consciousness Flashcards
what is consciousness?
moment to moment awareness of ourselves in our environment
features of consciousness
- subjective and private
- dynamic ever changing
- self-reflective
- central to sense of self
- linked to selective attention
Freudian viewpoint
3 levels of consciousness
- conscious mind - aware thoughts and perceptions
- preconscious - mental events easily recalled
- unconscious - events not brought into conscious awareness, no access
Cognitive viewpoint
2 aspects insieme
1. controlled conscious processing
top down
- conscious use of attention and effort
-
automatic unconscious processing
bottom up
- occurs without conscious awareness or effort
3 ways
measuring consciousness
- self-report - questionnaires, subjective, limited
- behavioural - tasks based on performance to infer consciousness
- physiological - heart rate monitors, eeg sleep testing, brain signals
where is consciousness?
no single place
- together in mind as information-processing modules
unconscious information affects behaviour and performance
4 ways
**- visual agnosia **- inability to visally recognise objects, prosopragnosia
- blindsight - blindness in part of visial field
- hemispatial neglect - part of image not seen, lack of awareness, due to damage of brain hemisphere
- hallucinations - perceptions of things not present
impact of drugs
blood-brain barrier
lining of packed cells
- let vital nutrients pass through so neurons can function
- screens out foreign substances
various drugs can pass through
how are drugs carried to brain?
by capillaries
- drugs facilitate/inhibit synaptic transmission
type of drugs
Agonist
increases activity of a neurotransmitter
types of drugs
antagonist
decreases the activity of a neurotransmitter
the 5 classes of drugs
- depressants
- stimulants
- opiates
- hallucinogens
- marijuana
tolerance vs withdrawal
- tolerance - intensity of effects of drug decreases with repeated use
- withdrawal - opposite effect of drugs, as compensatory symptoms
different effects of drugs due to…?
- environmental factors - new environ stronger effect
- biological - genetics
- physiological - placebo effect
what is hypnosis?
a procedure in which one person is guided by another to respond to suggestions
not everyone is susceptible
theories of hypnosis
- dissociation
- social-cognitive
theory
- dissociation
hyponosis as antered state involving a division of consciousness
- one responding to suggestions
- one hidden observer - aware
theory
- social-cognitive
hypnotic experiences result from expectations of people motivated to be hypnotised
Sleep
= circadian rhythms
biological cycles within the body
- occur 24-hour cycle
how much sleep?
- birth-young = REM sleep, longer hours
- as age increases, REM + non-REM sleep reduces
purpose of sleep
to restore the body
- cognitive functioning
- brain health
- information transferred to long-term
how sleep is measured:
EEG - electroencephalography
- electrodes read electricity from brain, record brain waves
EEG signals when awake
B + A
BETA
ALPHA
Beta waves are
present when you are awake and alert
small wave forms
Alpha waves
present when you are feeling relaxed and drowsy
Sleep Stage 1
light sleep, easily awakened
- brain wave patterns are irregular
- presence of slower theta waves increase
- sleep spindles begin
Sleep stage 2
deeper level, characterised by sleep spindles
- breathing + heart slows
- muscles relax
- dreams may occur
- difficult to be awakened
SLOW WAVE DEEP SLEEP
stage 3
slow
large delta waves
Stage 4
deepest level
- dominated by delta waves
- body relaxed, hard to wake
both Stage 3 + 4 relaxed
REM Sleep
rapid eye movement
- high arousal and frequent dreaming
REM sleep paralysis
inability to move muscles
paradoxical sleep
body is highly aroused, little movement
REM rebound effect
tendency to increase amount of REm sleep after being deprived of it
example of sleep cycles
3/4 a night
start stage 1,2,3,4
2 to REM
2,3,4
2 to REM
2,3,4, or REM or wakeup
when do we dream?
hypnagogic state
during REM sleep
- can occur during any sleep stage
Hypnagogic state = lucid dreaming - the transitional state from wakefulness through early stage 2
dream about…
negative content
life experiences
Dream theories
- freud psychoanalytic
- cognitive
- activation-synthesis
1 freud psychoanalytic
wish fulfilment
- gratification of unconscious needs
2 Cognitive
problem solving dream models to find creative solutions
focus on the process of how we dream
3 activation-synthesis
dreams no function
- random neural activity during REM sleep and cerebral cortex
