CONSCIOUSNESS Flashcards
Activation-synthesis theory
A theory proposing that neurons in the brain activate randomly during REM sleep.
Biological rhythms
Periodic physiological changes.
Catharsis
The release of tension that results when repressed thoughts or memories move into a patient’s conscious mind.
Circadian rhythms
Biological cycles that occur about every twenty-four hours.
Conscious
The part of the mind that contains all the information that a person is paying attention to at a particular time.
Consciousness
The awareness people have of themselves and the environment around them.
Endogenous biological rhythms
Biological cycles that originate from inside the body rather than depend on cues from the environment.
Hypnosis
A procedure in which suggestions are made to a person.
Id
The component of the personality that contains instinctual energy.
Ego
The component of the personality that manages the conflict among the id, the superego, and the constraints of the real world.
Infradian rhythms
Biological cycles that take longer than twenty-four hours.
Insomnia
A chronic problem with falling or staying asleep.
Interpretation
A psychoanalytic technique that involves suggesting the hidden meanings of free associations, dreams, feelings, memories, and behavior to the client.
Latent content
The hidden meaning of a dream, the truth that is disguised in the form of the dream you experienced. The true desire of the id.
Lucid dreams
Dreams in which people are aware that they are dreaming.
Manifest content
The plot of a dream, what you actually dreamed about, the dream story.
Meditation
The practice of focusing attention.
Narcolepsy
A tendency to fall asleep periodically during the day.
Narcotics
Drugs that can relieve pain; also called opiates.
Nocturnal emissions
Signal of the onset of puberty for boys; also called wet dreams.
Personal unconscious
An individual’s unconscious, unique to him or her.
Oedipus complex
In psychoanalytic theory, a male child’s sexual desire for his mother and his hostility toward his father, whom he considers to be a rival for his mother’s love.
Physical dependence
Addiction based on a need to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Pleasure principle
The drive to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. It is the operating principle of the id.
Posthypnotic amnesia
The phenomenon that occurs when a person who has been hypnotized and instructed to forget what happened during hypnosis accordingly claims not to remember what happened.
Preconscious
The part of the mind that contains information that is outside of a person’s attention, which is not currently being attended to, but which is readily accessible if needed.
Psychological dependence
Addiction based on cravings for a drug.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
A stage of deep sleep in which brain wave activity is similar to that in the waking state. It is also called paradoxical sleep.
REM rebound effect
The tendency to spend more time in the REM stage of sleep after a period of REM sleep deprivation.
Sedatives
Drugs that slow down the nervous system.
Sleep apnea
A condition in which a person stops breathing many times during a night’s sleep.
Sleep spindles
Short bursts of brain waves that occur during stage 2 sleep.
Social clocks
Social and cultural norms that indicate the typical ages at which people experience particular life events, behaviors, and issues.
Stage
A period in development when people show typical behavior patterns and capacities.
States
Temporary behaviors or feelings.
Stimulants
Drugs that stimulate the central nervous system.
Superego
The moral component of the personality.
Unconscious
The part of the mind that contains thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories of which people have no awareness but that can influence people’s behavior.
Withdrawal symptoms
Symptoms such as sweating, nausea, or shakiness that occurs when drug usage ceases.
