2- States Of Consciousness Flashcards
The contents of consciousness can include:
- your perceptions of the world around you, such as what you see, hear, feel or smell
- the comments you make to yourself
- the memories of events in your life
- your beliefs
- your plans for activities later in the day
- your attitudes.
Define consciousness
He awareness of objects and events in the external world and of our own existence and mental experiences at any given moment.
What is a state of consciousness?
state of consciousness, or level of awareness of our internal state and external surroundings, that determines how much of this information we take in and respond to.
What are the qualities distinguish the different, or ‘altered’, states of consciousness?
- level of awareness
- the content of consciousness
- the use of controlled or automatic processes to perform tasks
- perceptual experiences
- cognitive abilities
- emotional awareness
- self-control
- the experience of time.
What is the order that these states should be in from TOTAL AWARENESS to COMPLETE LACK OF AWARENESS:
Anaesthetised, Focused attention, Meditative state, Normal wakefulness, Daydreaming, Hypnotised, Asleep, Unconscious (coma).
TOTAL AWARENESS Focused attention/Normal wakefulness Daydreaming/Meditative state Hypnotised/Asleep Anaesthetised/Unconscious (coma) COMPLETE LACK OF AWARENESS
What is Normal waking consciousness (NWC)
the states of consciousness associated with being awake and aware of our thoughts, memories, feelings and the sensations we are experiencing from the outside world.
What is attention?
Attention is a concentration of mental activity that involves focusing on a specific stimulus while ignoring other stimuli. In normal waking consciousness, our attention can be focused either on internal thoughts or feelings or on external stimuli.
What is selective attention?
choosing and attending to a specific stimulus to the exclusion of others.
What is the “cocktail party phenomenon”
If a stimulus is personally important to us, we are more likely to take notice of it.
-The greatest example of selective attention.
For example
Being total immersed in a conversation, but your attention is drawn away as you can hear someone using your name.
What is divided attention?
the ability to distribute our attention and undertake two or more activities simultaneously.
What is a controlled process
conscious, alert awareness and mental effort in which the individual actively focuses their attention on achieving a particular goal.
What is an automatic process
an automatic process requires little conscious awareness and mental effort, minimal attention and does not interfere with the performance of other activities.
Stroop’s experiment
In gobbled reading words of colours in black in the first condition, in the second the word was a colour and it was coloured another colour(The word red, that is coloured purple). Condition three was staying colours of blocks, and four was regular words that are coloured and stating the colour of the ink.
What is Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)
any state of consciousness that is distinctly different from normal waking consciousness, in terms of level of awareness and experience, and the quality or intensity of sensations, perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories that are experienced.
common characteristics of ASC
perceptual and cognitive distortions
a disturbed sense of time
changes in emotional awareness
changes in self-control
What are the parameters of distortions of perception and cognition
One of two impacts it either makes them more receptive to external stimuli or dulls them to such an extent that some sensations are not experienced at all.
What are the parameters of time orientation?
Time seems to pass at a different speed than normal. For some individuals in some ASCs, the passing of time may appear to be quicker, while in other ASCs, time appears to pass very slowly.
What are the changes in emotion awareness
The changes in awareness can either be heightened or lowered based on the different types of emotional awareness.
What are our changes in self control
Self control is lowered or heightened in these states, based around physical or behavioural occurrences.
What is daydreaming
It is a form of ASC where the subject is in a trace like state making them less aware of their surroundings. This is often used to plan for future events, go in to fantasies that can not be experienced in real life, or to relive current or past experiences.
Who is daydreaming linked to ASC
It is a state where the subject is cut off from the external stimuli, this is a shift in different components of the states of consciousness.
What are psychoactive drugs?
Psychoactive drugs are chemicals that change conscious awareness, perception or moods.
Name a few psychoactive drugs
Alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, and nicotine.
What is a depressant?
A substance that effects the senses by dulling them, making their reaction to stimuli decreased.
