Consciousness

Question 1

What is consciousness?

Answer 1

-subjective awareness of the world and of ourselves (including internal and external stimuli)
-stream of consciousness
-Arises from brain processes: “The mind is what the brain

Question 2

Stream of consciousness

Answer 2

“Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped up in
bits…it flows. A ‘river’ or ‘stream’ are the metaphors by which it is
most naturally described” (William James, 1890)

Question 3

Hard Problem Consciousness

Answer 3

-troubles explaining how and why we have consciousness
-how we get electrical signals to make subjective feelings and consciousness/quality of experience

“It is undeniable that some organisms are subjects of experience. But the question of how it is that these systems are subjects of experience is perplexing. Why is it that when our cognitive systems engage in visual and auditory information processing, we have visual or
auditory experience: the quality of deep blue, the sensation of middle C? How can we explain why there is something it is like to entertain a mental image, or to experience an emotion? It is widely agreed that
experience arises from a physical basis, but we have no good explanation of why and how it so arises

Question 4

Sleep and Biological Rhythms

Answer 4

Circadium rhythm: 24-hour biological cycle, regulates
arousal

-Problems? Artificial light (smartphones!)
-Endogenous rhythm
− Internally produced (e.g., cave study)

Question 5

Circadium rhythm

-is influenced by
-what does the retina and pineal gland do

Answer 5

− Influenced by patterns of light and dark
− Retina relay light info to the suprachiasmic nucleus (SCN), which communicates with the pineal gland, which releases melatonin

Question 6

Circadian Rhythm

Endogenous rhythm

Answer 6

Endogenous rhythm refers to the biological processes in living organisms that follow a regular cycle, originating from internal physiological mechanisms rather than external cues. These rhythms are driven by internal “biological clocks” and persist even in the absence of environmental stimuli like light or temperature changes.
-cave study (no light, only lamps, and had 8h or 48h circadian rhythms)

Question 7

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

5 types of waves and their meaning

Answer 7

-Gamma rays (30-100 Hz)
-Beta waves (12-30 Hz)
-Alpha waves (8-12Hz)
-Theta waves (3-8 Hz)
-Delta waves (5-3Hz)

Question 8

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-Gamma rays (30-100 Hz)

Answer 8

Gamma rays (30-100hz)
hyper brain activity and high cognitive functioning

-really focused, hypercognitive functioning

Question 9

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-Beta waves (12-30 Hz)

Answer 9

Beta waves (12-30 Hz)
Alert waking state. Attentive and engaged with the world.

-regular waking state

Question 10

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-Alpha waves (8-12Hz)

Answer 10

Alpha waves (8-12Hz)
Vary relaxed and deepening into meditation

-awake and drowsy

Question 11

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-Theta waves (3-8 Hz)

Answer 11

Theta waves (3-8 Hz)
Drowsy and drifting down into sleep and dreams

-really tired

Question 12

Brain Waves: Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-Delta waves (5-3Hz)

Answer 12

Delta waves (5-3Hz)
Deeply asleep and not dreaming

Question 13

Stages of sleep

Answer 13

-Awake and relaxed

Stage 1: Brief, transitional (1-7min): Theta waves, hypnic jerks (falling and throwing arms and legs)

-breathing slow, irregular waves

Stage 2: Mixed EEG, sleep spindles (10-25min)

Stages 3: Slow-wave sleep; some delta waves

-deep sleep

Stage 5 (REM): EEG similar to awake; vivid dreaming; paradoxical sleep (initially a few mins, progressively longer throughout the night

-important for memory consolidation
-Paradoxical sleep refers to REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep), a stage of sleep where the brain is very active, similar to when you’re awake, but the body is in a state of paralysis. It’s called “paradoxical” because it combines a highly active brain with a relaxed, motionless body. This stage is when most vivid dreams occur.
-where brain stem blocks motor signals from muscles

Question 14

sleep spindles

Answer 14

-stage 2 of sleep
-help keep you awake
-bursts of high frequency waves
-help avoid getting distracted by external stimuli

Question 15

Why do we sleep?

