Consciousness Flashcards
Consciousness
a person’s awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given time.
Waking Consciousness
the state in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations, are clear, organized, and the person feels alert.
Altered State of Consciousness
the state in which there is a shift in the quality of pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness.
Circadian Rhythm
a cycle of bodily rhythm that occurs over a 24-hour period.
Microsleeps
the brief sidesteps into sleep lasting only a few seconds.
Adaptive Theory
the theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active.
Restorative Theory
the theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair celluar damage.
Sleep Deprivation
any significant loss of sleep, resulting in problems of concentration and irritability.
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
the stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream.
Non-Rem Sleep
any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM.
Beta Waves
the smaller and faster brain waves, typically indicating mental activity.
Alpha Waves
the brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep.
Theta Waves
the brains waves indicating the early stages of sleep.
Delta Waves
the long, slow brain waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep.
Sleep Paralysis
the inability of the voluntary muscles to move during REM sleep.
REM Rebound
the increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on earlier nights.
Nightmares
the bad dreams occurring during REM sleep.
REM Behavior Disorder
a rare disorder in which the mechanism that blocks the movement of the voluntary muscles fails, allowing the person to thrash around and even get up and act out nightmares.
Night Terrors
the relatively rare disorder in which the person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep without waking fully.
Sleepwalking (Somnambulism)
an occurring during deep sleep, an episode of moving around or walking around in one’s sleep.
Insomnia
the inability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get a good quality of sleep.