Cognition and Consciousness Flashcards
How does the cognitive perspective of psychology attempt to understand psychology?
How people think
Does the cognitive perspective of psychology oppose or support the idea that an environmental stimulus alone evokes a behavioural response?
Opposes
What intervening variable does the cognitive perspective of psychology include in the idea that an environmental stimulus alone evokes a behavioural response? What does this allow for?
The intelligence serves as an intermediary step; allows for the brain to interpret sensory information and respond accordingly
What is the information processing model?
A conceptual framework to describe how mental processes affect behaviour
What is another name for sensory memory?
Sensory register
How long does sensory memory record information?
Less than a second
Where does information enter the sensory registry?
Sensory organs such as the eyes, ears, nose
Where does processed information that entered the sensory memory go?
Working memory
What is attention?
The process of concentrating on a select amount of information from a wide range of available information
What are the two types of attention?
Selective attention and divided attention
What is selective attention?
A choice is made to concentrate on a particular stimulus and to ignore the other
That is the cocktail party effect?
When attending a party, there are many conversations occurring, but due to selective attention, you are able to focus on only one conversation
What is searching in selective attention?
Scanning the environment for a target stimulus
What are distractors in attention?
Irrelevant stimuli that divert attention
What are the four theories regarding how easily a target stimulus can be found?
Display size effect, feature integration theory, similarity theory, and guided search theory
What is the display size effect?
Refers to the relation between the number of distractors in an array and the time required to locate a target stimulus among them
What is the feature integration theory?
States that it is easier to perform a feature search than it is to perform a conjunction search
What is a feature search?
A target stimulus is found by scanning for a single, distinct feature among the distractors
What is a conjunction search?
The target stimulus is found by scanning for a combination of feature among distractors
What is the similarity theory of search?
The more similar the target stimulus is to the distractors stimuli, the more difficult the search will be
What are the two stages of the guided search theory?
1) developing a mental representation of the target
2) evaluating all of the activated energies to find the target
What happens in divided attention?
Your concentration is split between performing two or more tasks or inputs
What is another term for inattentional blindness?
Perceptual blindness
What is inattentional blindness?
Refers to the inability to see something in plain sight because of attending to another stimulus
What is change blindness?
A person’s inability to detect visual changes in a scene that he or she is directly looking at
What is the Stroop effect?
A phenomenon that demonstrates the problem with selective attention. Once a controlled task becomes automated through practice, there are not only benefits but errors associated with increased processing speed
What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
A psychological condition characterized by a failure to give close attention to details as well as an inability to sustain attention
What are the three main symptoms of ADHD?
Hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention
What is another name for spatial neglect?
Hemi- neglect
What type of disorder is spatial neglect? What is this disorder characterised by?
Attentional dysfunction; characterized by a lack of attention paid to the contralateral aspect of the brain
Any information that we accumulate is organised in our minds as a?
Concept
What is a concept in our minds?
A mental representation through which we understand the world
What is a category in the mind?
Multiple concepts that have similar characteristics are grouped together in the mind
What are the two types of categories?
Natural and artifact categories
What are natural categories?
Groupings that occur in the natural world and have predictable properties
What are artifact categories?
Human made groupings with ambiguous, imprecise boundaries
What is an example of a natural category?
Trees, clouds
What is an example of an artifact boundary?
Furniture, clothes
How are categories labelled? Example?
Not too general, not too specific; apples for a red/green/yellow fruit on a tree but not Gala apples or too vague like fruit
What are the four main theories regarding how a concept becomes a part of a category?
Feature based theory, prototype theory, exemplar based theory, and theory based view of meaning
What is the feature based theory?
Concepts are placed into categories based on their defining features
How are concepts grouped in the prototype theory?
Concepts are grouped together by their degree of similarity to a prototype
What is the ideal or average model based on what we have previously encountered?
Prototype
A concept is considered to be part of the prototype theory if it is part of a category based on its?
Graded membership
What is a graded membership in the prototype theory?
An object is a better member if it is more similar to the prototype
How does the exemplar based learning theory group concepts together?
Concepts are grouped together based on their degree of similarity to an exemplar
What is an exemplar?
A specific remembered instance that is most typically thought of when a category is mentioned
How does the theory based view of meaning place concepts into categories?
Based on a general idea constructed from an experience
Does the theory based view of meaning construct categories based on resemblance?
No
How is knowledge in the form of concepts and categories organised within the mind?
