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mind and behaviour > Consciousness > Flashcards

Consciousness Flashcards

1
Q

what is visual agnosia?

A

an inability to visually recognise objects

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2
Q

what is consciousness?

A

our moment to moment awareness of ourselves and our environment

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3
Q

what is selective attention?

A

the process that focuses awareness on some stimuli to the extinction of others

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4
Q

what are the different ways of measuring consciousness?

A

self-report measures
behavioural measures
physiological measures

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5
Q

what was Freud’s view on consciousness?

A

the conscious mind contains the thoughts we are currently aware of
the preconscious mind contains things that can be bought into the conscious mind such as memories
the unconscious mind contains urges and instincts that cannot be bought into the conscious mind

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6
Q

what is controlled (conscious or explicit) processing?

A

the conscious use of attention and effort

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7
Q

what is automatic (unconscious or implicit) processing?

A

can be performed without conscious awareness or effort

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8
Q

what is divided attention?

A

the capacity to attend to and perform more than one activity at the same time

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9
Q

what is blindsight?

A

people can be blind in part of their visual field yet in specific tests respond to stimuli in that field despite reporting that they cannot see those stimuli

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10
Q

what is priming?

A

exposure to a stimulus influences how you subsequently respond to that same or another stimulus

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11
Q

what is attention?

A

the process of concentrating on some features of the environment to the possible exclusion of others

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12
Q

what is focused attention?

A

the ability to respond to specific stimuli

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13
Q

what is selective attention?

A

maintaining a focus of attention on a specific item even when faced with alternatives and distractions

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14
Q

what is automaticity?

A

reached when a task no longer requires conscious control

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15
Q

divided attention?

A

the ability to respond, seemingly simultaneously, to multiple tasks or demands

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16
Q

what is the suprachiasmatic nuclei?

A

regulates most circadian rhythms

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17
Q

what is melatonin?

A

a hormone that has a relaxing effect on the body

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18
Q

what is seasonal affective disorder?

A

a cyclic tendency to become psychologically depressed during certain seasons of the year

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19
Q

what are beta waves?

A

the kind of brain waves people exhibit when they are awake and alert

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20
Q

what stages of sleep correspond to which brain waves

A 
awake/alert = beta waves 
relaxed/drowsy = alpha waves
stage 1 = theta waves
stage 3+4 = delta waves
REM sleep = similar to the awake state
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21
Q

what are alpha waves?

A

when feeling relaxed or drowsy, brainwaves slow down

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22
Q

what are delta waves?

A

very slow and large brainwaves experienced in deep sleep

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23
Q

what is REM sleep?

A

rapid eye movement sleep features high arousal and frequent dreaming. during REM sleep the muscles of the body are paralysed.

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24
Q

what is slow wave sleep?

A

the term used to refer to stages 3+4 of the sleep cycle

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25
Q

how long does one sleep cycle last?

A

90 minutes

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26
Q

what happens to the sleep cycle throughout the night?

A

it gets shallower and shallower with each cycle

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27
Q

what is the restoration model?

A

a model explaining why we need sleep. it states that sleep recharges our run-down bodies and allows us to recover from physical and mental fatigue

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28
Q

what are evolutionary/circadian sleep models?

A

sleep’s main purpose is to increase a species chances of survival in relation to its environments demands. for our ancestors, being active at night was dangerous so it was safer to be asleep - those who slept at night lived longer.

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29
Q

what is the theory of memory consolidation?

A

a gradual process by which the brain transfers information into long-term memory. occurs during sleep

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30
Q

what is insomnia?

A

chronic difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or experiencing restful sleep

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31
Q

what is narcolepsy?

A

extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden, uncontrollable sleep attacks that may last from less than a minute to an hour

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32
Q

what is REM-sleep behaviour disorder?

A

the loss of muscle tone that causes normal REM-sleep paralysis to be absent

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33
Q

what are night terrors?

A

frightening dreams that arouse the sleeper to a near panic state

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34
Q

what is sleep apnoea?

