Chapter 6a Flashcards
Consciousness
Consciousness: level of awareness a person have of thoughts feelings perceptions and existence
Psyxhological construct
Psychological construct: an agreed upon description and understanding of psychological phenomena that cannot be overtly measured or observed
NWC ASC
Normal waking consciousness (NWC) a state of consciousness in which an individual is awake and aware; sleep and daydream
Altered state of consciousness (ASC) a state of consciousness that is distinctly different from normal waking consciousness in terms of quality of experience and level of awareness (induced or naturally occurring); meditation hypnosis and drug
ASC types
Naturally occurring altered states of consciousness a typeof altered state of consciousness that occurs without intervention
Induced altered states of consciousness a type of altered state of consciousness that occurs due to a purposeful action or aid
Conscious continuum
is a visual representation of the different states of consciousness that progress from lower levels of awareness to higher levels of awareness.: presenting two types of consciousness
Sleep
is a regular and naturally occurring altered state of consciousness that involves a loss of awareness and disengagement with internal and external stimuli. Sleep can also be considered a psychological construct. This is because the subjective experience of sleep cannot be overtly measured, yet we still have a general understanding of what it is and that it exists. (Reduction in ability to control behavior and thoughts, perceptual and cognitive distortion and low understanding of time
REM
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is a type of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement, high levels of brain activity, and low levels of physical activity. Specifically, REM sleep involves low levels of somatic nervous system activity, meaning there are low levels of movement in this stage.
Characteristics include: high active brain less active body, virtually paralysed most muscle movement being not possible, light sleep as brain is active one can wake easily, vivid dreams that can be recalled, time in rem increases as sleep cycle progresses largest being before waking early in the night it may last a few minutes later ours.
NREM
NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep is a type of sleep characterized by a lack of rapid eye movement and is subdivided into three different stages.
Characteristic: less active brain then normal waking conscious, movement is possible decreasing as sleep cycle progresses, dream occurs often not vivid and can’t recall, highest during first half of sleep, makes up 75-80% of sleep episode, shorter with each sleep cycle
NREM steps
When moving into stage 1 of NREM sleep, the sleeper transitions from being awake into a light sleep. This transition is signified by the experience of the hypnagogic state, in which some people experience feelings of floating or falling, or a sudden jerk (referred to as a hypnic jerk). In this stage, the sleeper loses awareness of themselves and their surroundings but is still aware of faint sounds in the environment. The sleeper can be easily woken in stage 1.
In stage 2 of NREM sleep, the sleeper is still in a relatively light sleep. Individuals spend the majority of their time asleep in NREM stage 2. In this stage, the sleeper is considered ‘truly’ asleep, due to the types of brain waves occurring. Brain waves are explored in the next lesson.
In stage 3 of NREM sleep, the sleeper is in a deep stage of sleep. It is difficult to wake the sleeper in this stage of NREM. If the sleeper is woken during this stage they are likely to feel drowsy and disoriented. During this stage, sleepwalking and sleep talking are most likely to occur.
Sleep episode
sleep episode is the full duration of time spent asleep. A sleep episode is made up of multiple repeated cycles of REM and NREM sleep, called sleep cycles. Therefore, a sleep cycle is an approximately 90-minute-period that repeats during a sleep episode in which an individual progresses through stages of REM and NREM sleep.
Hypnogram
Hypnogram sleep graph tracking proportion of time in each stage of sleep
