exam 3 Flashcards
What is Consciousness?
• Awareness of internal and external stimuli.
• Almost every human behaviour comes from a mixture of conscious and unconscious processing.
- ex: digestive system
The Nature of Consciousness: Variations in Awareness and Control
Awareness of internal and external stimuli
Different levels of awareness
Attention and consciousness are closely related but you can have one without the other. Example: Mind wandering
James
stream of consciousness
Different Forms of Consciousness
occur spontaneously: daydreaming, drowsiness, dreaming
physiologically induced: hallucinations, orgasm, food or oxygen starvation
psychologically induced: sensory deprivation, hypnosis, meditation
Levels of Consciousness
Consciousness ranges in levels from minimal consciousness to full consciousness to self- consciousness.
full consciousness
self-consciousness
minimal consciousness
Full consciousness
Consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state
Self-consciousness
Distinct level of consciousness in which the person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object
Recognition of self in mirrors by humans and other animals
Minimal consciousness
Low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior
More on Levels of Consciousness
-Looking at the link: EEG, fMRI, PET scans.
• Hypnosis and anesthesia can teach us about
consciousness.
• Processes in the brain that create consciousness: sensory network and internal consciousness network exchanges information with the thalamus
-comas and brain death
comas
Brain damage. Lasts for a few days or weeks. May open the eyes but not be consciou
Brain death
axons are torn and cannot carry messages.
comas
Unconscious, unresponsive, unarousable (no sleep/wake cycle).
vegetative state
stupor
PVS
locked in syndrome
vegetative state
Unresponsive to psychological and physical stimuli, have a sleep/wake cycle, often eyes open.
stupor
Unresponsive but can be aroused briefly by pain.
PVS
persistive vegetative state
After 30 days, PVS
locked in syndrome
Awakens from coma and is completely conscious but paralyzed and can only blink.
Anesthesia
Used to be thought that ‘going under’ was like a sub going deeper into the ocean
• Problem: Seems like the path downward into unconsciousness is not the same as the pathway coming into consciousness
• Used to be thought that ‘old brain’ comes back before more complex functions
• Different brain patters with stages of anesth
Consciousness and Brain Act
• EEG – monitoring of brain electrical activity
• The electroencephalograph
• Brain waves
• Amplitude (height)
• Frequency (cycles per second) (= correlated)
• Beta (13–24 cps)= alertness/problem-solving
• Alpha (8–12 cps) = resting/relaxation
• Theta (4–7 cps) = low-alertness/sleep
• Delta (< 4 cps) =deep/dreamless sleep
Wandering Mind
• Our minds most often wander when we are engaged in automated, repetitive tasks or in difficult/complex tasks.
• We may be unaware of our minds wandering.
• Similar to under the influence of alcohol
• Effects of driving while ‘wandering’ and drinking while driving – dangerous!
The Default Network Activated During Daydreaming
• An fMRI scan shows that many areas, known as the default network, when mind wandering or daydreaming. More activity at rest than during attention- demanding tasks.
sleep
don’t know why all animals sleep
babies need more sleep
need less sleep as ppl get older
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
circadian rhythms
physiological pathway of the biological clock
melatonin and circadian rhythms
ignoring and realigning circadian rhythms
Physiological pathway of the biological clock
• Light levels > retina > suprachiasmatic nucleus of hypothalamus > pineal gland > secretion of melatonin
Circadian rhythms
– 24 hr. biological cycles
• Regulation of sleep/other body functions