Lecture 7 Flashcards
What is Consciousness?
Personal Awareness
Awareness of Internal and External Stimuli
-Levels of Awareness “stream of consciousness”
What are Daydreams?
Daydreams are shifts in attention towards internal thoughts and imagines scenarioes
How do you learn about the normal flow of consciousness?
Psychologists learn about the normal flow of consciousness through experience-sampling techniques
What did Freud argue in the Psychodynamic View of consciousness?
Argues that 3 mental systems form consciousness
conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
What is the Conscious element in the Psychodynamic view of Consciousness?
mental events that you are aware of
What is the Preconscious element in the Psychodynamic view of Consciousness?
Mental events that can be brought into awareness
What is the Unconscious element in the Psychodynamic view of Consciousness?
Mental events that are inaccessible to awareness
Events are Actively Kept Out of awareness
What are the 5 Locations of consciousness?
Distributed throughout the brain 1. Pre-frontal cortex 2. Thalamus 3. Pons 4. Reticular Formation 5. Medulla Oblongata (Hindbrain + Midbrain)
What is the Hindbrain and Midbrain important for?
important for Arousal and for Sleep
What can damage to the Reticular formation lead to?
Coma
What is the Pre-frontal cortex important for?
Is Key for Conscious control of information processing
What are the EEG patterns of activity?
Frequency (cycles per second) Beta Alph Theta Delta
What does the Beta frequency of EEG patters of activity infer?
13-24 cps
Normal Waking/alert
What does the Alpha frequency of EEG patters of activity infer?
8-12 cps
Deep relaxation
What does the Theta frequency of EEG patters of activity infer?
4-7 cps
Dight sleep
What does the Delta frequency of EEG patters of activity infer?
What is consciousness associated with?
Attention
Divided attention or dissociation argument for altered state of awareness of consciousness
What is the definition of Hypnosis?
a systematic procedure that increases suggestibility
What is Hypnotic susceptibility?
Individual differences
10% of population is meant to have high hypnotic susceptibility
What are the 4 effects produced through hypnosis?
Anaesthesia
Sensory distortions and hallucinations
Disinhibition
Posthypnotic suggestions and Amnesia
What is Hilgard’s Theory?
to explain the altered state of consciousness or awareness was that hypnosis creates a dissociation in consciousness
What is Dissociation in regards to Hilgard’s Theory of Hypnosis?
Dissociation: is a splitting off of mental processes into two separate, simultaneous streams of awareness
Example from everyday life: “Highway hypnosis”
What are Anaesthesia examples of the Hypnotic Phenomena?
Anaesthesia:
- Hypnosis used in minor surgery and by dentists for pain management
- Particularly useful with burns patients undergoing debridement
- During pregnancy and Labour
What are the Behavioural Change examples due to the Hypnotic Phenomena?
Behavioural Change
- smoking
- Diet
What are the 2 types of Hypnotic Phenomena?
Anaesthesia
Behavioural Change
What is Meditation?
Practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control
What are examples of Meditation and their benefits?
Yoga
Zen
Transcendental Meditation (TM)
-Potential Physiological benefits - similar to effective relaxation procesudres
What are the Physical and Biological effects of meditation?
Alpha waves and Beta waves become more prominent ni EEG recordings
What 5 things does a decreased arousal lead to?
Decline in: Heart Rate Skin Conductance Respiration rate Oxygen Consumption Carbondioxide Elimination
What are the Benefits of Meditation?
Reduced effects of stress
Improved mental Health
Positive effects on other elements
What are the benefits of Meditation in regards to Reduced effects of stress?
Lower levels of stress hormone
Enhanced immune response
What are the benefits of Meditation in regards to improved mental health?
Reduced anxiety and concomitant reduction in drug abuse
What are the 4 Benefits of meditation in regards to positive effects on other elements?
4x Positive effects of: Blood pressure Self-esteem Modd Sense of Contol
What is the Subliminal Perception?
The perception of stimuli below the threshold of consiousness
What has research determines in regards to Subliminal Perception?
Presenting people with Subliminal Stimuli (positive or negative) can influence their emotional reactions and behaviours
What are circadian rhythms?
a cyclical biological process that evolved around the daily cycle of light and darl
When do Foetuses begin to show circadian rhythms of sleep and activity?
six months gestational age
What do Circadian rhythms sometimes account for?
difficulties people experience when crossing time zones “Jet Lag”
Work night shift - “health professions”
What do Circadian rhythms impact on?
Physical and Mental Health
Grades
What can Circadian Rhythms lead to changes in?
energy level
mood
efficiency through the day
What is the Physiological pathway of circadian rhythms?
Light levels –> Retina –> Suprachiasmatic Nucleus of the Hypothalamus –> Pineal Gland –> Secretion of Melatonin
What happens when people are in the absence of outside cues?
Peoples fall into a 25hour rhythm- (outside cues draw us into a 24 hr rhythm)
What are the Results of changing times zones too quickly for circadian rhythms to change?
Faster resynchronisation when West bound
What are the 2 Circadian rhythms?
Realigning them with Melatonin
Bright Lights
What are the 2 Circadian Rhythms associated with Mental Illness?
Mood disorders
Bipolar disorders
