Psychology Notes - States of Consciousness

PSYCHOLOGY: CHAPTER 5 – States of Consciousness 1. The Nature of Consciousness Crucial part of human experience that represents that private inner mind we think, feel, plan, wish, pray, imagine, and quietly relive experiences. - Stream of consciousness – continuous flow of changing sensations, images, thoughts and feelings coined by William James - Metacognition – describes the processes by which we think about thinking - Global brain workspace – processing of awareness and arousal throughout various parts of the brain Defining Consciousness - Consciousness – individual’s awareness of external events and internal sensations under a condition of arousal including awareness of the self and thoughts about one’s experiences Two Parts of Consciousness: 1) Aware  looking a beautiful tree with vibrant colors, don’t only perceive them! Become aware of them. 2) Arousal  physiological state of being engaged with the environment a. Brain stem, medulla and thalamus Consciousness and the Brain - Theory of mind – individuals’ understanding that they and others feel, perceive and have private experiences o essential empathy and sympathy Levels of Awareness  Higher-Level Consciousness - Controlled processes – the most alert states of human consciousness, during which individuals actively focus their efforts toward a goal o Require selective attention - Executive function – higher-order, complex cognitive processes including thinking, planning and problem solving  linked to prefrontal cortex - Daydreaming – lies between active consciousness and dreaming while asleep 1) Higher-Level Consciousness - Involves controlled processing in which individuals actively focus their efforts on attaining a goal; most alert state of consciousness 2) Lower-level consciousness - Includes automatic processing that requires little attention  daydreaming 3) Altered states of consciousness - Produced by drugs, trauma, fatigue, possibly hypnosis and sensory deprivation 4) Subconscious awareness - Can occur when people are awake, as well as when they’re sleeping and dreaming 5) No Awareness - Freud’s belief that some unconscious thoughts are too laden with anxiety and other negative emotions for consciousness to admit them  Lower-Level Consciousness Automatic Processes - States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities o Less conscious effort than controlled processes Waking Subconscious Awareness - Incubation – subconscious processing leading to solution to a problem after a break from conscious thought about the problem o Suggests even as you’ve stopped actively thinking about a problem 2. Sleep and Dreams - Sleep – natural state of rest for the body and mind that involves the reversible loss of consciousness Biological Rhythms and Sleep - Periodic physiological fluctuations in the body  rise and fall of hormones o Controlled by biological clocks Stages of Wakefulness and Sleep Stages of sleep correspond to massive electrophysiological changes that occur throughout the brain as the fast, irregular, and low-amplitude electrical activity of wakefulness is replaced by the slow, regular, high-amplitude waves of deep sleep  Sleep Stages 1-4 1) Stage 1 a. Drowsy sleep  sudden muscle movements (myoclonic jerks) b. Theta waves 2) Stage 2 a. Muscle activity decreases and no longer consciously aware of environment b. Makes up about half of the total sleep of a young adult 3) Stage 3 a. Delta waves  Slowest and highest amplitude brain waves during sleep. b. Occur less than 50%  REM Sleep - Active stage of sleep during which dreaming occurs Jet lag causes the adrenal gland to release cortisol (makes body more wakeful), two or more body rhythms out of sync and increase in body temperature. Sleep Disorders  Insomnia - Inability to sleep  falling asleep, waking up during the night or waking up too early  Sleepwalking and Sleep Talking - Somnambulism – formal term of sleepwalking which occurs during the deepest stages of sleep o Stages 3 and 4 of sleep early in the night o Occurs when individuals are sleep deprived or have been drinking alcohol  Night Terrors - Sudden arousal from sleep and intense fear accompanied by rapid heart rate and breathing, loud screams, heavy perspiration and movement. o Peak at 5 to 7 years old, less common than nightmares, occur during slow-wave stage 4  Narcolepsy - Involves the sudden, overpowering urge to sleep – so uncontrollable that the person may fall asleep while talking or standing up o Immediately enter REM sleep rather than progressing through sleep stages  Sleep Apnea - Individuals stop breathing because the wind pipe fails to open or because brain processes involved in respiration fail to work properly o Loud snoring punctuated by silence o Most common among infants and adults over age of 65  more frequent in obese men Dreams  Freud’s Psychodynamic Approach - Dreams=key to our unconscious minds - Manifest content – the surface content of a dream, containing dream symbols that disguise the dream’s true meaning - Latent content – a dream’s hidden content; it’s unconscious and true meaning  Cognitive Theory of Dreaming - Proposing that dreaming can be understood by applying the same cognitive concepts used to study the waking mind o Idea