Consciousness Flashcards
what is visual agnosia?
an inability to visually recognise objects
what is consciousness?
our moment to moment awareness of ourselves and our environment
what is selective attention?
the process that focuses awareness on some stimuli to the extinction of others
what are the different ways of measuring consciousness?
self-report measures
behavioural measures
physiological measures
what was Freud’s view on consciousness?
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
what is controlled (conscious or explicit) processing?
the conscious use of attention and effort
what is automatic (unconscious or implicit) processing?
can be performed without conscious awareness or effort
what is divided attention?
the capacity to attend to and perform more than one activity at the same time
what is blindsight?
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
what is priming?
exposure to a stimulus influences how you subsequently respond to that same or another stimulus
what is attention?
the process of concentrating on some features of the environment to the possible exclusion of others
what is focused attention?
the ability to respond to specific stimuli
what is selective attention?
maintaining a focus of attention on a specific item even when faced with alternatives and distractions
what is automaticity?
reached when a task no longer requires conscious control
divided attention?
the ability to respond, seemingly simultaneously, to multiple tasks or demands
what is the suprachiasmatic nuclei?
regulates most circadian rhythms
what is melatonin?
a hormone that has a relaxing effect on the body
what is seasonal affective disorder?
a cyclic tendency to become psychologically depressed during certain seasons of the year
what are beta waves?
the kind of brain waves people exhibit when they are awake and alert
what stages of sleep correspond to which brain waves
awake/alert = beta waves relaxed/drowsy = alpha waves stage 1 = theta waves stage 3+4 = delta waves REM sleep = similar to the awake state
what are alpha waves?
when feeling relaxed or drowsy, brainwaves slow down
what are delta waves?
very slow and large brainwaves experienced in deep sleep
what is REM sleep?
rapid eye movement sleep features high arousal and frequent dreaming. during REM sleep the muscles of the body are paralysed.
what is slow wave sleep?
the term used to refer to stages 3+4 of the sleep cycle
how long does one sleep cycle last?
90 minutes
what happens to the sleep cycle throughout the night?
it gets shallower and shallower with each cycle
what is the restoration model?
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
what are evolutionary/circadian sleep models?
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.
what is the theory of memory consolidation?
a gradual process by which the brain transfers information into long-term memory. occurs during sleep
what is insomnia?
chronic difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or experiencing restful sleep
what is narcolepsy?
extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden, uncontrollable sleep attacks that may last from less than a minute to an hour
what is REM-sleep behaviour disorder?
the loss of muscle tone that causes normal REM-sleep paralysis to be absent
what are night terrors?
frightening dreams that arouse the sleeper to a near panic state
what is sleep apnoea?
a condition which causes people to repeatedly stop and restart breathing during sleep
what is Freuds theory of dreaming - wish fulfilment?
the gratification of our unconscious desires and needs through dreaming
what is the activation-synthesis theory of dreaming?
the idea that dreams do not serve any particular function - they are merely a by-product of REM neural activity
what are problem solving dream models?
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
what are cognitive-process dream theories?
propose that dreaming and waking thought are produced by the same mental systems in the brain
what is a fantasy prone personality?
people (more commonly women) who live in a vivid, rich fantasy world that they control
what is the blood-brain barrier?
a special lining of tightly packed cells that lets vital nutrients pass through so neurons can function
what is a neuromodulator?
a specific group of neurotransmitters that have a widespread and generalised influence on synaptic transmission
what is tolerance?
decreasing responsivity to a drug
what are compensatory responses?
reactions opposite to that of a specific drug
what is withdrawal?
occurrence of compensatory responses after discontinued drug use
what is substance dependence?
maladaptive pattern of substance use that causes a person significant distress or substantially impairs that person’s life
what are depressants?
drugs that decrease nervous system activity
what is alcohol myopia?
short sighted thinking caused by the inability to pay attention to as much information as when sober
what are stimulants?
drugs that increase neural firing and arouse the nervous system
what are opiates?
opium and drugs derived from it, such as morphine, codeine and heroin
what are hallucinogens?
powerful mind-altering drugs that produce hallucinations
what is THC?
the active ingredient in marijuana
what is hypnosis?
a state of heightened suggestibility in which some people are able to experience imagined situations as if they were real
what are hypnotic suggestibility scales?
a standard series of pass-fail suggestions that are read to a subject after a hypnotic induction
what are dissociation theories of hypnosis?
view hypnosis as an altered state of involving a division of consciousness
what are social cognitive theories of hypnosis?
propose that hypnotic experiences result from expectations of people who are motivated to take on the role of being hypnotised
what are the characteristics of consciousness
- subjective and private
- dynamic (ever changing)
- self reflective and central to our own sense of self
- intimately connected with the process of selective attention §
when does automatic processing occur?
when we carry out routine or very well-learned tasks
what are the advantages and disadvantages of automatic and controlled processing?