A

a condition which causes people to repeatedly stop and restart breathing during sleep

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35
Q

what is Freuds theory of dreaming - wish fulfilment?

A

the gratification of our unconscious desires and needs through dreaming

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36
Q

what is the activation-synthesis theory of dreaming?

A

the idea that dreams do not serve any particular function - they are merely a by-product of REM neural activity

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37
Q

what are problem solving dream models?

A

cognitive models of dreaming that state we dream because they help us find creative solutions to our ongoing problems and concerns as they are not constrained by reality

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38
Q

what are cognitive-process dream theories?

A

propose that dreaming and waking thought are produced by the same mental systems in the brain

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39
Q

what is a fantasy prone personality?

A

people (more commonly women) who live in a vivid, rich fantasy world that they control

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40
Q

what is the blood-brain barrier?

A

a special lining of tightly packed cells that lets vital nutrients pass through so neurons can function

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41
Q

what is a neuromodulator?

A

a specific group of neurotransmitters that have a widespread and generalised influence on synaptic transmission

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42
Q

what is tolerance?

A

decreasing responsivity to a drug

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43
Q

what are compensatory responses?

A

reactions opposite to that of a specific drug

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44
Q

what is withdrawal?

A

occurrence of compensatory responses after discontinued drug use

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45
Q

what is substance dependence?

A

maladaptive pattern of substance use that causes a person significant distress or substantially impairs that person’s life

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46
Q

what are depressants?

A

drugs that decrease nervous system activity

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47
Q

what is alcohol myopia?

A

short sighted thinking caused by the inability to pay attention to as much information as when sober

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48
Q

what are stimulants?

A

drugs that increase neural firing and arouse the nervous system

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49
Q

what are opiates?

A

opium and drugs derived from it, such as morphine, codeine and heroin

50
Q

what are hallucinogens?

A

powerful mind-altering drugs that produce hallucinations

51
Q

what is THC?

A

the active ingredient in marijuana

52
Q

what is hypnosis?

A

a state of heightened suggestibility in which some people are able to experience imagined situations as if they were real

53
Q

what are hypnotic suggestibility scales?

A

a standard series of pass-fail suggestions that are read to a subject after a hypnotic induction

54
Q

what are dissociation theories of hypnosis?

A

view hypnosis as an altered state of involving a division of consciousness

55
Q

what are social cognitive theories of hypnosis?

A

propose that hypnotic experiences result from expectations of people who are motivated to take on the role of being hypnotised

56
Q

what are the characteristics of consciousness

A
  • subjective and private
  • dynamic (ever changing)
  • self reflective and central to our own sense of self
  • intimately connected with the process of selective attention §
57
Q

when does automatic processing occur?

A

when we carry out routine or very well-learned tasks

58
Q

what are the advantages and disadvantages of automatic and controlled processing?

A

automatic processing can reduce our chances of finding new ways to approach problems
controlled processing is slower than automatic processing but it is more flexible

59
Q

what facilitates divided attention?

A

automatic processing as one or both tasks can occur without conscious effort

60
Q

when is divided attention more difficult?

A

when tasks require similar mental resources

61
Q

what is prosopagnosia?

A

inability to recognise faces

62
Q

how has it been shown that people with blindsight are not actually blind?

A

they could identify objects when asked questions with two possible answers with 80-100% accuracy, had they just been guessing then accuracy would be 50%

63
Q

what is a subliminal stimuli?

A

something that is displayed so rapidly or hidden so that you have no conscious awareness of seeing the stimuli but it can still act to prime you

64
Q

why is consciousness evolutionarily useful?

A

it allows information to be used to plan and think ahead

it also allows us to override automatic impulses that may be dangerous

65
Q

what is the principle of ‘neural Darwinism’?

A

the idea that the number of neural connections increases rapidly from birth to about 6 months and then the weaker connections are slowly pruned (synaptic pruning) so only the strongest remain

66
Q

describe the neural process of facial recognition.

