Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is the Conscious Mind?How the Conscious Mind WorksThe Iceberg MetaphorConscious vs. PreconsciousHow the Preconscious Works

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What Is the Conscious Mind?

How the Conscious Mind Works

The Iceberg Metaphor

Conscious vs. Preconscious

How the Preconscious Works

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The conscious mind is one element of Sigmund Freud’s topographic model of the mind. Freud was not the first theorist to describe consciousness or unconsciousness, but these elements played a fundamental part in his theories of human psychology.

This article discusses the conscious mind, including how it is defined, how it works, and why it is important in Freudian theory. It also covers how the conscious mind differs from the preconscious.

In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, the conscious mind consists of everything inside of our awareness.

The conscious mind includes:

Essentially, it is anything that is in your current awareness. The thoughts and feelings you are experiencing at the moment, and your awareness of your current environment are all part of your conscious experiences.

It isn’t possible to keep every thought, memory, or feeling inside of conscious awareness at all times. So instead, certain information is maintained in awareness, other information remains outside of immediate awareness but still accessible, and other information is hidden from awareness.

Freud’s topographic theory was a “map” of the different systems that make up the human mind. According to Freud, the mind is made up of three systems: the conscious (Cs.), the preconscious (Pcs.), and the unconscious (Ucs.)

The topographic model of the mind is also part of Freud’s larger structural model of personality, which includes theid, ego, and superego.

How the Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious Interact

Closely allied with the conscious mind is the preconscious (or subconscious). The preconscious includes the things we are not thinking of at the moment but can easily draw intoconscious awareness.

Things that the conscious mind wants to keep hidden from awareness are repressed into the unconscious mind. While we are unaware of these feelings, thoughts, urges, and emotions,Freudbelieved that theunconscious mindcould still influence our behavior.

Freud often used the metaphor of an iceberg to describe the two major aspects of human personality. The tip of the iceberg that extends above the water represents the conscious mind. As you can see in the image on top, the conscious mind is just the “tip of the iceberg.” Beneath the water is the much larger bulk of the iceberg, which represents the unconscious.

While the conscious and preconscious are important, Freud believed that they were far less vital than the unconscious.

The things that are hidden from awareness, Freud believed, exerted the greatest influence over our personalities and behaviors.

Conscious vs. Preconscious Differences

ConsciousLimited in capacitySimilar to short-term memoryIncludes what you are currently aware ofPreconsciousMuch larger in capacitySimilar to long-term memoryIncludes information and memories you can recall

ConsciousLimited in capacitySimilar to short-term memoryIncludes what you are currently aware of

Limited in capacity

Similar to short-term memory

Includes what you are currently aware of

PreconsciousMuch larger in capacitySimilar to long-term memoryIncludes information and memories you can recall

Much larger in capacity

Similar to long-term memory

Includes information and memories you can recall

The conscious mind involves all the things you are currently aware of and are thinking about. It is somewhat akin toshort-term memoryand is limited in capacity. Your awareness of yourself and the world around you is part of your consciousness.

The preconscious mind, also known as the subconscious mind, includes things that we might not be presently aware of but that we can pull into conscious awareness when needed.

You might not presently be thinking about how to do long division, but you can access the information and bring it into conscious awareness when solving a math problem.

The preconscious mind is a part of the mind that corresponds toordinary memory. These memories are not conscious, but we can retrieve them to conscious awareness at any time.

Freud’s Perspective on Women

While these memories are not part of your immediate awareness, they can be quickly brought into awareness through conscious effort. For example, if you were asked what television show you watched last night or what you had for breakfast this morning, you would be pulling that information out of your preconscious.

A helpful way to think of the preconscious is that it acts as a sort of gatekeeper between the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. It allows only certain pieces of information to pass through and enter conscious awareness.

Phone numbers and social security numbers are also examples of information stored in your preconscious mind. While you do not walk around consciously thinking about this information all the time, you can quickly draw it out of your subconscious when you are asked to relate these numbers.

In Freud’s iceberg metaphor, the preconscious exists just below the surface of the water. You can see the murky shape and outline of the submerged ice if you focus and make an effort to see it.

Like the unconscious mind, Freud believed that the preconscious could have an influence on conscious awareness. Sometimes information from the preconscious surfaces in unexpected ways, like in dreams or in accidental slips of the tongue (known asFreudian slips). While we might not be actively thinking about these things, Freud believed they still served to influence conscious actions and behaviors.

RecapThe preconscious (subconscious) plays an important role since it contains the information that we can quickly draw into the conscious mind when it is needed. It also acts as a control mechanism that helps keep certain information in the unconscious mind and out of conscious awareness.

Recap

The preconscious (subconscious) plays an important role since it contains the information that we can quickly draw into the conscious mind when it is needed. It also acts as a control mechanism that helps keep certain information in the unconscious mind and out of conscious awareness.

Freud’s Conscious and Unconscious Mind

A Word From Verywell

The conscious mind is an important part ofFreudian theory. This component of the mind is critical for survival since it allows us to direct attention and perceive events that we need to respond to in the immediate environment.

However, Freud also believed that the conscious represented only a tiny portion of the totality of the human mind. While a small portion of the mind is accessible to us through the conscious and preconscious, Freud believed that the bulk of our mind’s contents is found in the unconscious. And while this was not directly accessible, tactics such as dream interpretation and free associations might be a way to bring this information into the conscious mind.

4 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Freud’s model of the human mind. Journal Psyche.(n.d.).Boag S.Topographical model. In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2017:1-6. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1432-1Thornton SP.Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Tan PB.Evaluating the “unconscious in dream” between Sigmund Freud and the Buddhist Tipitaka.JIABU. 2016;9(1):36-46.Additional ReadingFreud S. (1915).The Unconscious. Standard Edition, Volume 14.

4 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Freud’s model of the human mind. Journal Psyche.(n.d.).Boag S.Topographical model. In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2017:1-6. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1432-1Thornton SP.Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Tan PB.Evaluating the “unconscious in dream” between Sigmund Freud and the Buddhist Tipitaka.JIABU. 2016;9(1):36-46.Additional ReadingFreud S. (1915).The Unconscious. Standard Edition, Volume 14.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Freud’s model of the human mind. Journal Psyche.(n.d.).Boag S.Topographical model. In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2017:1-6. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1432-1Thornton SP.Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Tan PB.Evaluating the “unconscious in dream” between Sigmund Freud and the Buddhist Tipitaka.JIABU. 2016;9(1):36-46.

Freud’s model of the human mind. Journal Psyche.(n.d.).

Boag S.Topographical model. In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2017:1-6. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1432-1

Thornton SP.Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Tan PB.Evaluating the “unconscious in dream” between Sigmund Freud and the Buddhist Tipitaka.JIABU. 2016;9(1):36-46.

Freud S. (1915).The Unconscious. Standard Edition, Volume 14.

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