Abstract
Implicit cognition, being phenomenally invisible, is a powerful force in defining and transforming human life. Its nature, moreover, can be defined in two key ways. On the one hand, implicit cognition is reflected influences of past events on subsequent experiences and, on the other hand, implicit cognition can also be in some sense independent of explicit cognition. This means that implicit cognition is multi-faceted and informs our experience multi-dimensionally because it is knowledge acquired through experience, something operative in the absence of conscious awareness, and an ever-changing mode in our living and learning process.
This paper looks at the relationship among these areas, drawing systematic connections between implicit cognition and consciousness in both the personal and cultural context. Using the historical story as a counterpoint to experimental work today, this paper (1) illustrates the implicit/explicit exchange, (2) demonstrates how implicit ideas have informed cultural communities as well as scientific development and speculation, and (3) integrates the historical difficulties in perceiving cultural habits and assumptions within contemporary cognitive studies and interdisciplinary consciousness debates. Particular attention will be given to what we mean by memory, how implicit cognition influences conscious mental life, intergenerational learning, and perception.