Consciousness and information selection

The selection of information is considered from the point of view of the process necessary for its conscious apprehension, in the context of the limited memory of consciousness, and the discrete and slow mode of its operation. Published data and the results of our own observations touching upon the neurophysiology of consciously apprehended and consciously nonapprehended processes are cited. The advantages of consciously apprehended information over consciously nonapprehended information, associated with the possibility of its participation in the voluntary regulation of functions of the organism and in the organization of the abstract-verbal mode of communication, are underscored.