LA FUNZIONE INTERPRETATIVA DEL PENSIERO ‘PARLANTE’ E L’INCONSCIO COGNITIVO

Abstract

Macchi and Bagassi propose a conception of mind bounded by the qualitative constraint of relevance at conscious and unconscious levels. The core of this conception is an interpretative function in language and thought as adaptive characteristic of the human cognitive system. This perspective is supported by evidence from the authors' research on insight problem solving, which they consider a privileged route to understanding what kind of special unconscious thought produces the solution. During incubation, in the absence of conscious control, relevance constraint allows multilayered thinking to discover a new interpretation of the data that finally offers an exit from the impasse. The authors speculate that the creative act of restructuring implies a form of high-level unconscious thought, the unconscious analytic thought.