A

a pathway from the primary visual cortex extends to the parietal lobe which supports the unconscious guidance of movements
a second pathway carries information to support conscious recognition of objects

67
Q

what is the technique of masking?

A

it is when a stimulus is presented to a participant unconsciously by presenting them with a more obvious stimuli

68
Q

why is consciousness thought to be a ‘global workspace’?

A

because there is no one part of the brain that is responsible for consciousness, rather many separate pathways

69
Q

what does the ‘enactive’ explanation of consciousness argue?

A

that consciousness is not something that just happens to us but something we create or generate with our actions or behaviour

70
Q

what is the cocktail party phenomenon?

A

the idea that you can be engrossed in one conversation and attend carefully to it while ignoring others and yet can switch attention immediately when a salient word is mentioned such as your own name.

71
Q

what is dichotic listening?

A

a task developed where participants are played two different audio stimuli into each ear and told to attend to one by repeating it as it is read. they then had to report the unattended stimuli. they did better when the unattended stimuli was presented to the right ear as we process speech in the left hemisphere

72
Q

what was Broadbent’s early filter model?

A

the idea that we decide very early on what stimulus we want to attend to and then focus on it. however, this doesn’t explain the cocktail party phenomenon. they also do not explain how subliminal messages can be perceived unconsciously but not consciously

73
Q

what is the late selection model?

A

the idea that the decision as to what information to attend to is made just before the person responds. however, this uses a lot of cognitive resources just to waste most of what is taken in

74
Q

what is the attenuation model?

A

that all information is processed but attenuated at different levels so that only some information makes it though to conscious awareness

75
Q

what is the attention bottleneck?

A

there is only so much information that can reach conscious awareness at one time. however, this is thought to be flexible in that when we need access to more information we can do so by widening the bottleneck

76
Q

what is the feature integration theory?

A

a two stage process for identifying target stimulus. first the whole scene is processed and those items clearly not to do with the target are rejected. then the remaining items are processed and compared with memory of the stimulus

77
Q

what is the difference between data-limited and resource-limited tasks?

A

data limited means you do not have sufficient tools to carry out the task
resource limited means you do not have sufficient cognitive capacity to carry out the task

78
Q

what factors effect dual task performance?

A
  • rehearsal/practice
  • difficulty
  • similarity of the tasks
79
Q

how can attention be controlled endogenously or exogenously?

A 
exogenously = when an external factor such as a gunshot draws attention
endogenously = when you are primed to send attention in a particular direction already i.e. you're expecting something
80
Q

what are cross-model effects in attention?

A

when two different types of stimuli aid the understanding of one another

81
Q

what are the processes of inattention and change blindness?

A

inattention = when more attention is paid to one stimulus than another so one goes unnoticed
change blindness = when we fail to notice that an object has changed in some way

82
Q

how can ERP’s be used to measure attention?

A

the first positive (P1) and first negative (N1) waves have been shown to be larger when the individual is attending to a stimuli than when they are not.

83
Q

how long to circadian rhythms last?

A

24 hours

84
Q

how long is a free running sleep/wake cycle?

A

originally thought to be 25 hours but with tighter control in studies it is now thought to be around 24.2

85
Q

what are some environmental disruptions to circadian rhythms?

A
  • jetlag
  • night shift work
  • the environment
86
Q

what is the frequency of beta waves?

A

high, around 15-30cps

87
Q

what is the frequency of alpha waves?

A

slow, around 8-12cps

88
Q

what is the frequency of theta waves?

A

slow, 3.5-7.5cps

89
Q

what are sleep spindles?

A

1-2 second bursts of rapid brainwave activity (12-15cps) that signal stage 2 of sleep has begun

90
Q

what is the frequency of brainwaves in stage 3 of sleep?

A

very slow, 0.5-2cps

91
Q

when does slow wave sleep technically begin?

A

when the brain is expressing 20% delta waves

92
Q

when does sleep paralysis occur?

A

REM sleep

93
Q

what is paradoxical sleep?

A

when the body is asleep and paralysed during REM but it is also highly aroused

94
Q

what part of the brain regulates falling asleep?

