Chapter 3 Notes Chapter 3: Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind 3.1Brain Consciousness Concepts  Consciousness: our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment o Allows us to assemble information from many sources o Focuses our attention when we learn a complex concept or behavior o We flit between different states of consciousness  Waking Consciousness: a state in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear and organized and the person feels alert  Altered State of Consciousness: a state in which is a shift in the quality of pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness  Cognitive Neuroscience: the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)  Selective Attention: the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus  Inattentional Blindness: failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere o Change blindness: failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness  Dual Processing: the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks o Blindsight: a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it o Parallel Processing: processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain natural mode of information processing for many functions o Sequential Processing: processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems 3.2 Sleep and Dreams  Sleep: a periodic, natural loss of consciousness- as distinct from. Unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation  Sleep Stages: Chapter 3 Notes o REM: rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur; also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active  Story-like dream: o NREM-1  Hallucinations: False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of external visual stimulus that occur during NREM-1 o NREM-2 o NREM-3  Minimal Awareness o Order of Sleep Stages:  NREM-1  NREM-2  NREM-3  NREM-2  REM  Brain-Wave Activity: o Alpha Waves: the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed awake state o Delta Waves: the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep  Sleep Patterns: o Circadian Rhythm: our biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. o Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm. In response to light, the SCN causes the pineal gland our feelings of sleepiness  Functions of Sleep o Sleep Protects: A species’ sleep pattern tends to suit its ecological niche o Sleep Helps Us Recuperate: Sleep helps us restore the immune system and repair brain tissue; given resting neurons time to repair themselves o Sleep helps us restore and rebuild our fading memories of the day’s experiences: Sleep consolidates our memories by strengthening neural connections o Sleeps feeds creative thinking Chapter 3 Notes o Sleep supports growth: During slow-wave sleep, which occurs mostly in the first half of a night’s sleep, the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone that is necessary for muscle development  Sleep Loss: o Sleep loss causes:  decreased energy  depression  difficulty studying  decreased productivity  make mistakes  irritability  fatigue  weight gain  decreased immunity  slower reaction times. o Sleep disorders:  Insomnia; persistent problems falling asleep  narcolepsy: sudden attack of overwhelming sleepiness.  sleep apnea: breathing stops momentarily during sleep  Night terrors: activity during sleep, increased VS, look of terror  Sleep walking  Sleep talking  Dreams: o A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind o Functions of Dreams:  To satisfy our wishes  To understand our inner conflicts  To file away memories-organize the day's experience  To develop and preserve neural pathways  To make sense of neural static  To reflect cognitive development