Chapter 2 (consciousness) Flashcards
Consciousness definition
awareness of internal and external stimuli
Levels of consciousness
The subconscious, the conscious, and the superconscious.
What is the difference between automatic and effortful processes?
Automatic processes require few attentional resources, but effortful processes use attentional capacity
Selective vs. Divided Attention
Selective attention involves focusing awareness on one stimulus while tuning out others, not ignoring them completely. Divided attention, however, requires paying close attention to two different stimuli simultaneously.
Inattentional Blindness Definition
occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight, purely as a result of a lack of attention rather than any vision defects or deficits.
inattention Blindness (example)
while a person is driving a car, they may fail to notice smaller events happening around them as they focus on the road.
Change Blindness Definition
a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it
Change Blindness (example)
The man giving directions being changed and the people not noticing
Circadian rhythm Definition
occur on a 24-hour cycle and include
sleep and wakefulness
Factors that affect circadian rhythm
artificial light
Characteristics of sleep
variations in brain wave patterns, eye movements, and muscle tone
four stages of sleep
N1, N2, N3, N2, REM
What is the difference between REM and non-REM sleep?
During REM sleep, your eyes move around rapidly in a range of directions, but don’t send any visual information to your brain. That doesn’t happen during non-REM sleep.
Sleep apnea
Failure to breathe when
asleep
Narcolepsy
Overpowering urge to fall
asleep that may occur while talking or
standing up.
Insomnia
A persistent inability to fall
asleep
Night terrors
The sudden arousal from sleep with intense fear accompanied by physiological reactions (e.g., rapid heart rate, perspiration) which occur during Stage 4 sleep
Sleep Theories
- Protects
- Helps us Recover
- Helps us Remember
- May play a role in the growth process
- Enhances creativity
Sleep Deprivation symptoms
- Affects mood
- Higher risk of depression
- Depressed immune system
- Decrease reaction time and
increase errors - Impaired concentration.
- Influence weight gain
How much sleep do we need?
adults 7-9 hours a night
characteristics of dreaming
illogical content, intense emotions, acceptance of strange content, strange sensory experiences, and difficulty remembering dream content
5 perspectives on why we dream
Wish Fulfillment
Information Processing
Physiological Function
To make sense of neural static
Cognitive Development
Wish Fulfillment
Sigmund Freud suggested that dreams provide a psychic safety valve to discharge unacceptable feeling
Information Processing
Dreams may help sift, sort, and fix a day’s experiences in our memories.
Physiological Function
Dreams provide the sleeping
brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways
To make sense of neural static
Suggests that the brain engages in a lot of random neural activity and Dreams make sense of this activity
Cognitive Development
We dream as a part of brain maturation and cognitive development