Schema
What is a broad pattern of what is normal in a given situation?
Schema
What is a general depiction of everything that is supposed to happen in a given situation and how to react?
Schema
What is a fixed generalised belief about a particular concept?
Stereotypes
What is an example of a schema that contains the order in which things should occur?
Script
What is the series of events that eventually lead to the solution?
Problem solving cycle
What are the seven steps of the problem solving cycle?
1) Identify problem
2) define problem
3) form strategy
4) organise information
5) allocate resources
6) monitor progress
7) evaluate results
What are the two types of problems?
Well structured problems and ill structured problems
What are well structured problems?
Have a specified goal and a path to the solution
What is another name for a well structured problem?
Well defined problems
What is another name for an ill structured problem?
Ill defined problems
What is an ill structured problem?
Problems that do not have a clear path to solution
In what ways can ill structured problems be solved?
Represented in numerous ways and have various alternative solutions
Every problem has what?
A problem space?
What is a problem space?
A set of all possible states that can be reached to obtain a solution
What are examples of paths to problem solving?
Algorithms, heuristics, analogy, trial and error, and insight
What is an algorithm?
A series of steps that always produce the right answer
What are heuristics?
Mental shortcuts that do not guarantee a correct answer, but effectively narrow down the problem space to simplify the problem in order to speed up the process
What are two types of heuristics?
Hill climbing strategy and means end analysis
What is the hill climb strategy of heuristics?
Choose the option that leads directly towards the goal
What is the drawback of the algorithm problem solving strategy?
Often time and resource consuming
What is the drawback of the hill climbing heuristics strategy ?
Sometimes you need to go backwards to get forward
What is the means end strategy of heuristics?
Compare the current state to the goal state and then try to decrease this distance by available means
How are problems approached in the means end analysis?
The large problem is broken down or simplified into smaller sub problems each with its individual goals to be solved
What happens in the analogy approach to problem solving?
A current problem is compared to an already solved problem and the solution is translated
What is a trial and error problem solving strategy?
A problem solving strategy in which all possible solitons are tried until one works
When applied strategies fail, what strategy may succeed?
Insight
What is insight?
A sudden novel solution to a problem
What is another term for insight?
The aha moment
What are two other names for a problem solving set?
Mental set or Einstellung
What is a problem solving set?
The collection of beliefs and assumptions that a person makes about a problem based on previous experiences
What is functional fixedness?
Another influence of one’s problem solving set is the tendency to be rigid in how they think about an object’s function
What is confirmation bias?
A type of cognitive tendency in which people search for information that confirms their existing beliefs
What is belief perseverance?
The tendency to stick with one’s initial beliefs, even in the face of new and contradictory information
What is creativity?
The process of producing something innovative and valuable
What roles do assumption making and irrelevant information in problem solving?
Barriers
What two types of thinking is associated with his or her creativity?
Convergent thinking and divergent thinking
What is convergent thinking?
Narrows down the possibilities to find one answer
What is divergent thinking?
Attempts to generate a variety of ideas to a problem
What are Wallas’ four stages of creativity?
1) preparation
2) incubation
3) illumination
4) verification
What is the preparation stage of Wallas’ stages of creativity?
Information is gathered about the problem
What is the incubation stage of Wallas’ stages of creativity?
The problem is momentarily set aside and processed unconsciously
What is the illumination stage of Wallas’ stages of creativity?
A key insight into solving the problem is suddenly realised
What is the verification stage of Wallas’ stages of creativity?
The creative thinker confirms the new idea does lead to the problems solution
What perspective does the most basic model use to describe the process of decision making?
Economic perspective
From the economic perspective of cognitive processes, what is subjective utility?
Refers to an individuals judged value of it
From the economic perspective of cognitive processes, what is subjective probability?
An individual’s estimated likelihood of the events occurance
What is the equation to find the expected value of a choice?
Expected value =
Subjective utility) (subjective probability
What are heuristics?
Mental strategies that sacrifice 100% guarantee of accuracy in exchange for efficiency
What are the two types of heuristics?
Availability heuristic and representative heuristics
What is an availability heuristic?
A judgment is made based on the perceived frequency or likelihood of an event
What is a conjunction fallacy?
The mistaken belief that a smaller specific subset of a category is more probable than a larger, more general set
What is a representative heuristics?
Ones judgment is based on its similarity to the prototype of the population and its perceived randomness
What is the base rate in representative heuristics?
