Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psych 101 > Lecture 4 > Flashcards

Lecture 4 Flashcards

1
Q

what is consciousness?

A
  • moment to moment awareness of ourselves and environment
  • others cannot directly know our reality
  • dynamic is ever-changing
  • self reflective - mind is aware of its own consciousness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what is problem of other minds?

A

fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

how do we measure consciousness?

A
  • self reports: direct but not verifiable
  • physiological: are objective but cannot indicate what person is experiencing subjectively (ex. EEG)
  • behavioural: performance on tasks, need to infer state of mind
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what was Benjamin Libet’s experiment?

A

participant was asked to move fingers at will while watching a dot move around the face of a clock to mark the moment at which the action was consciously willed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what are the 3 levels of psychodynamic views?

A
  • conscious: mental vents we are currently aware of (ex. reading this slide)
  • preconscious: outside of current awareness; easily recalled ( ex. what you had for dinner last night)
  • unconscious: not brought into conscious awareness under ordinary circumstances (ex. unacceptable urges; traumatic memories tied to anxiety; pain)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what is controlled and automatic processing?

A

controlled: effortful- voluntary use of attention; conscious effort, difficult or new tasks, slower but more flexible than automatic
automatic: littler or no conscious processing; routine; well- learned, fast but can inhibit finding ‘new’ solutions, facilitates ‘divided atention’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

how many things can you do at once?

A
  • we can ‘divide’ attention - otherwise every action would require full attention
  • is adaptive but has limits - difficult if tasks require similar resources, impact others (ex. using cell phone while driving)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what is emotional unconscious?

A

unconscious processes influence emotions and motivations - are influenced by events we are unaware of (classical conditions), mood can be affected by positive or negative words subliminally presented - priming

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

what is the molecular mind?

A
  • mind consists of separate but interacting info processing modules: sensations, perception, memory, problem-solving, emotion, process info is parallel
  • experience of consciousness is integrated output of modules
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

what is the circadian rhythm?

A

refers to the body’s natural 24 hr cycle, roughly matched to the day/night cycle of light and dark

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

what changes during the 24 hours?

A
  • body temp
  • arousal/energy
  • mental sharpness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Describe the circadian rhythm‘s

A
  • regulated by suprachiasmathic nuclei (SCN)
  • SCN neurons link to pineal gland which secretes melatonin
  • SCN neurons are sensitive to light only around “dawn” and “dusk”
  • Neurons in SCN are active during daytime (inhibits melatonin secretion & raises body temperature and alertness)
  • SCN neurons are inactive at night (allows melatonin secretion to increase & melatonin promotemelatonin promotes relaxation and sleepiness)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

what disrupts the circadian rhythm?

A
  • jet lag
  • shift work
  • changing to daylight savings
  • seasonal affect disorder (SAD)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

what are the stages of sleep?

A

-cycle through stages roughly every 90 minutes
-BRAC: Basic rest activity cycle
-Brain activity, other physiological responses change
-beta waves occur when awake and alert (15-30cps)
-alpha waves occur when relaxed and drowsy (8-12cps)
stage 1: light sleep, theta waves (3.5-7.5cps), lasts few minutes, may experience body jerks
stage 2: sleep deepens- muscles are more relaxed-harder to awaken, sleep spindles (1-2 second bursts of rapid brain activity)
stage 3: sleep deepens, regular appearance of delta waves (0.5-2cps)
stage 4: sleep deepens, delta waves dominate pattern, stage 4 & stage 3 - together called slow wave sleep
-after stage 4 period, go back through earlier stages -stage 3, then 2 but not 1, instead a new stage appears
-REM sleep: rapid eye movements, High arousal, frequent dreaming

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what happens during REM sleep?

A
  • heart rate rises and breathing becomes rapid
  • “sleep paralysis” occurs when the brain stem blocks the motor cortex’s messages and the muscles don’t move. this is sometimes known as “paradoxical sleep”; The brain is active but the body is in mobile
  • genitals are aroused (not by dreams) and stay this way after REM is over
  • REM periods become longer as the night progresses
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what is sleep regulated by?

