Chapter 3

Question 1

Constructs

Answer 1

concepts that require a belief in something that cannot be seen or touched, but seem to exist because of their effect on behavior - ex: love, hate

Question 2

Consciousness

Answer 2

the subjective awareness (or perception) of environment and of one’s own mental processes (External and Internal components)
○ Some psychologists (such as Behaviorists - Watson) believe that the science of Psychology should not deal with the question of consciousness at all
○ Now, psychologists view the unconscious track as one that operates without awareness

Question 3

Consciousness as Sensory Awareness

Answer 3

experiencing you environment through perception of sensory stimulation (in watered down terms: awareness of the world around us)
i. We adapt to our environment by learning what stimuli must be attended to and which can be ignored

Question 4

Consciousness as Direct Inner Awareness

Answer 4

knowledge of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and memories without using sensory organs such as touch or smell; the subjective self

Question 5

Consciousness as an Altered State

Answer 5

states other than normal waking awareness, including daydreaming, sleep, meditation, the distorted perceptions produced by drugs, or [debated] hypnosis

Question 6

Preconscious

Answer 6

material that is not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one’s attention; easy to retrieve/bring to mind

Question 7

Subconscious

Answer 7

unavailable to awareness under most circumstances
i. Freud called this ‘unconscious’

Question 8

Nonconscious

Answer 8

incapable of being experienced either through sensory awareness or direct inner awareness

Question 9

Hypnosis

Answer 9

an altered state of consciousness during which people respond to suggestion and behave as though they are in a trance
i. Not everyone can be hypnotized
ii. Today, it is used in areas from entertainment to surgery to cessation therapy
i. Not valid for use in courtroom testimony, and sketchy as treatment for psychological disorders

Question 10

Sleep

Answer 10

a periodic, natural reduction of consciousness
○ Sleeping alters our consciousness by reducing alertness, awareness, and perception of events around us

Question 11

circadian rhythms

Answer 11

Much of how people, animals and even plants function is governed by *(Latin for ‘around the day’) (aka “biological clocks”)

humans- a cycle of change (such as temperature or wakefulness) which occur about every 24 hours

Question 12

EEG - sleep

Answer 12

Sleep researchers have discovered that we sleep in stages (determined by brain wave patterns measured by *)
electrodes that measure brain activity

Question 13

Pre-sleep/sleep onset

Answer 13

When we close our eyes to relax before falling asleep, our brain slows

Question 14

Stage 1 [NREM-1]

Answer 14

lightest stage of sleep from which you can be easily awakened
i. May be accompanied by a dreamlike state where we experience brief hallucinatory, dreamlike images
ii. This is when you may also experience that sensation of falling (at which moment, your body may suddenly jerk) or floating weightlessly - these are called hypnagogic sensations

Question 15

Stage 2 [NREM-2]

Answer 15

has medium brain waves with short bursts of activity abt every 15 seconds
i. Sleep spindles - short bursts of neural activity. May possibly be tied to memory consolidation

Question 16

Stage 3 [NREM-3]

Answer 16

is deep sleep
i. If/when awakened from this deep sleep, a person is groggy and confused
ii. It takes about an hour to go through the stages, then they cycle reverses itself (back to 2 and 1, then REM)

Question 17

REM sleep

Answer 17

characterized by rapid eye activity under closed eyelids; brain waves resemble the waking state (aka paradoxical sleep) the body also typically experiences temporary paralysis
i. We tend to experience about 5 trips through the sleep staged each night (8 hours of sleep)
ii. As the night goes on, Stage 3 sleep gets shorter and REM grows longer

Question 18

Sleep Functions

Answer 18

○ Helps us recuperate
○ Sleep helps store/restore memories (Consolidation)

Question 19

Consolidation

Answer 19

○ Sleep helps store/restore memories
i. During sleep, recent experiences stores in the hippocampus are shifted to permanent storage in the cortex - good or bad
ii. Deprivation of REM sleep -> REM sleep appears to be linked to learning or memory retrieval

