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Foundation of Psychology > Consciousness part 1 > Flashcards

Consciousness part 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Define consciousness.

A

The awareness of ourselves and our environment.

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2
Q

What are the 4 levels of consciousness? Briefly describe each level.

A
  1. Conscious - what we are currently aware of
  2. Pre-conscious - not aware but can be recalled (e.g. memory)
  3. Sub-conscious / unconscious - not aware, but influences conscious thought (e.g. priming, core beliefs, stereotypes)
  4. Non-conscious - outside of awareness (e.g. blood pressure)
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3
Q

What is an example of the pre-conscious?

A

Memory.

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4
Q

What are some examples of the sub-conscious?

A

Priming, core beliefs, and stereotypes.

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5
Q

What is an example of the non-conscious?

A

Bodily functions.

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6
Q

What are the evolutionary advantages of consciousness?

A

Helps us make sense of the environment around us.

It also helps with reflection and planning for future events.

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7
Q

How is consciousness necessary for learning?

A

Consciousness is essential for processing complex information and learning complex behaviours.

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8
Q

Define attention.

A

The intentional/unintentional directing of our conscious awareness.

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9
Q

What is an evolutionary advantage of attention?

A

It’s an adaptation to help direct our awareness to what is important.

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10
Q

Why is attention necessary?

A

Conscious processing is a limited resource, therefore attention helps regulate the expenditure of our mental energy.

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11
Q

Is attention voluntary or involuntary?

A

Both

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12
Q

What is an example of involuntary attention?

A

Bottom-up processing

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13
Q

What is an example of voluntary attention?

A

Top-down processing

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14
Q

What is top-down processing?

A

Higher level cognitive processing based off of pre-existing schemas and expectations of the world.

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15
Q

How is top-down processing used in processing ambiguous/incomplete stimuli?

A

Top-down processing uses prior knowledge and understanding of the world and it’s various stimuli to interpret vague and confusing stimuli. (e.g., driving a new car you’ve never been in is easier after years of driving other cars)

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16
Q

How is bottom-up processing used to process unfamiliar stimuli?

A

Bottom-up processing is used to process and incorporate knowledge of raw stimuli to form our perceptual understanding of the world. (e.g., a child seeing a dog for the first time and incorporates it into a schema of animals)

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17
Q

How does attention and perception interact?

A

Attention is what we consciously perceive. In order to pay attention to/ focus on something, we must decide which of the other things we perceive to ignore.

Attention is like a spotlight looking at an area of our perception. (e.g., cocktail party phenomenon)

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18
Q

Provide an example of processing outside our awareness.

A

Despite having no memory of anything that happened, after being presented pairs of words under anaesthesia, people could finish the pair if presented with the first word.

Example of implicit processing.

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19
Q

What are three examples of processing outside our awareness?

A
  1. shifting eye movements - happens automatically
  2. priming
  3. subliminal processing
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20
Q

What is priming?

A

Priming is when subliminal stimuli, that is subconsciously processed, effects how we perceive and interact with future stimuli.

21
Q

What is subliminal processing?

A

When stimuli are perceived below the threshold of conscious perception/awareness.

22
Q

What about subliminal perception did Brooks et al. (2012) find using fMRI scans?

A

Subliminal stimuli activates particular cortical regions of the brain without our awareness.

Proves the idea of subliminal perception.

23
Q

What are hallucinations?

A

A state of consciousness in which our brain creates realistic perceptual experiences in the absence of external stimuli.

24
Q

What are the most common forms of hallucinations?

A

Auditory and visual

25
Q

What senses can hallucinations occur in?

A

All senses:
- olfactory
- auditory
- tactile
- gustatory
- visual

26
Q

What causes hallucinations?

A

Overactivity or abnormal patterns of activity in brain areas responsible for sensory perception.

27
Q

What is an example of a hallucination?

A

In anxiety, people may see things in their periphery vision that aren’t there. (e.g., something running past them)

28
Q

What is Deja Vu?

A

A hallucination that occurs due to small seizures in the right temporal lobe that is associated with feelings of familiarity.

29
Q

What is Capgras Syndrome? What causes it?

A

A hallucination that causes the delusional misidentification of people. (e.g., thinking family members have been replaced with imposters)

It is caused by a disconnection between the temporal lobe, where faces are usually recognised and the limbic system, involved in emotion

30
Q

How do drugs affect consciousness?

A

Drugs alter consciousness through facilitating or inhibiting synaptic transmission.

31
Q

How do drugs enter the brain?

A

Drugs enter the brain through a blood-brain barrier within small blood vessels called capillaries.

32
Q

What is the process of synaptic transmission?

A
  1. Neurotransmitters are synthesised in the presynaptic neuron and stored there in vesicles
  2. Then they are released into the synaptic space where they bind with and stimulate receptor sites on postsynaptic neurons
  3. Neurotransmitter molecules are deactivated by enzymes or by reuptake
33
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

A chemical substance released by presynaptic neurons that affects the transmission of nerve impulses in postsynaptic neurons.

34
Q

What is an agonist?

A

A drug that increases the activity of a neurotransmitter.

35
Q

What are three things that agonist drugs can do?

A
  1. Enhance neuron’s ability to synthesise, store and/or release neurotransmitters
  2. Bind with and stimulate postsynaptic sites or make it easier for neurotransmitters to stimulate these sites
  3. Make deactivation more difficult, such as by inhibiting reuptake
36
Q

What are two classes of drugs that are considered agonists? Name one example for each.

A
  1. Opiates - morphine or codeine
  2. Amphetamines - methamphetamine or dexamphetamine
37
Q

What do opiates do?

A

Endorphins are neurotransmitters that promote pain relief. Therefore, opiates are effective pain relievers because they bind to and activate receptor sites that receive endorphins.

38
Q

What do amphetamines do?

A

Amphetamines boost arousal and mood by getting neurons to release more dopamine and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and inhibiting reuptake.

39
Q

What is an antagonist?

A

A drug that inhibits or decreases the action of a neurotransmitter.

40
Q

What are two things that antagonist drugs do?

A
  1. Reduce a neuron’s ability to synthesise, store and/or release neurotransmitters
  2. Prevent a neurotransmitter from binding with the postsynaptic neuron, such as by fitting into and blocking the receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron
41
Q

What does CNS stand for?

A

Central Nervous System

42
Q

What is the effect of stimulants?

A

Stimulants increase neural firing and arouse the nervous system.

43
Q

Name and describe the effect of a CNS stimulant.

A

Cocaine - Increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine – reward system activation.

44
Q

What is the effect of depressants?

A

Depressants decrease nervous system activity.

45
Q

Name and describe the effect of a CNS depressant.

A

Alcohol - effects include lowered cortical activity, impaired thinking, and poor coordination.

46
Q

What is hypnosis?

A

A procedure in which one person (the subject) is guided by another (the hypnotist) to respond to suggestions for changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behaviour.

47
Q

What is Ernest Hilgard’s dissociative theory about hypnosis (1994)?

A

Hypnosis creates a division of awareness in which a person experiences two streams of consciousness but is dissociated from one of them through hypnosis.

One part responds to the hypnotist’s suggestions.

The second part, the hidden observer, is aware of everything that is going on.

48
Q

What is the difference between dissociative and social-cognitive theories of hypnosis?

A

Dissociative theories - hypnosis is an altered state involving a division (dissociation) of consciousness.

Social-cognitive theories - hypnotic experiences result from expectations of people who are motivated to take on the role of being hypnotised.

Foundation of Psychology (10 decks)

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