A

the basal forebrain

95
Q

what part of the brain regulates REM sleep?

A

the Pons

96
Q

which parts of the brain are active during dreaming?

A
  • the amygdala regulates emotions
  • the primary visual cortex
  • decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex which is involved in logical thinking, this may be why dreams are so illogical and bizarre
97
Q

what changes occur in our sleep as we age?

A
  • we sleep less and less as we get older
  • REM sleep decreases dramatically during infancy and early childhood
  • time spent in stages 3+4 (slow wave sleep) declines
98
Q

what is fatal familial insomnia?

A

a very rare condition where people sleep normally until middle age, then suffer with persistent insomnia before dying a few years later. the causes are unknown.

99
Q

what is the role of adenosine in sleep?

A

it is released as cells burn fuel. an accumulation of adenosine inhibit systems that keep us awake. when we sleep, our adenosine levels fall

100
Q

what is the REM-rebound effect?

A

the tendency to experience more REM sleep after being deprived of it

101
Q

what is paradoxical insomnia?

A

they complain of sleep deprivation but sleep normally when studied in the lab

102
Q

what effect does drinking have on sleep?

A

it has a greater effect on women than men, due to the way in which different genders metabolise alcohol. it tends to deepen sleep initially then disturb it later in the night

103
Q

when is sleepwalking most likely to occur?

A

during stages 3+4 of sleep

104
Q

when are night terrors most likely to occur?

A

during slow wave sleep

105
Q

what causes sleep apnoea?

A

an obstruction in the upper airway

106
Q

what percentage of dreams per night occur in non - REM sleep?

A

25%

107
Q

what is the evolutionary theory as to why we dream?

A

to prepare us for a hostile environment

108
Q

describe the components of Freuds dream theory of wish fulfilment

A
  1. manifest content = the surface story of the dream
  2. latent content = the dreams disguised psychological meaning
    dream work = the process of transforming manifest content into latent content
109
Q

describe the action of an agonist drug

A

increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by:
- enhancing a neurons ability to make, store or release neurotransmitter
- binding with and stimulating the postsynaptic receptor sites
- inhibiting reuptake
examples include opiates or amphetamines

110
Q

describe the action of an antagonist drug

A

decreases or inhibits the action of a neurotransmitter by:
- reducing a neurons ability to produce, store or release neurotransmitter
- blocking receptor sites
examples include antipsychotics

111
Q

what is hypnotic induction?

A

the process by which one person leads another into hypnosis

112
Q

how may hypnotic induction be achieved?

A
  • fixed gaze: an object such as a swinging watch is used as a focal point
  • progressive relaxation and imagery
  • rapid induction: quick and forceful in the hope of confusing the nervous system in some way
113
Q

what are some of the potential consequences of hypnosis?

A
  • behaving against ones will
  • performing amazing feats
  • increased pain tolerance
  • hypnotic amnesia
  • memory enhancement or creation of false memories
114
Q

Evaluate self report measures

A
  • we don’t know that people are being honest

- people may not have insight into the different levels of their consciousness

115
Q

Evaluate behavioural measures

A
  • more objective than self report

- shown to work - red spot experiment with animals and humans

116
Q

Evaluate physiological measures

A
  • technology is still in its infancy and consciousness is hugely complex
117
Q

Why is sleep easy to study?

A

It’s the same process across genders and cultures

118
Q

What is the synthesis and what is the activation of the activation synthesis model?

A

Brain is bombarded with random neural activity - activation

Cerebral cortex creates a plausible story from random firings - synthesis

119
Q

Evaluate the activation synthesis model

A
  • doesn’t explain dreams in Non R.E.M. sleep

- dreams should then be more random and less related to our daily lives

120
Q

What is the best current use of hypnosis?

A

Pain relief

121
Q

What mundane psychological processes can explain hypnosis?

A 
Imagination 
Relaxation 
Role enactment 
Compliance 
Conformity 
Attention 
Attitudes 
Expectations

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