Ch. 8 Consciousness Flashcards
Cartesian Theatre
Rene Descartes. Mental screen or stage, objects appear on for viewing by the minds eye
Hard Problem of Consciouness
The difficulty of explaining how subjective experience could ever arise
Phenomenology
How things actually seem in the state of consciousness in term of quality of experience
Homunculus Problem
Difficulty of explaining the experience of consciousness by advocating another internal self
Problem of other minds
The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of other
Qualia
Subjective experiences as part of our mental life
Materialism
Philosophical position that mental states are a product of physical process alone
Anthropologie orphism
the tendency to attribute humans qualities to nonhuman things
Mind-Body Provlem
the issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body
Choice Blindness
When people are unaware of their decision-making processes and justify a choice as uf it were already decided
Change Blindness
When people are unaware of significant event changes that happen in full view
Dichotic listening
a task in which people wearing headphones hear different messages presented to each ear
cocktail party phenomenon
people tune in to one message even while filtering out others nearby
Minimal Consciousness
a low level of awareness that occurs when the mind input sensations and may output behaviour
Full consciouness
Consciouness in which you known and are able to report your mental state
self-consciousness
a distinct level of consciousness in which the persons attention is drawn to the self as an object
Daydreaming
a state of consciousness in which a seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts comes to minds
Mental Control
the attempt to change conscious states of mind
thought suppression
THE CONSCIOUS AVOIDANCE OF A THOUGHT
rebound effect of thought suppression
the tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression
ironic processes of mental control
mental processes that can produce ironic errors because monitoring for errors can itself produce them
dynamic unconscious
an active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the persons deepest instincts and desires, and the persons inner struggle to control these forces
repression
a mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness and keeps them in the unconscious
cognitive unconscious
the mental process that are not experienced by the person but give rise to the persons thoughts, choices, emotions and behavior
subliminal perception
a thought or behaviour that is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving
selective attention
the process whereby we focus mental processing on a limited range of events
information bottleneck
when the channel of information processing has a limited capacity
early filter model
selective attention model that proposes that information is discarded early in the stream of processing
attenuation model
selective attention model that proposes that information is not entirely discarded in the stream of processing but is suppressed relative to other important signals
response selection model
selective attention model that proposes that selection occurs late in the stream of processing before a response has been made
load model
attentional model that explains early and late selection as a consequence of the task difficulty
unilateral visual neglect
a condition where patients fail to notice or attend to stimuli that appear on the side of space opposite the site of a hemispheric lesion
balint’s Syndrome
an attentional disorder where the patient loses the ability to volintairily shift visual attention to new locations, which is associated with damage to both sides of the brain
blindsight
residual visual capability supported by subcortical mechanisms, following removal or damage to cortical visual areas
altered states of consciousness
forms of experience that depart from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind
circadian rhythm
a naturally occurring 24-hour cycle
REM sleep
a stage of sleep characterised by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity. sometimes known as paradoxical sleep
electrooculograph (EOG)
measures eye movements
thermoregulation
biological processes that maintain optimal body heat during different states of wakefulness
Immune system
biological defence system for combating potential disease from both internal and external invaders
Metabolism
bio processes convert stored resources into energy
insomina
difficulty falling or staying asleep
sleep apnea
a disorder in which the person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep
somnambulism (sleep walking)
arises and walks around while asleep and unaware
manifest content
a dream’s apparent topic or superficial meaning
latent content
A dream’s true underlying meaning
vegetative state
a state of wakefulness without awareness and overt communication
psychoactive drug
a chemical that influences consciousness or behaviour by altering the brains chemical message system
harm reduction approach
a response to high-risk behaviours that focuses on reducing the harm such behaviours have on peoples lives
hallucinogens
drugs that alter sensation and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations
cannabis
drug derived from the hemp plant
hypnosis
social interaction in which one person makes suggestion that lead to s change in another persons subjective experience of the world
behavior compliance
doing what you are told or expected to do
posthypnotic amnesia
the failure to retrieve memories following hypnotic suggestions to forget
hyponotic analgesia
the reduction of pain through hypnosis in people who are susceptible to hypnosis
mediation
the practice of intentional contemplation
