CH 3: Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind Flashcards
(1) Consciousness: Some Basic Concepts - (2) Sleep and Dreams - (3) Drugs and Consciousness
Consciousness
Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
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.
Change Blindness
Failing to notice changes in the environment.
Explain three attentional principles that magicians may use to fool us.
- Our Selective Attention allows us to focus on only a limited portion of our surroundings.
- Inattentional Blindness explains why we don’t perceive some things when we are distracted.
- Change Blindness happens when we fail to notice a relatively unimportant change in our environment. All these principles help magicians fool us, as they direct our attention elsewhere to perform their tricks.
Dual Processing
The principal that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious and unconscious tracks.
Blindsight
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.
Parallel Processing
The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions.
Sequential Processing
is best for solving new problems, which requires your focused attention.
Sleep
Periodic, natural loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
Circadian Rhythm
The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle.
REM Sleep
Rapid Eye Movement sleep; a reoccurring 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.
Alpha Waves
The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
Hallucinations
False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.
In what stage of sleep may you experience Hallucinations?
NREM-1
Sleep Spindles
Bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity.
What is an example of a Hypnagogic Sensation?
Having the sensation of falling or floating in your sleep.
What stage of sleep do you experience Sleep Spindles?
NREM-2
What stage of sleep puts you into a deep slumber?
NREM-3
Delta Waves
The large slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.
Why would communal sleeping provide added protection for those whose safety depends upon vigilance, such as these soldiers?
With each soldier cycling through the sleep stages independently, it is very likely that at any given time at least one of them will be awake or easily wakened in the event of a threat.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm. In response to light, the SCN causes the pineal gland to adjust melatonin production, thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness.
Fill in the Blank:
The _____ nucleus helps monitor the brain’s release of melatonin, which affects our _____ rhythm.
Suprachiasmatic; Circadian
What are five proposed reasons for our need for sleep?
(1) Sleep Protects - it has survival value.
(2) Sleep helps us recuperate - it restores and repairs brain tissue.
(3) Sleep restores and rebuilds memories - it helps us consolidate memories.
(4) Sleep fuels creative thinking - dreams inspire creativity
(5) Sleep supports growth - pituitary gland releases a growth hormone.
Insomnia
Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.
Narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.
Sleep Apnea
A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.
Night Terrors
A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during NREM-3 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
Dreams
A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind.
What are the five Dream Theories?
(1) Freud’s Wish - Fulfilment
(2) Information Processing
(3) Psychological Function
(4) Neural Activation
(5) Cognitive Development
Manifest Content
According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content).
Latent Content
According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest.)
REM Rebound
The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation.
Psychoactive Drugs
A chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods.
Substance Use Disorder
Continued substance craving and use despite significant life disruption and/or physical risk.
Tolerance
The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effect.
Addiction
Compulsive craving of drugs or certain behaviors (such as gambling) despite known adverse effects.
Withdrawal
The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior.
What is the process that leads to drug tolerance?
With repeated exposure to a psychoactive drug, the user’s brain chemistry adapts and the drug’s effect lessens. Thus, it takes bigger doses to get the desired effect.
Depressants
Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.
Alcohol Use Disorder
(Popularly known as alcoholism) alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use.
Barbiturates
Drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement.
Opiates
Opium and it’s derivatives, such as morphine and heroine; depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.
Stimulant
Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy, and methamphetamine) that excite neural activity and speed up body function.
Amphetamines
Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing accelerated body functions and associated energy and moods.
Nicotine
A stimulating and highly psychoactive drug in tobacco.
Cocaine
A powerful and addictive stimulant derived from the coca plant; produces temporarily increased alertness and euphoria.
Methamphetamine
A powerful addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with accelerated body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels.
Ecstasy (MDMA)
“methylenedioxymethamphetamine”
A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.
Hallucinogens
Psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.
Near-Death-Experience
An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as cardiac arrest); often similar to drug induced hallucinations.
LSD
“lysergic acid diethylamide”
A powerful synthetic hallucinogenic drug; also known as Acid.
THC
“delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinkol”
The major active ingredients in marijuana; Triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinogens.
How does this pleasure-pain description apply to the repeated use of psychoactive drugs?
Psychoactive drugs create pleasure by altering brain chemistry. With repeated use of the drug, the brain develops tolerance and needs more of the drug to achieve the desired effect. (Marijuana is an exception.) Discontinuing use of the substance then produces painful or psychologically unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
