In which level of consciousness, people are aware of their thoughts, feelings and actions?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Conscious
Freud’s theory visualises the human mind in terms of three levels of consciousness.
Option (1) Unconscious — Incorrect. The unconscious includes mental activity that people are unaware of: instinctive drives and repressed wishes concealed from awareness.
Option (2) Conscious — Correct. The first level, the conscious, includes the thoughts, feelings and actions of which people are aware.
Option (3) Pre-conscious — Incorrect. The preconscious includes mental activity of which people may become aware only if they attend to it closely; until then they are not aware of it.
Option (4) Subconscious — Incorrect. ‘Subconscious’ is an everyday word for mental activity going on below awareness. It is not one of Freud’s three levels, and in any case it is the opposite of being aware.
Note: The term in Option (4), ‘subconscious’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and is not in the NCERT book (2025-26) either; explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “Levels of Consciousness … Freud’s theory considers the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts and the way people deal with these. In doing so, it visualises the human mind in terms of three levels of consciousness. The first level is conscious, which includes the thoughts, feelings and actions of which people are aware. The second level is preconscious, which includes mental activity of which people may become aware only if they attend to it closely. The third level is unconscious, which includes mental activity that people are unaware of.…” |