Nature of consciousness Flashcards
What is consciousness
Refers to our awareness of objects and events in our external world, as well as our sensations, thoughts, feelings and awareness of our own existence at any given time.
Why is consciousness said to a ‘psychological construct’
it is believed to exist but we are unable physically measure it so descriptions are constructed to explain it. (unable to see, touch or measure in any way)
Consciousness continuum (these states can be naturally occurring or induced) - - - - - - - -
- Focused attention
- Normal waking state
- Day-dreaming
- Meditative state
- Hypnotized
- Asleep
- Anesthetised
- Coma
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
-What does it measure?
-Detects, amplifies, and records electrical activity in the brain
Subjective reporting of consciousness
Sleep diaries
It is a measurement, based on personal judgments that may be difficult to communicate and compare with
others.
William James found that….
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- Continuous (thoughts arent isolated and can flow easily from topics)
- Ever-changing (constantly change as we become aware of new info)
- Personal experiences (relies on own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions)
- Selective (can usually choose to focus/ignore things)
- Active (allows us to function in our world)
Define Normal walking consciousness
refers to the states of consciousness associated with being awake and aware of objects and events in the external world, and of one’s sensations, mental experiences and own existence.
Define Altered state of consciousness
is used to describe any state of consciousness that is distinctly different from normal waking consciousness in terms of level of awareness and experience. (can be naturally occurring or induced)
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
-Differences between normal and altered states of consciousness
-NSW;When we are awake and alert, we exhibit fast
(high-frequency) and small (low- amplitude)
brainwaves, known as beta waves. When we
are awake but relaxed, we tend to exhibit
alpha waves.
-ASC; In deep NREM sleep, we exhibit slow (low-
frequency) and big (high-amplitude)
brainwaves, known as delta waves. During
stage 2 of NREM we experience medium-
frequency theta waves.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
-Uses and limitations
-Many tiny electrodes are placed on the skull in a
symmetrical pattern. These electrodes measure
the very small voltages created by the
synchronized activity of large numbers of neurons
in the cerebral cortex. Translates neuron activity into
brain ways, the brain waves that are identified can
allow us to see what stage of sleep ma person is
experiencing
-hard to figure out where in the brain the electrical
activity is coming from.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electromyograph (EMG)
-What does it measure?
A device that detects, amplifies and
records the electrical activity of muscles.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electromyograph (EMG)
-Uses and limitations👨🏻🦳
- Muscle movement and tension is a physiological response that is used to understand how active a person’s muscles are in different stages of sleep (if a person is in REM o NREM sleep or if they are asleep at all)
- Technical limitations arise in the setting of obesity and advanced age, which can limit the diagnostic certainty in some clinical situations.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electromyograph (EMG)
-Differences between normal and altered states of consciousness
-NWS; When someone is awake, activity on the EMG recordings varies between moderate and high, depending on the activity at the time.
ASC; During sleep, the activity is moderate to low during NREM sleep (with some mild spasms associated with light sleep) and virtually non-existent during REM sleep. -relaxed muscle tone
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electro-oculograph
What does it measure?
A device that detects, amplifies and records electrical activity in the muscles that allow the eye to move. It measures changes in voltage as the eyes move and rotate in their sockets.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electro-oculograph
-Differences between normal and altered states of consciousness
ASC; The EOG is particularly useful to determine whether a person is in REM or NREM sleep. -Most rapid during dreaming (REM)
NWC; When we are awake, our eyes may move rapidly
depending on what we are doing visually at the time.
Objective reporting of consciousness
Electro-oculograph
-Uses and limitations
- attaching electrodes to area of face surrounding eyes
- inability to provide consistently reliable vertical eye-movement recording.
Objective reporting of consciousness
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- (elaborate),,_
-Heart rate
-Body temp
-Galvanic skin response
>The galvanic skin response (GSR) is a physiological response that indicates
the change in the resistance of the skin to an electrical current.
>To measure the GSR, electrodes are usually attached to the sides of a
finger or palm (hair free)
>Changes in GSR are closely associated with emotional experiences.
Measurement of speed (milliseconds)
The time taken between the presentation of the stimulus and the individuals response to it (reaction time)
Measurement of accuracy
Involves recording the number of correct and incorrect responses made by the individual on a task
What measures of speed and accuracy used for ?
