States of consciousness Flashcards
our awareness of ourselves and our environment
Consciousness
Something that is not in our conscious but can be easily pulled into consciousness, such as memories
Preconscious
According to Freud, its a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, according to temporary psychologists it is information processing of which we are unaware
Unconscious
Things happening in your body of which you are not aware, such as hormone secretion
Nonconscious
The periodic physiological fluctuations our bodies go through
Biological Rhythms
Cycles that occur in our bodies on a yearly basis, such as seasonal depression or birds flying south for the winter and bears hibernating
Annual cycles
The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle, such as body temperature or wakefulness
Circadian Rhythm
A pair of grain of rice sized cell clusters in the hypothalamus that helps in waking up a person when it is activated by the light sensitive retinal proteins. It works with the pineal gland
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
A sleep including hormone. The SCN causes the brains pineal gland to decrease its production of melatonin in the morning or to increase it in the evening
Melatonin
A neurotransmitter that causes drowsiness and the slowing of nerve cells. Caffeine is an antagonist that blocks the transmission of this to keep us awake
Adenosine
A periodic natural loss of consciousness. Throughout the night, the body experiences many sleep cycles, each one lasting around 90 minutes
Sleep
Waves of someone who is wide awake
Beta waves
The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed awake state
Alpha waves
clase sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus
Hallucinations
The larger, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep
Delta waves
Tepid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles are relaxed but other body systems are active
REM sleep
Non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep states except for REM sleep
NREM sleep
The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep)
REM rebound
A sleep disorder in which a person has recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
Insomnia
A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. These attacks are usually caused by excitement. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep often at inopportune times
narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings
Sleep apnea
A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, these occur during stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of failing asleep, and are seldom remembered
Night Terrors
A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping persons mind during REM sleep
Dreams
A dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming
Lucid dreams
The remembered story line of a dream
Manifest content
The underlying meaning of a dream
Latent content
A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
Dissociation
A chemical substance that alters a perceptions and moods
Psychoactive drugs
The diminishing effect of a drug after repeated use that requires the user to take larger and larger doeses before experiencing the drugs effect
Tolerance
The discomfort and distress that follow the discontinued use of a drug
Withdrawal
A physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer taken
Physical dependence
A psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions
Psychological dependence
Compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences
Addiction
Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions
Depressants
A major tranquilizer that depresses the activity of the CNS, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement
Barbiturates
A minor/mild depressant that lowers anxiety and reduces stress
Benzodiazepines
Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety
Opiates
Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions
Stimulants
Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels
Methamphetamine
Psychedelic drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input
Hallucinogens
A powerful hallucinogenic drug’ also known as acid
LSD
A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen that produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer term harm to serotonin producing neurons and to mood and cognition
Ecstasy
The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations
THC
An altered stature of consciousness reported after a close brush with death; often similar to drug induced hallucinations
Near death experience