The prevalence of an event
What is gambler’s fallacy in representative heuristics?
Gamblers believe their previous wins/losses will influence their percentage chance of winning in subsequent rounds when in fact their percentage chance of winning does not change with each round
What term describes a tendency to think and perceive something in a particular way?
Cognitive biases
What are the three most common types of biases?
Illusory correlation, overconfidence, and hindsight bias
What is an illusory correlation?
Phenomenon by which people perceive a relationship between two unrelated variables
What is over confidence?
A bias in which a person’s evaluation of his or her own judgments is greater than the actual accuracy of those judgements
What is another term for hindsight bias?
Knew it all along effect
What is hindsight bias?
The idea that when one evaluates a past event, he or she feels that the results were always predictable and should have been obvious
What is framing?
A change in how the problem is presented that affects decision making
What are the two types of reasoning?
Deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning
What is deductive reasoning?
The process of reasoning from a general statement or premise to reach a logical conclusion about specific examples or instances
What is inductive reasoning?
The process of reasoning from specific experiences or observations to form a general conclusion
What type of reasoning is based upon hypothetical, abstract thinking rather than concrete events
Deductive reasoning
What type of reasoning is based on supported evidence, the conclusion is probable but not certain
Inductive reasoning
What are the three cognitive theories of intelligence?
Multiple intelligences, triarchic theory or intelligences, and the three stratum model of intelligence
What is general intelligence? What is its symbol?
g; people with a higher intelligence will score higher on verbal reasoning or a spatial mathematical task
What is the theory of multiple intelligences?
Intelligence is a collection of many abilities rather than just one
What is it called when a person is exceptionally skilled in one of the areas of intelligence but cannot function in another?
Savant syndrome
What are the eight types of intelligences?
Linguistic, logical mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist
What is the triarchic theory of intelligence? What are these components?
Proposes that three intelligences can contribute to cognitive ability; analytical abilities, creative abilities, and practical ability
What is another term for analytical abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
Componential
What is another term for creative abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
Experiential
What is another term for practical abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
Contextual
What are analytical abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
Refer to the ability to analyse a problem and to evaluate the possible solutions
What are creative abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
The ability to generate novel ideas and to act adaptively in unfamiliar situations
What are contextual abilities in the triarchic theory of intelligence?
The ability to fit into a changing environment and perform everyday tasks
What component of the triarchic theory of intelligence is most often referred to as street smarts?
Practical abilities
What is the three stratum model of intelligence?
Intellectual ability is arranged in a hierarchy consisting of three strata: narrow, broad, general
What is the narrow stratum of the three stratum model of intelligence?
Includes specific abilities such as reading comprehension and spelling abilities
What is the broad stratum of the three stratum model of intelligence?
Includes Short term memory, retrieval ability and information processing speed
What two types of intelligence are included in the broad stratum of the three stratum model of intelligence?
Crystallised intelligence and fluid intelligence
What is crystallised intelligence?
Information acquired over a life time through experience
What is fluid intelligence?
The ability to apply basic information processing skills
What is included in the general stratum of the three stratum model of intelligence?
Contains the g factor
What is the most common measure of intelligence?
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
What is the equation to find a person’s IQ?
IQ= 100* (mental age)/(chronological age)
What is the mental age of a person?
The chronological age that most typically corresponds with their level of performance
What is the average person’s IQ?
Between 85 and 115
What are the four stages of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
1) sensorimotor stage
2) preoperational stage
3) concrete operational stage
4) formal operational stage
How long does the sensorimotor stage last?
Birth to acquisition of language (about 2 years old)
What happens during the sensorimotor stage of development in Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
Babies attempt to understand the world through exploring it
What is the main developmental phenomenon in the sensorimotor stage of development?
Object permanence
What is object permanence?
The awareness that objects continue to exist even when not perceived
During what stage of cognitive development does stranger anxiety develop?
Sensorimotor stage
What is stranger anxiety? When does it occur?
When babies become more socialised (8 months) they begin to show fear, anxiety and distress toward unfamiliar faces
During what age does the preoperational stage range?
Age 2 to 6 or 7 years old
What happens during the preoperational stage of development in Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
Children are not yet able to perform mental operations such as reasoning and begin to think in terms of images
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development do children begin to show signs of pretend and play and assign roles?
Preoperational stage
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children considered egocentric?
Preoperational stage
What is egocentric?
They have difficulty perceiving other’s viewpoints
During the preoperational stage of cognitive development, what concept do children have the inability to understand?