Answer 15

-Conserve and protect
-Grow, restore, and
repair
-Memory consolidation
-Problem-solving

Question 16

Sleep deprivation effects

Answer 16

impaired cognitive abilities,
accidents, irritability, memory bias, relationship conflict,
depressed immune system, weight gain, early death

Question 17

Dreams

Answer 17

Electrochemical events that involve the brainstem, forebrain, and eyes
-occur during REM sleep

Question 18

Dreams

-Function of pons, Ach, forebrain, serotonin and norepinephrine, and motor cortex

Answer 18

-Pons releases ACh, which travels to the forebrain (associated with cortisol arousal)
-serotonin and norepinephrine suppress and inhibit REM activity
-brainstem blocks signals from the motor cortex

Why:
Pons releases ACh: Activates the forebrain for cortical arousal (brain activity during REM sleep).
Serotonin and norepinephrine inhibit REM: Control and regulate when REM sleep happens.
Brainstem blocks motor signals: Prevents body movement during REM to keep you from acting out dreams.

Question 19

What influences our dreams:

Answer 19

−Concerns of your everyday life
−External stimuli
−Yourself (lucid dreaming)

-dreams contain more negative content then positive content

Question 20

Why Do We Dream?

Answer 20

-Psychoanalytic Theory and Freud: Wish fulfillment
−Manifest vs. latent content

-Cartwright: Cognitive problem-solving
−Srinivasa Ramanujan (mathematician)
−Said goddess “Namagiri Thayar” appeared in his sleep,
proposing mathematical formulae

-Hobson & McCarley: Activation-synthesis model
– Mind’s attempt to make sense of random cortical activity

Question 21

Sleep Disorders

Answer 21

-Insomnia: 15-17% suffer severe or frequent insomnia (Zorick &
Walsh, 2000)
-Nightmares during REM; Night terrors during NREM (usually
stage 3)
-Sleepwalking during NREM (stage 3); REM behaviour
disorder
-Narcolepsy: Wakefulness into REM sleep
−Too little of the hormone “Orexin”
-Sleep Apnea: Inability to breathe
-Sleep paralysis

Question 22

Other variations in Consciousness

Answer 22

-non-conscious processes
-meditation

Question 23

Unconscious influences on Behaviour

Answer 23

-confabulation

Question 24

Selective Attention & Inattentional
Blindness

Answer 24

Selective attention: We direct our attention to relevant stimuli, to the exclusion of everything else

Inattentional blindness: Failure to notice clearly visible objects/events because our attention is directed elsewhere

Question 25

Selective Attention & Inattentional
Blindness

Mack and Rock (1988)

Answer 25

Mack and Rock (1988)

Report whether vertical or horizontal arm is longer, while a
word is flashed in the center of the display
– 60% were “blind” to the presentation of the word in the center
– Many successfully completed a word stem with the target word, suggesting unconscious knowledge of the stimulus!

Question 26

Selective Attention & Inattentional
Blindness

The cocktail party effect

Broadbent Filter Theory?
Treisman’s Attenuation Theory?

Answer 26

A partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy
room (selective attention)
−Broadbent Filter Theory: Information is blocked
* But….attention can shift if you hear your name
−Treisman’s Attenuation Theory: Volume is turned down

Question 27

Meditation?

what is focused attention vs open monitoring?

Answer 27

-Practice that involves training attention and awareness

-Focused attention: A meditation style where attention is concentrated on a single object, thought, or sensation (e.g., a mantra in transcendental meditation).

-Open monitoring: A meditation style that involves observing thoughts, emotions, and sensations non-judgmentally, fostering awareness of the present moment (e.g., mindfulness meditation).

Question 28

Meditation training affects our abilities

Answer 28

−Reduced anxiety and depression and lowered stress hormones after five days (Tang et al., 2007)
−Increased positive mood, decreased fatigue and anxiety over four days (Zeidan et al., 2010)
−Reduced heart rate and blood pressure