The reaction time (speed) or number of error (accuracy) can then be compared to someone who complete the task in an altered state.
Subjective reporting of consciousness
Sleep diaries limitation
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Will the participant remember to complete the report? If the participant is carrying out a self-report sleep
study over a week, it is likely that they will have to find ways to remind themselves to complete it.
> Are participants able to describe the experience accurately? For many of us, accurately describing our
dreams or what we are thinking and feeling can be difficult.
> Are participants telling the truth? Sharing your personal and private thoughts or dreams can be
challenging.
> Can participants remember? This is unlikely if they were in an altered state of consciousness, such as
sleep. Dreams are usually quickly forgotten, if remembered at all.
> Have participants unintentionally left out key information? Sometimes we just forget.
> Can the researcher interpret the descriptions accurately and reliably? It can be very difficult to interpret
self-reports objectively.
Subjective reporting of consciousness
Video monitoring
Video monitoring can provide an insight into how we behave in different states of consciousness. Researchers can observe participants when they are awake, including differences between their levels of alertness.
Subjective reporting of consciousness
Video monitoring limitations
Like other behavioural observations, video monitoring cannot tell us what is going on inside the body or what the participant is experiencing – it relies on the researcher to interpret the behaviour.
Effect of one night of sleep deprivation
- Person’s ability to function or complete tasks to a safe and acceptable standard.
- Mood and emotional state can contribute to this decline in performance
Effect of BAC of 0.05 (sleep deprived-resemble 0.05) and 0.10 on cognition, concentration and mood
In conditions (alcohol consumption and sleep deprived) particles showed similar decline in function in relation to their performance on cognitive task that assessed hand-eye coordination,concentration, selective attention, and decision making.
State of consciousness
Levels of awareness
Awareness relates to how conscious or aware you of internal and/or external events.
State of consciousness
Level of awareness
- NWC
- ASC
- A person is generally awake and quite aware of internal and external events
- Level of awareness often decreased
State of consciousness
Content limitation
This refers to the extent to which a person controls the kind of content that enters their consciousness and thus what they attend (pay attention to)
State of consciousness
Content limitation
- NWC
- ASC
-Content is more limited (restricted)- since we can control what we focus on, controlled and greater level of selective processing.
State of consciousness
Controlled and automatic processes
-require active concentration on the task at hand. Only one controlled process can be undertaken at a time.
-require little mental effort. These processes can be
performed with divided attention.
State of consciousness
Controlled and automatic processes
- NWC
- ASC
- People can usually perform controlled and automatic processes (divided attention and selective attention to complete task)
- Lower ability to performed controlled and automatic processes (particularly in terms tasks that involve divided attention and a decline in the ability to display selective attention to complete tasks)
State of consciousness
Perpetual and cognitive distortion
- Process of organizing sensory input, giving it meaning
- Related to mental activities ie. problem solving, reasoning etc
State of consciousness
Perpetual and cognitive distortion
- NWC
- ASC
- Our perceptions (sight, sound, pain) are generally realistic and normal. Our thought process seems rational and logical and we can effectively store, retrieve info from memory.
- May be altered, this causes there to be disruptions in efficient storage and retrieval of information (unable to remember). Thought process is more illogical and irrational (drugs-enhance external experiences, medication can dull external experiences)
States of consciousness
Emotional awareness
Refers to how conscious we are about our emotions and the ways in which we express those emotions.
States of consciousness
Emotional awareness
- NWC
- ASC
- Our level of emotional awareness is quite high and controlled, we can control the emotions we express.
- Our emotional awareness can be quite low and our ability to control our emotions are limited, resulting in uncharacteristic, unpredictable responses.
States of consciousness
Self-control
Our ability to maintain control of ourselves through monitoring and managing behavior.
States of consciousness
Self-control
- NWC
- ASC
-Greater level of self control over our
actions and movement.
-There is usually less control over ones
actions and movements,
States of consciousness
Time orientation
Our ability to correctly perceive the speed at which time passes
States of consciousness
Time orientation
- NWC
- ASC
- have a clear sense of time, we understand the passage of time and can recognize that their is a past, present and future
- there is often distorted sense of time where time may appear to speed up or slow down
