PSYCH CHAP 6

Question 1

activation-synthesis hypothesis

Answer 1

The hypothesis that dreams may be just a byproduct of the sleeping brain’s activities (activation), which are later assembled into a semicoherent narrative (synthesis).

Question 2

alpha rhythm

Answer 2

A pattern of regular pulses, between 8 and 12 per second, visible in the EEG of a person who is relaxed but awake and typically has her eyes closed.

Question 3

beta rhythm

Answer 3

The rhythmic pattern in the brain’s electrical activity often observed when a person is actively thinking about some specific topic.

Question 4

blindsight

Answer 4

The ability of a person with a lesion in the visual cortex to reach toward or correctly “guess” about objects in the visual field even though the person reports seeing nothing.

Question 5

cognitive unconscious

Answer 5

The mental support processes outside our awareness that make our perception, memory, and thinking possible.

Question 6

consciousness

Answer 6

Moment-by-moment awareness of ourselves, our thoughts, and our environment.

Question 7

delta rhythm

Answer 7

The rhythmic pattern in the brain’s electrical activity often observed when a person is in slow-wave sleep.

Question 8

depressants

Answer 8

Drugs that diminish activity levels in the nervous system.

Question 9

drug tolerance

Answer 9

The diminished response to a drug that results from extended use, so that over time the user requires larger doses to experience the drug’s effects.

Question 10

global workspace hypothesis

Answer 10

A hypothesis about the neural basis of consciousness. It proposes that specialized neurons, called workspace neurons, give rise to consciousness by allowing us to link stimuli or ideas in dynamic, coherent representations.

Question 11

hallucinogens

Answer 11

Drugs that powerfully change perception and can trigger sensory experiences in the absence of any inputs.

Question 12

hypnosis

Answer 12

A highly relaxed, suggestible state of mind in which a person is likely to feel that his actions and thoughts are happening to him rather than being produced voluntarily.

Question 13

introspection

Answer 13

The process of “looking within” to observe one’s own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Question 14

mind-body problem

Answer 14

The difficulty in understanding how the mind and body influence each other?so that physical events can cause mental events, and so that mental events can cause physical ones.

Question 15

neural correlates of consciousness

Answer 15

Specific brain states that seem to correspond to the content of someone’s conscious experience.

Question 16

REM sleep

Answer 16

Sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, EEG patterns similar to wakefulness, speeded heart rate and respiration, near-paralysis of skeletal muscles, and highly visual dreams.

Question 17

slow-wave sleep

Answer 17

A term used for both Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep; characterized by slow, rolling eye movements, low cortical arousal, and slowed heart rate and respiration.

Question 18

stimulants

Answer 18

Drugs that have activating or excitatory effects on brain or bodily functions.

Question 19

withdrawal

Answer 19

A consequence of drug dependence that occurs when the drug is withheld, such that the person feels strong drug cravings and psychological and medical distress.