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.
Sleep Apnea
the disorder in which the person stops breathing for 10 seconds or more.
Narcolepsy
the sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning.
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
the premise that states that dreams are created by the higher centers of the cortex to explain the activation by the brain stem of cortical cells during REM sleep periods.
Activation-Information-Mode
the revised version of the activation synthesis explanation of dreams in which information that is accessed during waking hours can have an influence on the synthesis of dreams.
Hypnosis
the state of consciousness in which the person is especially susceptible to suggestion.
Dissociation
the divided state of conscious awareness.
Social-Cognitive Theory of Hypnosis
the theory that assumes that people who are hypnotized are not in an altered state but are merely playing the role expected of them in the situation.
Psychoactive Drugs
the chemical substances that alter thinking, perception, and memory.
Physical Dependence
the condition occurring when a person’s body becomes unable to function normally without a particular drug.
Drug Tolerance
the decrease of the response to a drug over repeated uses, leading to the need for higher doses of drug to achieve the same effect.
Withdrawal
the physical symptoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure, resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems.
Psychological Dependence
the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being.
Stimulants
the drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system.
Depressants
the drugs that decreased the functioning of the nervous system.
Hallucinogenics
the drugs including hallucinogenics and marijuana that produce hallucinations or increased feelings of relaxation and intoxication.
Amphetamines
the stimulants that are synthesized in laboratories rather than being found in nature.
Cocaine
a natural drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant.
Nicotine
the active ingredient in tobacco.
Caffeine
a mild stimulant found in coffee, tea and several other plant-based substances.
Barbiturates
a depressant drugs that have a sedative effect.
Benzodiazapines
a drug that lower anxiety and reduce stress.
Alcohol
the chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter.
Opiates
a class of opium-related drugs that suppress sensation of pain by binding to and stimulating the nervous system’s natural receptor site for endorphins.
Opium
a substance derived from the opium poppy from which all narcotic drugs are derived.
Morphine
a narcotic drug derived from opium, used to treat severe pain.
Heroin
a narcotic drug derived from opium that is extremely addictive.
Hallucinogens
a drug that cause false sensory messages, altering the perception of reality.
LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)
a powerful synthetic hallucinogen.
PCP
a synthesized drug now used as an animal tranquilizer that can cause stimulant, depressant, narcotic, or hallucinogenic effects.
MDMA (Ecstasy or X)
a designer drug that can have both stimulant and hallucinatory effects.
Stimulatory Hallucinogenics
a drug that produce a mixture of psychomotor stimulant and hallucinogenic effects.
Marijuana
a mild hallucinogen derived from the leaves and flowers of a particular type of hemp plant.
Consciousness
a person’s awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given time.