The concept of conservation
What is conservation?
The concept that the quantity of a substance remains unchanged despite changes in its shape
Near the end of the preoperational stage, what do children begin to develop?
Theory of mind
What is a theory of mind?
An ability to infer another person’s mental state and thus predict their behaviour
How long does the concrete operational stage last?
From seven years to eleven years old
What characterises the concrete operational stage of development in Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
The ability to think logically about concrete events but the inability to comprehend hypothetical or abstract concepts
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development does the concept of conservation develop?
Concrete operational stage
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children first capable of inductive reasoning?
Concrete operational stage
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children capable of inductive reasoning?
Concrete operational stage
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children able to fully envision the perspective of another individual?
Concrete operational stage
When is the formal operational stage?
Age 12 to adulthood
During what stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children able to use deductive reasoning?
Formal operational stage
What happens during the formal operational stage of development in Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
Children are able to think logically about abstract and hypothetical instances; capable of deductive reasoning
What describes the directional changes in cognitive development during adulthood?
Multidirectional
What cognitive abilities tend to decline with age?
Attention and memory
A person’s ability to attend to the environment is a basic mental process that facilitates other _____ cognitive processes.
Higher order
A person’s working memory is a cognitive process that allows for the dynamic manipulation of ____
Information that is currently on the mind
What happens to fluid intelligence with age?
It declines
What happens to crystallised intelligence with age?
It increases
What three factors further influence cognitive development?
Culture, heredity and environment
What does the cultural perspective of cognitive development recognise?
Children grow up within a social context surrounded by symbols, language, and material objects
How does the cultural perspective suggest that people develop perception, attention, and memory?
Infants are born with rudimentary mental processes (perception, attention, and memory) however through culture, these develop into higher order processes
How does the cultural perspective of cognitive development suggest we develop mental processes differently?
Based on our differences in culture we have different developments of mental processes
What are the effects of heredity on cognitive development?
The differences in thinking associated with a person’s genetic makeup
Does heredity or environment play a larger role in cognitive development?
Heredity but environment is very important too and accounts for factors such as economic status and learning opportunities
How a person perceives, thinks, evaluates, and plans is believed to originate in structures of the?
Brain
Describe the structure of the cerebral cortex. What does the cerebral cortex play a role in?
A thin layer or tissue that covers both hemispheres of the brain and has numerous folds to increase surface area. Plays a large role in cognition
The larger the cerebral cortex the _____ functioning cognition
Better
What disease is characterized by a loss of neurons and general atrophy leading to a cognitive deficit?
Alzheimer’s
What is a vascular accident marked by stoppage of blood flow to part of the brain
A stroke
What is another term for neoplasms?
Brain tumours
What are growths located in certain areas of the brain that can cause severe cognitive dysfunction?
Brain tumours
What neurological deficits can strokes cause?
Can cause severe cognitive dysfunction leading to problems with memory and attention; changes in perception of vision and hearing
If a patient experiences damage to the prefrontal cortex, what types processes can be impaired?
Judgement, decision making, and working memory
What does language play a role in?
Perception, memory, and learning
What are the three theories of language development?
Learning perspective, nativist perspective, and interactionist perspective
Who created the learning perspective of language development?
BF Skinner
What does the learning perspective of language development suggest?
Children develop the use of language through associative conditioning (classical and operant) and observational learning
How do children initially learn to speak in the learning perspective of language development?
Parents reinforce the babbling of nonsense syllables when they mimic a real word (i.e. Mom coming when a sound resembles mom)
How do individuals learn syntax by the learning perspective of language?
Observational learning
What does the nativist perspective of language development suggest?
Language is an innate skill for which people are predisposed
What device of the brain did the nativist perspective propose?
Language acquisition device (LAD)
What is a language acquisition device?
An area of the brain with a set of innate transformational grammatical rules
What does the interactionist perspective of language development suggest?
Language is acquired for social interaction and that children acquire new understandings based on what they want to communicate
What area did the interactionist perspective propose?
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
What is the zone of proximal development?
An area of optimal learning in which a child develops language skills through child-adult interaction
In the interactionist perspective of language development, what is scaffolding?
The use of superior language by a parent which challenges the child to achieve complex language more quickly
What is linguistic relativity?
The idea that speakers of different languages utilise different cognitive processes that influence how they think
What is another term for linguistic relativity?
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
What is linguistic determinism?
