Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is consciousness?
moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment
subjective and private
dynamic
self-reflective/central to our sense of self
connected with selective attention
How is consciousness subjective and private?
same event experienced differently
How is consciousness dynamic?
changes through fluctuations in attention and awareness
daydreaming, focus, sleepy, etc.
How is consciousness self-reflective and central to our sense of self?
mind is aware of consciousness, so can reflect that you are the one who is conscious of it
What are the ways of measuring an individuals state of consciousness?
ways to operationalize consciousness
self report
physiological
behavioural
How do you measure consciousness through self report?
ask participants to describe inner experiences
not verifiable
How do you measure consciousness using a physiological method?
link between bodily states and mental processes
heart rate, sweating, EEG
How do you measure consciousness using a behavioral method?
task performance
more objective than self report but still have to infer mental state
What are Freud’s three levels of consciousness?
consciousness: current awareness
precociousness: outside awareness, can be easily recalled
nonconsciousness: cannot be brought to awareness
How can unconscious processes influence behaviour?
placebo effects
split-brain patients
subliminal perception
What is controlled processing?
voluntary, effortful
planning, studying, more flexible/open to change
What is autonomic processing?
little to no conscious effort
routine actions or well-learned tasks
type, drive
offers speed/autonomy of processes
What is divided attention?
ability to perform more than one activity at the same time
facilitated by autonomic processing
talk and walk
adaptive most of the time
What is the neural basis of consciousness?
disorders of conscious perception give clues to neural basis of consciousness
visual agnosia/prosopagnosia, blind sight, damage to primary or association sensory cortex
What are circadian rhythms?
cyclical changes that occur roughly every 24 hours
What is the brain’s biological clock?
feel drowsy in afternoon due to SCN inactivity
drowsy at night due to melatonin
regulates seasonal changes too
What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
in hypothalamus
active during day, quiet at night
controls level of alertness
no SCN = sleep/wake behavior, hormone schedules, and physiological parameters (body temp, etc.) are lost
What are some environmental disruptions of circadian rhythms?
seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
jetlag (easier to travel west)
shiftwork (drive home in day, harder to adjust internal clock)
daylight savings (increased accident risk)
disturbed sleep accumulates (errors on job, increased risk of injury)
What are the different brain waves awake and asleep?
beta waves: conscious
alpha waves: subconscious
theta waves: superconscious
delta waves: dream state
What is stage 1 of sleep?
light sleep (body jerks)
a few minutes
What is stage 2 of sleep?
sleep spindles
muscles relaxed
breathing/heart rate slowed
What is stage 3 of sleep?
slow waves
What is stage 4 of sleep?
20-30 minutes
delta waves
What is REM sleep?
rapid eye movement sleep
HR increase, temp increase, breathing rapid, brain waves similar to awake
body is “paralyzed”
82% REM dreaming, 7% NREM dreaming
pathway through the night, stage 3 and 4 stops, REM gets longer
What are REM dreams?
vivid, perception of reality, bizarre activity
What are NREM dreams?
much less vivid, lacks a story, often still, “sleep thoughts”
What are the brain structures involved in falling asleep?
basal forebrain and regions of the brainstem
What are the brain structures involved in REM sleep?
brainstem (reticular formation)
increased limbic system activity
association areas near visual cortex
decreased PFC
What much sleep is needed?
newborns: 16 hrs/day
adults: 7 hrs
individual variation
What is sleep deprivation?
look at mood/irritability, mental tasks, and physical tasks in: short term total sleep deprivation, long term total sleep deprivation, partial deprivation
mood worst, then mental tasks, then physical tasks
Randy Gardner: awake 11 days, slept for 15 hours, normal sleep within a week
Why do we sleep?
restoration model: recharges body, recover from physical/mental fatigue, if true then activities that increase daily wear on body should increase sleep (some support)
evolutionary/circadian model: increase chance of survival
energy conservation
What is insomnia?
chronic difficulty in falling asleep (young), staying asleep (older), or experiencing restless sleep
10-40% of the population
has biological, psychological, and environmental causes
What is narcolepsy?
uncontrollably falling asleep, last between a minute to an hour
not related to sleep at night
cataplexy (loss of motor control) and go directly to REM sleep
genetic predisposition: insensitivity to hypocretin (regulates arousal, wakefulness, and appetite)
What is sleepwalking?
typically occurs during stage 3/4
blank stares, no memory of event
10-30% of children, <5% of adults
more likely if stressed, ill, drinking/using meds
wait for kids to “grow out of it”
okay to wake them up
What are nightmares?
