State of Consciousness Flashcards
what is selective attention?
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
state of consciousness
we are aware of a very limited amount of all that we are capable of experience.
when does inattentional blindness occur?
Occurs when we fail to attend to relevant stimuli in our environment.
what is an example of an Inattentional blindness fatality?
we think that as long as our eyes are open, we are seeing.
Simons and Chabris (1999) recently replicated and extended Neisser’s research
roughly half of observers will fail to detect an ongoing, unusual and unexpected event while engaged in a different task of visual attention.
Inattentional blindness may depend on
the similarity between unexpected and attended objects.
Some psychologists question whether inattentional blindness…
reflects a failure of perception or represents “inattentional amnesia,” which is a limitation of memory.
broad analysis of inattentional blindness
we consciously see far less of our world than we think we do.
Change Blindness
is closely linked with inattentional blindnessRefers to people’s failure to detect change in their visual field, often when it occurs during an eye movement or when their view is momentarily interrupted.
While conscious awareness enables us to exert voluntary control and to communicate our mental states to others…
consciousness is but the tip of the information-processing iceberg.
what are we often unaware of?
We are often unaware of environmental cues that are having a profound effect on our behavior.
Bargh and Chartrand
found that behaviors, prejudices, and feeling are controlled by automatic processes that we are not consciously aware.
The Sleep IQ Test
- During sleep, your brain rests.
- You cannot learn to function normally with one
or two fewer hours of sleep than you need. - Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you
have had enough sleep. - Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannot
satisfy your body’s need for sleep. - Snoring is not harmful as long as it doesn’t
disturb others or wake you up. - Everyone dreams nightly.
- The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.
- Most people don’t know when they are sleepy.
- Raising the volume on your radio will help you
stay awake while driving. - Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or
psychological problems. - The human body never adjusts to night shift
work. - Most sleep disorders go away, even without treatment.
The Circadian Rhythm
The approximately 24-hour biological clock that is influenced by the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
Melatonin
A hormone released by the pineal gland that seems to
play an important role in the synchronization of the sleep-wakefulness cycle.