Nature of Consciousness Flashcards
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the awareness of our own thoughts, feelings, perceptions and environment. Consciousness is selective, personal and continuous.
What are the five features of consciousness?
Continuous, ever-changing, personal experience, selective, active.
Why is consciousness a psychological construct?
It can’t be physically measured or assigned numeral values, so it is measured on an arbitrary scale.
What is Normal Waking Consciousness (NWC)?
It is when you have total awareness of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, including internal and external events. E.g. Ordinary wakefulness, focused attention
What is an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)?
It is any state which is characteristically different from NWC in terms of awareness, thoughts, feelings and behaviours. E.g. when drunk, in a coma, daydreaming
What are the different psychological indicators that we may be in an altered state of consciousness?
A.C.C.E.P.S.T
- Awareness
- Cognitive distortions
- Content limitations
- Emotional awareness
- Perceptual distortions
- Self-control
- Time orientation
How does awareness change in ASC?
It is lowered.
What are cognitive distortions in NWC?
Cognition is logical/organised. Memory functioning is effective and at a standard level. The person is capable of analytical and logical thinking.
How do cognitive distortions change in ASC?
Cognition is illogical and unorganised. The person’s memory can be impaired
What is content limitations in NWC?
It is easy to control what you say and do.
How is content limitations changed in ASC?
The person has little control over intake of information. They may make inappropriate or offensive thoughts.
What is a person’s emotional awareness in NWC?
The person shows a normal range of appropriate emotions.
How is a person’s emotional awareness changed in ASC?
Their emotional responses tend to be inappropriate. And their emotions are heightened or dulled. E.g. hallucinatory drugs vs. anaesthetic.
What is a person’s self-control in NWC?
Has awareness of self and the conscious ability to take control of behaviour
What is a person’s self-control in ASC?
It becomes compromised.
How does time orientation function in NWC?
The person has a clear sense of time, e.g. the passage of time, including past, present and future.
How is time orientation affected in ASC?
The person has an distorted sense of time, e.g. it can appear that time has sped up or slowed down.
What is daydreaming?
A shift in awareness from external events to internal thoughts. Occurs as a result of a lack of external stimuli. Usually where we are most creative.
What is meditation?
A purposefully induced ASC where an individual is highly focused on an internal thought.
What is an alcohol-induced state?
A purposefully induced ASC where a substance depresses the brain and nervous system.
What is selective attention?
When a person chooses to focus on certain stimuli and ignore others, at a detrimental effect.
What is focused attention?
When a person chooses to focus on certain stimuli and ignore others.
What is divided attention?
When a person can do two tasks at once. (Can’t do two controlled processes, but can do two automatic processes or one controlled and one automatic)
What is a controlled process?
It is something which requires conscious awareness, a person’s active attention or mental effort. E.g. learning to drive.
