Chapter 5: Consciousness Flashcards
consciousness
A person’s subjective experience of the world and mind
Phenomenology
How things seem to the conscious person
problem of other minds
Fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others.
How do we judge minds?
Capacity for experience and then capacity for agency (what makes us human)
mind-body problem
issue of how the end is related to the brain and the body
Your brain starts to activate before you think or do something. T/F
True
Properties of Consciousness
Intentionality-directed towards an object
Unity-integrate all 5 sense together
selectivity- include some objects but not others (cocktail party phenomena)
transcience- tendency to change
Levels of consciousness
Minimal- something registers in the mind, but you don’t think of it.
Full- you know and are able to report on your mental state.
self-consciousness- person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object
daydreaming
purposeless flow of thoughts comes to mind.
default network
Widespread pattern of activation in many areas of the brain.
Mental control
attempt to change conscious state of mind.
thought suppression
conscious avoidance of a thought
rebound effect of thought suppression
tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression
ironic processes of mental control
ironic errors occur because mental process that monitor for error can itself produce it.
Dynamic unconsciousness
Whose created it?
person’s deepest instincts and desires, person’s inner struggle to control these.
Freud.
Repression
mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness and keeps them in the unconscious.
Cognitive unconsciousness
All mental processes that give rise to a persons thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person.
dual process theory
one fast, automatic system and another dedicated to slow, effortful processing.
Altered state of consciousness
a form of experience that departs significantly from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind.
Altered state of consciousness: sleep
1. Presleep consciousness
2. postsleep consciousness
- hypnagogic state
- hypnopompic state
Sleep cycle
1. circadian rhythm
2. Wakeful waves
3. first stage of sleep
4. second stage of sleep
5. stages 3+4
6. 5th stage (REM)
- a naturally occurring 24-hour cycle
- Alpha and beta waves
- theta waves
- sleep spindles and k complexes
- delta waves
- Sawtooth waves like beta waves, like you’re awake.
Sleep needs and deprivation
1. Lack of REM sleep
2. lack slow-wave sleep (3+4)
- memory problems and aggression
- physical effects
Insomnia
What causes it?
difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep
Lifestyle choices, depression, anxiety
Sleep apnea
What causes it?
a disorder in which the person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep.
obstruction of breathing passageway
Somnambulism
What causes it?
a person arises and walks around while asleep. Peaks between 4-8 years. Happens during slow-wave sleep
Narcolepsy
What causes it?
a disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the middle of waking activities.
genetic basis. Medications.
Sleep paralysis
experience of waling up unable to move.
Night terrors
abrupt awakening with panic and intense emotional arousal.
Dream characteristics
emotion
thought is illogical
sensation is fully formed and meaningful
uncritical acceptance
difficulty remembering
Freud dream opinion?
they’re meant to be obscure and confusing.
Activation-Synthesis model
dreams are produced to try and make sense of random neural activity
Amygdala shows heightened activity during REM sleep. T/F
True
Why don’t we move when we dream?
The motor cortex is activated, but spinal neurons running through the brainstem inhibit the expression of this motor activity.
Psychoactive drugs
Chemicals that influence consciousness or behavior by altering the brain’s chemicals message system
Drug use is initially positive reinforcement. T/F
True
Why do people continue to do drugs?
They don’t want to suffer the negative consequences, it has turned into negative reinforcement.
How do people reduce or eliminate withdrawal symptoms?
Drug tolerance (larger drug dose are required to achieve the same effect.
Physical dependence and psychological dependence.
Depressants
Substances that reduce the activity of the central nervous system.
Alcohol- “King of Depressants”
Why does it affect us the way It does?
Alcohol increases the activity of GABA
Expectancy theory: effects are produced by people’e expectations.
Alcohol Myopia: it affects attention, so people respond in simple ways to complex situations.
Different Depressants
Barbiturates: Seconal and Nembutal are sleep aids and anesthetics.
Benzodiazepines: Valium and Xanax are tranquilizers and anti-anxiety drugs.
Toxic Inhalants: drunkness
Stimulants
substances that excite the central nervous system, heightening arousal, and activity levels. They increase norepinephrines and dopamine.
Different Stimulants
Amphetamines: methedrine and dexedrine are diet drugs
Ecstasy: empathy
Cocaine: Medication
Nicotine
Different Narcotics
Opium: demerol and oxycontin.
Narcotics
Highly addictive drugs that relieve pain by mimicking endorphins.
Hallucinogens
alter sensations and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations.
Different Hallucinogens
LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, PCP, and Ketamine
Marijuana
a plant whose leaves and buds contain a psychoactive drug called THC. It mimics the neurotransmitter anandamide.
Gateway drug
A drug whose use increases the risk of using more dangerous drugs.
Hypnosis
social interactions in which one person makes suggestions that lead to a change in another person’s experience of the world.
Posthypnotic amnesia
Failure to retrieve memories following hypnotic suggestions to forget.
Hypnotic analgesia
reduction of pain through hypnosis
