CH. 3: Consciousness Flashcards
Consciousness
The subjective experience of the world and mind, awareness
Philosophers call it “The Hard Problem,” the problem of experience in contrast with the “easy problems” of explaining the capacity to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, and focus attention for example.
4 Properties of Consciousness
Intentionality - Directed at something
Unity - Integrates information into a sensory whole
Selectivity - Includes some objects but not others
Transience - Constantly changing - “A stream of consciousness”
Selective Attention (a form of selectivity)
Consciousness focuses on one thing at a time
Change Blindness:
The Door Study
Inattentional Blindness
Can only pay attention to one small aspect of a visual stimulus at a time.
Magicians - change of direction- Misdirection
Change blindness is a form of this:
The art of misdirection
The Problem of Other Minds
Problem of other minds: Fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others
- People judge minds according to the capacity for experience and capacity for agency.
- Theory of Mind
Free Will?
Most people feel that they think of something then do it. Research suggests that your intentions appear in brain activity before you are aware of those intentions. Does the brain lead the mind? How are you choosing?
The Timing of Conscious Will
In Benjamin Libet’s experiments, the participant was asked to move fingers at will while watching a dot move around the face of a clock to mark the moment at which the action was consciously willed. Meanwhile, EEG sensors timed the onset of brain activation and EMG sensors timed the muscle movement.
Dual Process Theory
Two processes in our brain for processing information
Processes that occur without awareness and those that occur with awareness = Dual Process
Fast automatic unconscious processing (System 1)
Slow effortful and conscious thought (System 2)
Aka Fast and slow thinking (Kahneman and Tversky)
System 1
Fast automatic unconscious processing
System 2
Slow effortful and conscious thought
Cognitive Unconscious:
All mental processes that give rise to a person’s thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior, though they are not necessarily experienced by the person
Dynamic Unconscious
Active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person’s deepest instincts and desires, and the person’s inner struggle to control these forces; described by Freud
Altered state of consciousness
A form of experience that departs from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind
Can be accompanied by:
- Changes in thinking
- Disturbances in sense of time
- Feelings of loss of control
- Changes in emotional expression
- Alterations in body image and sense of self
- Perceptual distortions
- Changes in meaning or significance
Consolidation of Learning
Stimulates the Hippocampus to Cerebral cortex, short term to long term
Sleep Cycle
Circadian rhythm: Naturally occurring 24-hour cycle
Brain shows EEG changes in beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves
5 stages of sleep: Stages 1–4 and the 5th, REM sleep
REM sleep: A stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity
- Electrooculograph (EOG): Instrument that measures eye movements
- Dreaming occurs most often in this stage.
The body is immobilized.