that dreams are essentially subconscious cognitive processing  involves information processing and memory  Activation-Synthesis Theory of Dreaming - Theory that dreaming occurs when the cerebral cortex synthesizes neural signals generated from activity in the lower part of the brain and that dreams result from the brain’s attempts to find logic in random brain activity that occurs during sleep o When awake, conscious experience drive by external stimuli (things we hear, see and respond to) - Conscious experience driven predominantly by internally generated stimuli that have no apparent behavioral consequence  activation-synthesis theory 3. Psychoactive Drugs Uses of Psychoactive Drugs - Psychoactive drugs – drugs that act on the nervous system to alter consciousness and modify perception and change mood o  can cause lack of responsibility, problems in relationships, drug dependence and increase risk of fatal diseases - Continued psychoactive drug use can lead to: a) Tolerance – the need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect  Start out taking 5 mg of Valium everyday to feel relaxed leads to taking twice as much to achieve same affect 6 months later b) Physical dependence – strong desire to repeat the use of a drug for emotional reasons, such as feeling of well-being and reduction of stress  can causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms (physical pain) c) Addiction – either a physical or a psychological dependence, or both, on a drug Types of Psychoactive Drugs Three main categories  depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens  Depressants - Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity o Alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers and opiates - Alcoholism – disorder that involves long-term, repeated, uncontrolled, compulsive and excessive use of alcoholic beverages and that impairs the drinker’s health and social relationships - Barbiturates o Depressant drugs, such as Nembutal and Seconal, that decrease central nervous system activity  formerly prescribed as sleep aids  Heavy dosages can impair memory and decision making (most often used in suicide attempts) - Tranquilizers o Depressant drugs, such as Valium and Xanax, that reduce anxiety and induce relaxation  Small doses bring calmness but heavy dosage lead to drowsiness and confusion - Opiates o Opium and its derivatives; narcotic drugs that depress the central nervous system’s activity and eliminate pain  Powerful painkillers – morphine and heroin – affect endorphins  HIGHLY ADDICTIVE  Stimulants - Psychoactive drugs that increase the central nervous system’s activity o Caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine - Caffeine o World’s most widely used psychoactive drug  boosting energy and alertness (some unpleasant side effects) o Caffeinism – overindulgence in caffeine characterized by mood changes, anxiety and sleep disruption  natural component of the plants that are sources of coffee, tea and cola drinks and chocolate - Nicotine o Main psychoactive ingredient in all forms of smoking and smokeless tobacco o Stimulates brain’s reward centers by raising dopamine levels  improved attention and alertness, reduced anger and anxiety - Amphetamines o Stimulants drugs that people use to boost energy, stay awake or lose weight  Form in diet pill that increase release of dopamine which increases pleasurable feelings  Ritalin - Cocaine o Illegal drug deriving from the coca plant either snorted or injected in form of crystals or powder  Rush into bloodstream depletes brain’s supply of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine - MDMA (Ecstasy) o Illegal synthetic drug with both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties  users tend to feel warm bonds with others  Releases serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine  Impairs memory and cognitive processing and destroys axons that release serotonin  susceptible to depression  Hallucinogens - Psychoactive drugs that modify a person’s perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real o Marijuana and LSD - Marijuana o Cannabis sativa contains THC that disrupts the membranes of neurons and affects the functioning of a variety of neurotransmitters and hormones - LSD o Lysergic acid diethylamide – hallucinogen that even in low doses produces striking perceptual changes o Objects change shape and glow, colors become kaleidoscopic and astonishing images unfold  Dizziness, nausea and tremors  acts on serotonin and dopamine  Rapid mood swings and impaired attention and memory 4. Hypnosis - Divided consciousness view of hypnosis – Hilgard’s view that hypnosis involves a splitÝng of consciousness into two separate components, one that follows the hypnotist’s commands and the other that acts as a “hidden observer” - Social cognitive behavior view of hypnosis – perspective that hypnosis is a normal state in which the hypnotized person behaves the way he or she believes that a hypnotized person should behave 5. Consciousness and Health and Wellness: Meditation - Meditation – involves attaining a peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied by worry; the meditator is mindfully present to his or her thoughts and feelings but is not consumed by them