The idea that language entirely determines how we think
What is another term for linguistic determinism
Strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
What is the difference between linguistic relativity and linguist determinism?
Relativity–different language speakers use different parts of their brain which influences how they think
Determinism–language entirely determines how we think
What are the two areas of the brain that are strongly associated with language production and comprehension?
Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
Where is the part of the brain responsible for speech production? What is this area called?
Left frontal lobe, Broca’s area
What does damage to the Broca’s area region result in? What is still functional?
Loss of the ability to speak words, still able to comprehend words
What is aphasia?
A language disorder associated with brain injury
What is Wernicke’s area responsible for?
Language comprehension
Where is Wernicke’s area located?
Left temporal lobe
Are Broca’s and Wernicke’s area structures or areas?
Areas
What is consciousness?
The awareness we have of our environment and the mental processes
Is consciousness linear or static?
Neither, it is always shifting and continuous
Naturally occurring consciousness ranges from _____ to _____ and includes ____ and ____.
Alertness, sleep, daydreaming, and drowsiness
How are the states of consciousness characterized?
Brain waves
What are brain waves? What are they recorded by?
Neural oscillations recorded by an electroencephalograph
What are the four brain wave types characteristic of the distinctive states of consciousness
Beta waves, alpha waves, theta waves, and delta waves
What wave type demonstrates alertness?
Beta waves
What is alertness as a state of consciousness?
State of consciousness characterized by being awake; and fully aware of their environment and thoughts
What is the frequency of beta waves?
13 Hz and 30 Hz
What is daydreaming as a state of consciousness?
A state of consciousness in which one is awake but not fully alert
What brain waves characterize daydreaming?
Alpha waves
What is the frequency of alpha waves?
8 Hz and 13 Hz
What is drowsiness as a state of consciousness?
A state of consciousness associated with even less awareness than daydreaming
When is drowsiness experiences?
is often experienced either just before falling asleep or just after waking up
What waves are associated with drowsiness?
Theta waves
What is the frequency of theta waves?
Between 3 and 8 Hz
What is sleep as a state of consciousness?
Inhibition of most voluntary muscles and sensory activity
What is the difference between sleep and a coma?
Sleep does not fully close one’s sensory and perceptual windows like a coma does
What type of waves characterize sleep?
Delta waves
What is the wave frequency of delta waves?
1 to 3 Hz
What are the five distinct stages of sleep?
Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4 and REM sleep
How a person perceives, thinks, evaluates, and plans is believed to originate in structures of the?
Brain
Describe the structure of the cerebral cortex. What does the cerebral cortex play a role in?
A thin layer or tissue that covers both hemispheres of the brain and has numerous folds to increase surface area. Plays a large role in cognition
The larger the cerebral cortex the _____ functioning cognition
Better
What disease is characterized by a loss of neurons and general atrophy leading to a cognitive deficit?
Alzheimer’s
What is a vascular accident marked by stoppage of blood flow to part of the brain
A stroke
What is another term for neoplasms?
Brain tumours
What are growths located in certain areas of the brain that can cause severe cognitive dysfunction?
Brain tumours
What neurological deficits can strokes cause?
Can cause severe cognitive dysfunction leading to problems with memory and attention; changes in perception of vision and hearing
If a patient experiences damage to the prefrontal cortex, what types processes can be impaired?
Judgement, decision making, and working memory
What does language play a role in?
Perception, memory, and learning
What are the three theories of language development?
Learning perspective, nativist perspective, and interactionist perspective
Who created the learning perspective of language development?
BF Skinner
What does the learning perspective of language development suggest?
Children develop the use of language through associative conditioning (classical and operant) and observational learning
How do children initially learn to speak in the learning perspective of language development?
Parents reinforce the babbling of nonsense syllables when they mimic a real word (i.e. Mom coming when a sound resembles mom)
How do individuals learn syntax by the learning perspective of language?
Observational learning
What does the nativist perspective of language development suggest?
Language is an innate skill for which people are predisposed
What device of the brain did the nativist perspective propose?
Language acquisition device (LAD)
What is a language acquisition device?
An area of the brain with a set of innate transformational grammatical rules
What does the interactionist perspective of language development suggest?
Language is acquired for social interaction and that children acquire new understandings based on what they want to communicate
What area did the interactionist perspective propose?
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
What is the zone of proximal development?
An area of optimal learning in which a child develops language skills through child-adult interaction
In the interactionist perspective of language development, what is scaffolding?
