Chapter 4- Conciousness Flashcards
The problem of other minds
how can we be sure other people are real/have lives when we can only infer from others’ behavior and testimony?
Renes Descartes
“I think therefore I am”, doubted everything but believed in his own existance
Mind-body problem
how does something immaterial manipulate something material/ how does our mind affect our body?
Consciousness
private, personal subject experience to an individual agent
Phenomenology
seeing the world through someone else’s perspective
con: confronting reality
minimal consciousness
no thoughts, daydreaming, relaxed
full consciousness
individual awareness of thoughts and environment
self-conciousness
being self-aware
pro: meditation, being aware of mind and body
con: seems self centered
cocktail party phenomenon
tuning certain things out but you can’t tune everything out
selective attention
you can choose what to focus on in a busy setting
dichotic listening
when you hear two different sounds in each ear but can only really make sense of one sound at a time
multitasking
MYTH: you can’t do it, you bounce your focus between two tasks bc you can’t do two things at the same time
thought suppression
avoid thinking thoughts you don’t want to deal with
ex:) stress, trauma w roommate, etc.
Is thought suppression effective?
No
rebound effect
when you want something to happen so bad the opposite/unwanted effect occurs
ex:) trying to get someone to like you, “porn kills love”, wanting to go to sleep but you can’t
most important thing in someone’s life?
SLEEP
why do we sleep?
evolutionary theory, clearing the mind, growth, restorative theory; learning, memory, and theological development
how does evolutionary theory affect sleeping?
conserve energy and avoid being active when most vulnerable
What does restorative theory have to do with sleeping?
body needs to replenish and heal itself when sleeping
neurological development (learning and memory) while sleeping
sleep helps process what you learn
how many hours of sleep do you need a night?
minimum is 7-7.5 hours (don’t exceed 9)
when you study and you need a nap to get back energy, how long should you nap?
20-30 miutes
stage 1 sleep (N1)
theta waves (lower than alpha, still easy to wake up, drifting off), 5% of sleep
when you are relaxed/drowsy, what kind of waves is your brain emitting?
alpha waves
Stage 2 sleep (N2)
sleep spindles/k complex are short bursts of activity, 50% of sleep
Stage 3 sleep (N3)
delta waves, out cold, low brain activity, 20-25% of sleep
Stage R sleep (REM sleep/rapid eye movement)
sawtooth waves, 20-25% of sleep, where most dreaming occurs (brain is active)
REM rebound
when you are woken up from REM sleep and you fall asleep again, you go immediately into REM sleep
Why do we sleep?
To dream
Does everybody dream?
Yes, even if you don’t remember it
Muscle inhibition
brain tries to prevent us from acting out our dreams in real life by stopping us from running/moving a lot in our dreams
Randy Gardner Test proved what?
Sleep is expendable
How long does each sleep cycle take?
90 minutes
Insomnia
makes it so you can’t fall asleep or you can’t stay asleep/get to deeper sleep cycles and have a restful night
What causes Insomnia?
stress and anxiety, abusing sleeping pills (including melatonin), rebound effect (try hard to fall asleep but can’t)
Sleep Apnea
Stops you from breathing while you are sleeping
What causes Sleep Apnea?
obesity
Narcolepsy
when aroused/feeling a strong emotion, people fall asleep randomly
Somnabolism
sleep walking (delta waves)
ex:) som (sleep) “ambling” around
Sleep Paralysis
in between awake and asleep
night terrors
deep sleep screaming, twitching; you forget when you wake up
activation-synthesis model
if neurons aren’t activated, they stop working. Dreaming allows the neurons to keep working and strong
Sigmund Freud
believed in “iceberg” analogy with us being awake or unaware of different consciousnesses of ourselves
repression
How things get into our unconcious
Manifest content
content that is showing up in the dream
Latent content
meaning of the content in the dream
Tolerance
once you use drugs, your brain struggles to feel dopamine and gets used to drugs so now you can’t feel happiness without drugs. The more you use the drugs, the more you have to use because your brain gets used to it
Physiological dependency
when your body needs drugs/stimulation outside the body
Withdrawal symptoms
migraines, shakes, cold sweats
Psychological dependency
you think about and desire drugs/crave
Depressants
slows down the nervous system, depresses the frontal lobe, and stops you from regulating their behavior
ex:) Alcohol, why people are crazy when drinking
Hallucinogens
creates an altered state of consciousness
ex:) marijuana, LSD, mushrooms
Stimulants
increases/enhances the nervous system
ex:) caffeine, cocaine
Cocaine is a stimulant that can cause what kinds of dependency?
psychological and physiological dependency
