7 - Consciousness Flashcards
What is consciousness?
No agreed definition - Awareness of self and surroundings
Is subjective or objective. Mind body dualism
What are the altered states of consciousness?
- Sleep/dreams
- Psychoactive drugs
- Hypnosis
- Meditation
How do we know conscious states are altered?
Can describe the subjective experience
Can measure objectively (people respond differently e.g. hypnosis)
What is ‘The Hard Problem’?
Trying to understand what physically happens in the brain to give different subjective experiences to people
Physical processes give rise to subjective experience
Who came up with ‘The Hard Problem’?
Chalmers
What do psychoactive drugs do?
Alter thinking, perception and memory
What is inattentional blindness?
Blind to things we don’t direct attention to
What is monitoring?
Opposite to inattentional blindess –> being conscious to the things we direct attention to
Having intentional blinds
What is controlling?
Plan, initiate and guide actions, choose between alternatives
What is an intentional operating process?
Searches for mental contents to create desired mental state
- Effortful
- Conscious
- Interruptible
Promotes the intended change by searching for mental contents consistent with the intended state
What is an ironic monitoring process?
Searches for mental contents that signal failure of mental control
- Automatic
- Unconscious
- Uninterruptible
Who came up with the theory of ironic processes of mental control?
Wegner 1994
What is hypnosis?
An altered state of consciousness
A social interaction in which one
person (the subject) responds to
suggestions offered by another
(the hypnotist) involving alterations in perception, memory, and voluntary action
How are psychoactive drugs classified?
By effect on behaviour:
- sedatives and hypnotics
- stimulants (activate behaviour)
- opiates (pain relief)
- hallucinogens and psychedelics (delusions, emotional changes)
What is the Stroop effect?
The tendency to read words instead of saying the colour of ink (thought suppression)
What are the 2 main forms of meditation?
- Concentrative / one-point meditation
2. Open meditation
What is concentrative mediation?
Cut off all awareness and diminish sensory input, focus on one thing (e.g. repeating a word)
What is open meditation?
Aware of everything around, experience not met with a response (e.g. mindfulness)
What are the 2 views on hypnosis?
- Altered consciousness
2. Period of focused attention
What is the altered consciousness view on hypnosis?
- Reported by 40%
- Focused/relaxed state, less aware of environment
- Hilgard’s description of induced deafness
What is the focused attention view on hypnosis?
- Reported by 60%
- State of social compliance and suggestibility rather than being in different state of consciousness
What are negative/positive hallucinations under hypnosis?
Positive –> sees or hears something not present
Negative –> fails to perceive something (e.g. pain)
Who studied hypnosis as method of pain relief?
Molton
What is the relationship between pain relief and hypnosis?
Moderate evidence of effectiveness
Not standard analgesia (painkiller). To ignore pain, sensation must first be recognised (noticed). Top-down processing