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
what facilitates divided attention?
automatic processing as one or both tasks can occur without conscious effort
when is divided attention more difficult?
when tasks require similar mental resources
what is prosopagnosia?
inability to recognise faces
how has it been shown that people with blindsight are not actually blind?
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%
what is a subliminal stimuli?
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
why is consciousness evolutionarily useful?
it allows information to be used to plan and think ahead
it also allows us to override automatic impulses that may be dangerous
what is the principle of ‘neural Darwinism’?
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
describe the neural process of facial recognition.
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
what is the technique of masking?
it is when a stimulus is presented to a participant unconsciously by presenting them with a more obvious stimuli
why is consciousness thought to be a ‘global workspace’?
because there is no one part of the brain that is responsible for consciousness, rather many separate pathways
what does the ‘enactive’ explanation of consciousness argue?
that consciousness is not something that just happens to us but something we create or generate with our actions or behaviour
what is the cocktail party phenomenon?
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.
what is dichotic listening?
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
what was Broadbent’s early filter model?
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
what is the late selection model?
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
what is the attenuation model?
that all information is processed but attenuated at different levels so that only some information makes it though to conscious awareness
what is the attention bottleneck?
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
what is the feature integration theory?
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
what is the difference between data-limited and resource-limited tasks?
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
what factors effect dual task performance?
- rehearsal/practice
- difficulty
- similarity of the tasks
how can attention be controlled endogenously or exogenously?
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
what are cross-model effects in attention?
when two different types of stimuli aid the understanding of one another
what are the processes of inattention and change blindness?
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
how can ERP’s be used to measure attention?
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.
how long to circadian rhythms last?
24 hours
how long is a free running sleep/wake cycle?
originally thought to be 25 hours but with tighter control in studies it is now thought to be around 24.2
what are some environmental disruptions to circadian rhythms?
- jetlag
- night shift work
- the environment
what is the frequency of beta waves?
high, around 15-30cps
what is the frequency of alpha waves?
slow, around 8-12cps
what is the frequency of theta waves?
slow, 3.5-7.5cps
what are sleep spindles?
1-2 second bursts of rapid brainwave activity (12-15cps) that signal stage 2 of sleep has begun
what is the frequency of brainwaves in stage 3 of sleep?
very slow, 0.5-2cps
when does slow wave sleep technically begin?
when the brain is expressing 20% delta waves
when does sleep paralysis occur?
REM sleep
what is paradoxical sleep?
when the body is asleep and paralysed during REM but it is also highly aroused
what part of the brain regulates falling asleep?
the basal forebrain
what part of the brain regulates REM sleep?
the Pons
which parts of the brain are active during dreaming?
- 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
what changes occur in our sleep as we age?
- 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
what is fatal familial insomnia?
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.
what is the role of adenosine in sleep?
it is released as cells burn fuel. an accumulation of adenosine inhibit systems that keep us awake. when we sleep, our adenosine levels fall
what is the REM-rebound effect?
the tendency to experience more REM sleep after being deprived of it
what is paradoxical insomnia?
they complain of sleep deprivation but sleep normally when studied in the lab
what effect does drinking have on sleep?
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
when is sleepwalking most likely to occur?
during stages 3+4 of sleep
when are night terrors most likely to occur?
during slow wave sleep
what causes sleep apnoea?
an obstruction in the upper airway
what percentage of dreams per night occur in non - REM sleep?
25%
what is the evolutionary theory as to why we dream?
to prepare us for a hostile environment
describe the components of Freuds dream theory of wish fulfilment
- manifest content = the surface story of the dream
- latent content = the dreams disguised psychological meaning
dream work = the process of transforming manifest content into latent content
describe the action of an agonist drug
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
describe the action of an antagonist drug
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
what is hypnotic induction?
the process by which one person leads another into hypnosis
how may hypnotic induction be achieved?
- 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
what are some of the potential consequences of hypnosis?
- behaving against ones will
- performing amazing feats
- increased pain tolerance
- hypnotic amnesia
- memory enhancement or creation of false memories
Evaluate self report measures
- we don’t know that people are being honest
- people may not have insight into the different levels of their consciousness
Evaluate behavioural measures
- more objective than self report
- shown to work - red spot experiment with animals and humans
Evaluate physiological measures
- technology is still in its infancy and consciousness is hugely complex
Why is sleep easy to study?
It’s the same process across genders and cultures
What is the synthesis and what is the activation of the activation synthesis model?
Brain is bombarded with random neural activity - activation
Cerebral cortex creates a plausible story from random firings - synthesis
Evaluate the activation synthesis model
- doesn’t explain dreams in Non R.E.M. sleep
- dreams should then be more random and less related to our daily lives
What is the best current use of hypnosis?
Pain relief
What mundane psychological processes can explain hypnosis?
Imagination Relaxation Role enactment Compliance Conformity Attention Attitudes Expectations
