. How can so much complexity be captured in a single image? Clearly, some aspects of mental life must be prioritised at the expense of others. But which ones? And after those choices have been made, does the 'picture

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