The use of superior language by a parent which challenges the child to achieve complex language more quickly
What is linguistic relativity?
The idea that speakers of different languages utilise different cognitive processes that influence how they think
What is another term for linguistic relativity?
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
What is linguistic determinism?
The idea that language entirely determines how we think
What is another term for linguistic determinism
Strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
What is the difference between linguistic relativity and linguist determinism?
Relativity–different language speakers use different parts of their brain which influences how they think
Determinism–language entirely determines how we think
What are the two areas of the brain that are strongly associated with language production and comprehension?
Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
Where is the part of the brain responsible for speech production? What is this area called?
Left frontal lobe, Broca’s area
What does damage to the Broca’s area region result in? What is still functional?
Loss of the ability to speak words, still able to comprehend words
When a person initially closes their eyes to sleep, what waves are recorded?
Alpha waves (daydreaming) and the person becomes more relaxed
How long does stage 1 of the sleep cycle last?
20 minutes
What wave type characterizes stage 1?
Decreases alpha waves and increases theta waves
What are people most easily wakened by in stage 1 of the sleep cycle?
Hypnic jerks
What are hypnic jerks?
Involuntary muscle twitches associated with a sense of falling
What happens to the body in stage 2 of the sleep cycle?
Body temperature decreases and breathing and heart rate slow
What type of brain waves characterize stage 2 of the sleep cycle?
Theta waves
What two types of theta waves characterize step 2 of the sleep cycle?
K complexes and sleep spindles
What are k complexes?
Single, large amplitude, high voltage waves that are believed to suppress cortical arousal and aid sleep based memory consolidation
What are sleep spindles?
Short bursts of 12 to 24 Hz waves that also suppress cortical arousal
What happens to the brain waves in stage three of the sleep cycle?
Decreased theta waves and increased delta waves
What is the stage of sleep that is deepest for humans?
Stage 4
What wave type comprises stage 4 of the sleep cycle?
Delta waves
As one progresses from stage 1 to stage 4 what happens to brain frequency, amplitude, and voltage?
Decrease in frequency; increase in amplitude; increased in brain wave voltage
After the sleeper reaches stage 4 of the sleep cycle, what stages follow?
Stages retreat in reverse order back to but not including stage 1
What sleep stage does the sleeper reach when they return from stage 1->4->2?
R.E.M.
What is rapid eye movement sleep? (R.E.M.)
Stage of sleep characterized by low amplitude mixed frequency brain waves similar to those of an alert actively thinking person
What is another term for R.E.M. sleep?
Paradoxical sleep
How long does a single sleep cycle last?
90-100 min
What is the pattern of a single sleep cycle?
1➡️2➡️3➡️4➡️3➡️2➡️1➡️R.E.M.
What is the pattern for two sleep cycles?
1➡️2➡️3➡️4➡️3➡️2➡️R.E.M. ➡️2➡️3➡️4➡️3➡️2➡️R.E.M.
How many sleep cycles does the average adult experience?
Four cycles throughout the night
As the night progresses, what happens to the length of R.E.M. stage? What about the length of the nREM stage?
R.E.M. Stage gets longer nREM gets shorter than (especially stage 4)
What are the nREM stages?
Stages 1-4
When does most dreaming occur?
During the R.E.M. stage of sleep
What region of the brain are dreams associated with?
Prefrontal cortex
What happens in the prefrontal cortex?
The brain centre where logical thinking and planning take place
Since dreams are associated with decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, what traits are associated with dreaming?
Emotionally charged, strange, unorganised, and difficult to remember
What does Sigmund Freud believe about dreams?
Dreams are the window to our unconscious thoughts and feelings
What do evolutionary psychologists believe the function of dreams is?
Dreams help us approach problem solving through a different state of consciousness
What is the physiological function theory of dreaming?
Dreams and R.E.M. sleep provide regular brain stimulation, which helps preserve and develop neural pathways
What is the information processing theory of dreaming?
Dreams organise the day’s events and consolidate memories
What is the neural activation theory of dreaming?
R.E.M. Sleep activates neural pathways that contain random visual memories, which the brain connects into the form of dreams
Is R.E.M. sleep is physiologically necessary?
Yes
When subjects were deprived of R.E.M. Sleep, and then allowed to sleep, what did they experience?
R.E.M. Rebound
Is R.E.M. Sleep regulated together with or separately from the other stages of sleep?