frightening dreams
What are night terrors?
screaming, thrashing, sweating, etc.
during stages 3/4
no recollection
6% of children, 1-2% of adults
wait for child to grow out of it
What are dreams?
between 15-40% of sleepers report dreamlike activity within 6 minutes of falling asleep
dream most when brain is active (REM and last few hours before waking)
failure to recall dream isn’t failure to have a dream
most dreams take place in familiar settings with people we know
80% negative emotions, ~50% aggressive acts, 33% misfourtune
How did Freud explain dreams?
main purpose of dreams: wish fulfillment (gratification of unconscious sexual and aggressive urges)
manifest content (“surface story”)
latent content: disguised psychological meaning
dream analysis: highly subjective
How does activation-synthesis theory explain dreams?
brain is trying to “make sense” of random neural activity during REM sleep
no special purpose, dreams are a by-product of REM activity
critics: overestimates “bizarreness” of dreams, dreams can occur outside of REM sleep
How do cognitive approaches explain dreams?
problem-solving dream model: dreams can help find creative solutions to problems/conflicts (not constrained by reality)
cognitive process dream theories: process of how we dream, dreams and wakefulness produced by same mental systems
What is the integrating of dream persepectives?
Antrobus (1991)
REM reticular formation activates cortex
perception interpreted by cognitive modules
emotion may overlay a theme, signal perceptual model
limited external sensory input, brain does “best fit” of interpretation
How do drugs alter consciousness?
modify brain chemistry, cross the blood-brain barrier
facilitate or inhibit synaptic transmission
What are drugs?
substance that contains chemicals that alter consciousness by changing chemical processes in neurons
normally act through neurotransmitter systems
agonist or antagonist
What is tolerance?
decreasing responsivity to a drug
require more drug to achieve same effects
body produces compensatory responses
depends on setting (classical conditioning)
What is withdrawal?
compensatory responses after stopping drug use
true for both legal and illegal drugs
What are misconceptions about substance dependence?
drug tolerance does not always lead to withdrawal
pleasurable effect of drugs play powerful role in drug dependence
many factors influences drug dependence: genetics, personality, religion, peers, cultural norms
What are depressants?
decrease nervous system activity, increase GABA (inhibitory)
in moderate doses: reduce anxiety, produce euphoria
in high doses: slow vital life functions, can be fatal
alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers
What are stimulants?
increase nervous system activity/neural firing, increase dopamine and norepinephrine
increase blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, etc.
boost mood, produce euphoria, heighten irritability
amphetamines, cocaine
What are opiates?
opium: product of poppy plant, morphine, codeine, heroin, derived from opium
bind to receptors activated by endorphins: pain relief, mood changes, euphoria
highly addictive and traumatic withdrawal
What are hallucinogens?
mind-altering drugs that produce hallucinations
mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, phencyclidine
distort sensory experience (synesthete-type “cross-talk”)
unpredicable
What is marijuana?
roughly one third report using drug in Canada
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is a major active ingredient, binds to receptors on neurons throughout the brain, increase dopamine and GABA
What are some myths about marijuana?
unmotivated and apathetic: amotivational syndrome
start using more dangerous drugs
no significant damages with use: more cancer-causing substances than tobacco, in high doses may lead to negative mood, sensory distortion, panic and anxiety
What are the determents of drug effect?
genes
physical and social setting
culture
beliefs and expectations
personality factors
effects depend on more than chemical structure
What is hypnosis?
a therapeutic technique in which clinicians make suggestions to individuals who have undergone a procedure designed to relax them and focus their minds
individual differences in susceptibility to hypnosis
What are some myths and misconceptions surrounding hypnosis?
involuntary control: even those who are told to “pretend they’re hypnotized” will do the actions
physiological effects/amazing feats: can experience these without being hypnotized
pain tolerance: partially a placebo effect, but other techniques such as visualization and distraction will also show reductions in pain
hypnosis is a dream like state: EEG during hypnosis does not look like sleep
memories are altered: either forget experiences or change memory when hypnotized, not more accurate at remembering, just more confident in false memories
What are social cognitive theories regarding hypnosis?
response to hypnosis due to attitudes, beliefs, motivations, and expectations of hypnosis
will experience what you expect
immersing self in social role (not “faking”)
believe acts are involunatry
What happens to your brain during hypnosis?
activity in pain areas decreased with reports of reduced pain
sensation, perception, memory, motor control, all studies under hypnosis, and brain activity matches self-report