Question 20

REM rebound

Answer 20

following REM deprivation, the tendency for REM sleep to increase

Question 21

Activation-synthesis theory

Answer 21

i. We tend to dream about the events of the day because the most current neural activity of the cortex would be that which represented the events or concerns of the day

Question 22

Insomnia

Answer 22

the inability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep
i. Sleep-onset: difficulty falling asleep
ii. Difficulty remaining asleep through the night
iii. Shown to have more anxiety; have more muscle tension; are more depressed

Question 23

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Answer 23

i. Condition in which person physically and/or vocally acts out dreams during REM sleep; typically wake up easily and remember dream

Question 24

Narcolepsy

Answer 24

i. Sufferers fall asleep suddenly into REM sleep (usually less than 5 min) at unpredictable and/or inappropriate times
ii. Medications (amphetamines) have helped some sufferers, but there is no known cure
iii. Happens more at emotional (good or bad) times

Question 25

Apnea

Answer 25

i. Sleepers stop breathing (from seconds to minutes) repeatedly through the night
ii. Can be treated with a CPAP nasal mask or surgery

Question 26

Sleepwalking

Answer 26

(Somnambulism)
i. Excursions the person does not remember because they take place in very deep stages of sleep (not REM); tends to run in families

Question 27

Agonist

Answer 27

molecule that mimics/increases a neurotransmitter’s action

Question 28

Antagonist

Answer 28

molecule that inhibits/blocks a neurotransmitter’s action

Question 29

Psychoactive drug

Answer 29

a chemical substance that alters perception or mood; has psychological and physiological effects

Question 30

Addiction

Answer 30

the body’s desire/need for a drug, just to feel ‘normal’

Question 31

Tolerance

Answer 31

habituation to a drug so that with regular use, higher doses are required to achieve similar effects

Question 32

Withdrawal

Answer 32

discomfort and distress that follows discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior; psychological and/or physiological symptoms

Question 33

Depressants

Answer 33

○ Increase GABA (an inhibitory NT) reduced activity in neural circuits
○ Act by slowing body functions and reducing neural activity
○ Alcohol

Question 34

Alcohol

Answer 34

i. Can serve as a relaxant in low doses
ii. Most abused drug in America
Effects:
i. Directly affects cerebellum. Hence the drunken stagger and slur after a few drinks
ii. Large doses can cause blackouts - which affects REM sleep (thus memory formation)
iii. Affects hippocampus

Question 35

Pain Relievers

Answer 35

Opiates
Heroin

Question 36

Opiates

Answer 36

(Opioid - synthesized in a lab) narcotics derived from the opium poppy
i. When repeatedly flooded with opiate/opioids, the brain stops producing endorphins and dopamine, leading to painful withdrawal… and thus many OD

Question 37

Heroin

Answer 37

the ‘hero’ to cure dependence on Morphine

Question 38

Categories of Drugs

Answer 38

Depressants
Stimulants
Hallucinogens

Question 39

Stimulants

Answer 39

○ Act to speed up body functions and excite neural activity
caffeine and cocain

Question 40

Caffeine

Answer 40

most widely used stimulant. Found in many foods and drinks (coffee and coca beans, tea leaves)
i. Boosts concentration and speeds up reaction time by activating prefrontal cortex; stimulates release of adrenaline, thus the jitters

Question 41

cocaine

Answer 41

a powerful stimulant that produces a state of euphoria, deadens pain, and boosts self-confidence
i. By binding to receptor sites and blocking reuptake, extra dopamine remains in the synapse, but when levels finally drop, the user experiences a crash

Question 42

Hallucinogens

Answer 42

○ Drugs that produce hallucinations by distorting perceptions/producing sensory experiences
○ Marijuana - produced from the cannabis sativa plant
i. The major psychedelic substance in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol); floods dopamine
ii. Impairs cognition, motor coordination, and perceptual functions