Separately
What are the three types of theories that suggest why we sleep?
Adaptation theories, recuperation theories, and consolidation theories
What are adaptation theories of why we sleep?
Humans evolved to sleep during the nighttime to conserve energy and to avoid predation
Do adaptation theories focus on when or why we sleep to explain the advantages of animal fitness?
Focus on when not why we sleep
What do recuperation theories suggest about sleep?
Argue that being awake disrupts the body’s homeostasis and sleep is necessary to restore it
The evidence that muscle growth, protein synthesis, tissue repair, and growth hormone release occur primarily during sleep support which type of sleep theory?
Recuperation
Since humans are heavily dependent on vision and those who walked at night were more susceptible to predators, what theory of sleep does this support?
Adaptation theory
Sleep deprived subjects experience decreased immune function eventually leading to death supports which theory of sleep?
Recuperation theory
What does The consolidation theory suggests?
Sleep is essential to maintain proper brain plasticity
What is brain plasticity?
Changes in the structure and organisation of the brain
What type of sleep theory posits that sleep helps process information and experiences learned throughout the day and helps strengthen a memory’s neural network within long term storage
Consolidation theory
What does sleep allow for according to the consolidation theory?
Better stabilized and more readily available for conscious recall
What is the circadian rhythm?
The internal biological timing mechanism that regulates sleep and other biological processes
The biological clock works on what time table? What is it controlled by?
24 hours; light
What is the circadian control centre?
Superchiasmatic nucleus
What is the superchiasmatic nucleus composed of? Where is it located?
Located in the retina; specialised ganglion cells that respond directly to light and project to a cluster of about 20k neurons in the hypothalamus
What does the superchiasmatic nucleus do?
Circadian control centre, processes information concerning the length of day and night
To what gland does the superchiasmatic nucleus send the information it receives concerning the length of day and night?
Pineal gland
Where is the pineal gland located in relation to the hypothalamus?
Dorsal to the hypothalamus
When the superchiasmatic nucleus sends information to the pineal glands, what response does this elicit?
Increase or decrease production of the body become more relaxed or sleepy
What do increased levels of melatonin cause the body to do?
Cause the body to become more relaxed and sleepy
What does the presence of light eventually cause the pineal gland to do?
Release less melatonin
What does the absence of light eventually cause the pineal gland to do?
Increases melatonin release
What does general sleep deprivation cause?
Irritability and impaired learning and memory function
What are sleep disorders?
Any medical disorder that negatively affects normal, healthy sleep patterns
What are the two categories of sleep disorders?
Insomnia and hypersomnia
What type of sleep disorder encompasses all persistent disorders that cause someone to struggle to fall or remain asleep?
Insomnia
What type of sleep disorder include disorders of excessive sleepiness or excessive sleep?
Hypersomnia
What do insomniacs do that exacerbates their problem? How does this occur?
Take alcohol/sleeping pills. These reduce R.E.M. sleep; leads to tolerance of drugs and need to take more for the same effects; withdrawal if the drugs are removed
What is sleep apnea?
A person with sleep apnea will periodically stop breathing then suddenly awake for a gasp of air before falling back asleep
How many times per night does the sleep apnea cycle occur?
100x per night
Which is more common hypersomnia or insomnia?
Insomnia
Is sleep apnea a type of hypersomnia or insomnia?
Insomnia
What is the most widely studied hypersomnia disorder?
Narcolepsy
What is narcolepsy?
A disorder characterized by severe daytime sleepiness and brief 5-10 minute bouts of sleep which cause the sleeper to enter slow wave and R.E.M. Sleep
How are states of consciousness that cannot be naturally induced formed?
Drugs
What are the induced states of consciousness?
Meditation, hypnosis, and consciousness altering drugs
What is a mind body practice that focuses attention and induces relaxation?
Meditation
Meditation enables one to focus on his or her _____ or _____ processes while ignoring _______ distractors
Physical, mental, external
What type of brain waves does meditation produce?
Alpha and theta waves
Is meditation self induced or induced by others?
Self induced
Is hypnosis self induced or induced by others?
Employed by others
What induced state of consciousness causes a state of relaxation that opens subjects up to the power of suggestion?
Hypnosis
What are consciousness altering drugs?
A way to induce altered states of consciousness through changing one’s sensory perception, thought process, mood, and behaviour
What is another name for consciousness altering drugs?
Psychoactive drugs
What are the three types of consciousness altering drugs?
Depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens
