(?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)
Julian Jaynes

“Signal learning (or classical or Pavlovian conditioning) is the simplest example [of learning without consciousness]. If a light signal immediately followed by a puff of air through a rubber tube is directed at a person's eye about ten times, the eyelid, which previously blinked only to the puff of air, will begin to blink to the light signal alone, and this becomes more and more frequent as trials proceed. Subjects who have undergone this well-known procedure of signal learning report that it has no conscious component whatever. Indeed, consciousness, in this example the intrusion of voluntary eye blinks to try to assist the signal learning, blocks it from occurring.”

Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
Read more quotes from Julian Jaynes


Share this quote:
Share on Twitter

Friends Who Liked This Quote

To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up!


This Quote Is From

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
5,863 ratings, average rating, 740 reviews
Open Preview

Browse By Tag