Mental Processes: Intentionality, Consciousness & Representation

Elements and Characteristics of Mental Processes

Elements and characteristics of mental process.

If the mind is seen as an activity — a continuous process of thinking — then the mental process itself is an internal, subjective activity. This conception of mental processes identifies at least three characteristics: intentionality, consciousness, and representational nature.

Intentionality

Intentionality is the property of mental processes to refer to an object. Every mental process is about something: if I know, imagine, or love, I necessarily know, imagine, or love something. Thinking without any content makes no sense.

Intentionality is often characterized as a propositional attitude. In other words, the object or content of the mind can be expressed as a proposition (p), and the attitude toward that proposition is the mental stance (a) — for example: believe(a) that p, hope(a) that p, doubt(a) that p. It is therefore immaterial whether the object of intentionality is real or not, or whether the attitude is true or false. This distinction highlights a fundamental difference between mental and purely physical processes.

Consciousness

Consciousness is the immediate awareness of one's own mental processes. Awareness implies that thinking is simultaneously an act of thinking and an act of knowing; these two aspects are not separable.

Direct Awareness

Direct awareness is the consciousness of an object or of its mental representation — for example: "I realize that p." This is awareness that is directly about the content.

Reflective Awareness

Reflective awareness (awareness of awareness) is the consciousness of a mental process itself — for example: "I perceive my attitude toward p." This is a higher-order awareness directed at one's own mental states.

Representational Character

A mental process always re-presents an object that is not physically present in the immediate environment but is represented in the mind. The objects in the mind are mental representations — intentional presences that stand for things.

Signs are anything that refers to something perceived to be absent. Mental representations function as signs of objects. There are three main kinds of signs:

• Signal (Index): Maintains a physical or causal relationship with the object it refers to.
• Icon: Refers to an object by some kind of resemblance or similarity.
• Symbol: The relationship with the object is determined by a prior convention or social agreement.