A
  • falling asleep: regulated by basal forebrain & regions of brain stem
  • REM sleep: regulated by brainstem (reticular formation), limbic system activity increases, Association areas near visual cortex active, motor cortex active but signals blocked, decreased activity in prefrontal cortex
17
Q

Why do we sleep?

A
  • restoration model: sleep recharges bodies, sleep allows recovery from mental and physical fatigue
  • evidence is mildly supporting: sleep about 10 minutes longer on days we exercise, adenosine (cellular waste product) may play a role in decreasing alertness
18
Q

what happens when we have sleep deprivation?

A

-across our lifetime we get about 1 hour of sleep for every 2 awake
-memories deteriorate
unless sleep occurs
-REM sleep deprivation has the most detrimental effects, followed by slow wave sleep (stage3&4)

19
Q

why do we sleep ?- theories and models

A
  • evolutionary/circadian models: is adaptive, evolved sleep-wake pattern that increased chances of survival (reduces predation & optimizes food acquisition/per calorie expended), mechanism for conserving energy (metabolic rate 10 to 25% slower during sleep)
  • restoration and evolutionary theories: contribute to 2 factor model asleep
20
Q

what are two common sleep disorders?

A
  1. insomnia:
    • chronic difficulty and falling asleep, staying asleep or experiencing restful sleep
    • most common sleep disorder (10 to 40% of population)
    • North Americans sleep less than others and less than they used to perhaps because of the use of light bulbs and/or screen time
  2. pseudoinsomniacs:
    • complain of insomnia, but sleep normally
    • individuals truly believe they have insomnia
    • research in sleep labs show most sleep normally
21
Q

what are causes and treatments of insomnia?

A
  • multiple causes: biological, psychological, environmental
  • several treatments: stimulus control (based on learning principles, associate stimuli in sleep environment only with sleep)
22
Q

what is narcolepsy?

A

-Extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden uncontrollable sleep attacks

23
Q

what is cataplexy?

A

sudden loss of muscle tone

24
Q

what is REM-sleep behaviour disorder?

A

-loss of muscle tone that causes REM- sleep paralysis is absent
• sleeper may act out dreams: kick, punch, move wildly
• many RBD patients have injured self or sleep partner

25
Q

what is sleep apnea?

A
  • repeated cycle in which breathing stops and restarts during sleep
    • about 1 to 5% of population
    • last 20 to 40 seconds up to 1 min or 2
    • severe cases = 400 to 500 times/night
26
Q

describe sleepwalking

A

-typically occurs during stage 3 or stage 4
• more common among children (10-30%)
-causes: Hereditary, stress, alcohol, illness and medications
-treatment: psychotherapy, hypnosis, drugs, behavioural (waking before sleepwalking),wait to outgrow it
-myth: waking a sleep walker is dangerous

27
Q

what is the difference between nightmares and night terrors?

A 
-nightmares:
    • “Bad” dreams
    • everyone has them
    • occurs more often during REM sleep
-Night terrors:
    • frightening dreams that arouse sleeper to near panic state
    • sleeper may flee room yet not remember event in the morning; typically occur during stages 3&4
    • most common during childhood
28
Q

when/why do we dream?

A

When:

  • occur during any sleep stage
  • Hypnagogic State: transition from waking to early stage 2
  • Most occur during REM
  • REM-sleep dreams tend to be more vivid and story like

Why:
-Freud’s psychoanalytic theory:
• wish fulfilment
• gratification of unconscious desires/needs ( sexual and aggressive urges)
-2 important concepts:
• manifest content- “surface” story of dream
• latent content- disguised psychological meaning of dream
-activation-synthesis theory:
• activation= Random neural activity
• synthesis= Brain making ‘sense’ of this
-problem solving models: help us find solutions to personal problems and concerns
-cognitive-process dream theories:
•Dreams and waking thoughts produced by same- involve processes that are more similar than we typically realize

29
Q

what do we dream?

A
  • is a stereotype
  • negative/unpleasant content is common
  • content is affected by cultural background, life, experiences, current concerns
  • 50% of content may reflect experiences of recent day

Psych 101 (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions