Chapter 6A Flashcards
sleep psychological construct
What is consciousness
consciousness can be defined as the awareness of our own thoughts, feelings and perceptions (internal events) and our surroundings (external stimuli) at any given moment. it is personal and private and difficult to measure or compare with others
psychological construct of consciousness
There is no practical way to measure consciousness
objectively – we believe it exists but we can’t
measure it. Therefore, we call it a psychological
construct.
We can, however, measure its effects – both
objectively and subjectively.
We can measure electrical signals in the brain during
sleep (objective) or ask someone about their dreams
(subjective)
consciousness is an experience that is
❑ An experience that is…
❑ Personal
❑ Selective
❑ Continuous
❑ Changing
a continuum of consciousness
Our consciousness fluctuates throughout the day –
very alert sometimes, drowsy sometimes,
daydreaming sometimes.
There are two broad categories of consciousness –
normal waking consciousness and an altered state of
consciousness.
two types of consciousness
- normal waking consciousness
- altered state of consciousness
normal waking consciousness
NWC is a state that is:
Experienced when you are
awake and aware
Relatively organised thoughts
and perceptions
Meaningful and purposeful in
thoughts and behaviours
Realistic on our perceptions
and sensations
altered state of consciousness
ASC is a state that is:
When we are not in NWC and distinctly different from NWC, it is usually when we are sleeping or daydreaming
Characterised by deviations in awareness, perceptions,
thinking, emotions, behaviours and self-control.
Naturally occurring or artificially induced
The result of drugs or alcohol, sleeping and daydreaming,
meditation or psychosis.
states of consciousness
NATURALLY
OCCURRING
Sleep
Dreaming
Daydreaming
INDUCED
Alcohol-induced
Drug-induced
Hypnosis
Meditation
Anaesthetic
what is sleep
Sleep is a naturally occurring altered state of
consciousness that we all experience every day.
sleep results in
- Reduced ability to control behaviour
- Reduced control over thoughts
- reduced accuracy of time perception
- Perceptual and cognitive distortions
characterisitics of sleep
- Level of awareness
- Content limitations
- Controlled and automatic processing
- Perceptual and cognitive distortions
- Emotional awareness
- Self-control
- Time Orientation
level of awareness
We have very little awareness of our external environment, but we do have
some awareness
content limitations
We have little conscious control over our thoughts as we sleep. The contents
of our dreams are often bizarre.
Controlled and automatic processing
Performing tasks as we sleep is pretty impossible! However, somnambulists
(sleepwalkers) can sometimes carry out routine tasks when asleep
Perceptual and cognitive distortions
Our perceptions are lowered and our thoughts are disorganised and
unrealistic
emotional awarness
Our emotions can be more or less intense during sleep.
self control
Lowered during sleep – we have little control over talking, snoring or teeth
grinding.
time orientation
Perception of time is reduced but some evidence we are still somewhat
aware.
types of sleep
There are two types of sleep
1. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep
- Non-rapid Eye movement (NREM) sleep
rapid eye movement sleep
characterised 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.
non rapid eye movement sleep
characterised by a lack of rapid eye movement and is
subdivided into three different stages.
Charactersitics of REM
- highly active brain and a less active body during REM sleep.
- The sleeper is virtually
paralysed during REM sleep,
meaning that most muscle
movement is not possible. - REM is light stage of sleep, easy to be woken up
- Vivid dreaming tends to occur during REM sleep.
- makes up 20-25% of sleep
- amount of REM sleep increases as the night progresses, it is at its highest towards end of the night
Charactersistics of NREM
- The sleeper is considered to have a less active brain than normal waking consciousness.
- Muscle movement is possible for the sleeper during NREM sleep
- The sleeper does not frequently recall dreams when woken during NREM sleep.
- NREM sleep makes up
approximately 75–80% of a sleep episode. - As opposed to REM sleep,
physical movement is possible in NREM sleep, therefore the body
is said to be ‘more active’ in this stage of sleep. However,
movement tends to decrease as NREM stages progress. - Dreams can occur in NREM sleep but they are often non-vivid
- The amount of time spent in NREM sleep is highest during the first half of a sleep episode.
- NREM sleep tends to become shorter with each sleep cycle.
NREM occurs in 3 stages.
NREM stage 1
- When we move from being
awake to being asleep we
enter a hypnogogic state
where we may experience
flashes of light or
hallucinatory images. - We may also experience
hypnogogic (hypnic) jerks –
involuntary muscle twitches. - It lasts for 30 seconds to 10
minutes (5 minutes average)
and we are easily awakened. - Sometimes called pre-sleep.
