Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology 104 > States of Consciousness > Flashcards

States of Consciousness Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Psychology flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Define

Conciousness

A

The moment-to-moment subjective experience of the world, bodies, and mental sensations
* Subjective
* Dynamic (changes constantly)
* Self-reflective

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How does one measure consiousness?

A
  • Self reports
  • Introspection
  • Behavioural tests (mirror-rouge test)
  • Psychological measures
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Cognitive View of Consiousness

A

Humans are “information processors”
* The”mind” is the computer’s software and the brain is the computer’s hardware
* This is an oversimplification

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Define

Controlled Processing

A

Controlled (effortful) Processing
Mental processing that requires some degree of volitional control and attentiveness

Ex. Doing math problems, studying for an exam

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Define

Automatic Processing

A

Mental activities that occur automatically and require no or minimal conscious control or awareness

Ex. Riding a bike,

Just thinking about a behaviour can be detrimental to its processing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Define

Divided Attention

A

The ability to perform more than one activity at the same time
* Difficult if tasks require similar cognitive resources
* Believed to be made possible by automatic processing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Define

Circadian Rhythm

A

Cyclical changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour basis in many biological processes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Which part of the brain regulates the Circadina Rythm

A

Regulated by the Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) (the clock of the brain)
* Pineal gland releases melatonin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How much sleep do we really need?

A

7-10 hours

Dependant on many factors
* Age
* Health
* Quality of sleep
* Genetics
* Species

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Effects of Sleep Depravation?

A

Difficulties learning
Poor attention
Lethargy
Hallucinations
Poor Health
Weight Gain
Heart Problems
Diabetes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Explain the Case Study

Randy Gardener

A

Longest time someone stayed awake
Randy Gardener
16 years old
Did it as a science fair project
Effect of sleep deprivation on consciousness
No stimulants to stay awake

2 days led to big side effects
Hard to speech
Hard to identify objects

Day 3
Really emotional
Strong mood swings
Day 4
All senses significantly impaired
Basketball skills improved?
Day 11
Expressionless appearance
Mental abilities severely impaired

He was fine after 14 hours of sleep

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How does Sleep help you?

A

Sleep combates the buildup of adenosine in the brain

Sleep helps control the glymphatic system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How many stages of sleep are there?

A

5

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Stage 1

Sleep

A
  • Theta waves (4-7 waves per second)
  • Myoclonic jerks (the sudden muscle contractions when youre trying to sleep)
  • Hypnagogic imagery (bizzare, random dreamlike images)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Stage 2

Sleep

A

Sleep Spindles
* Short burst of neural activity

K-complexes
* A large waveform that occurs intermittently
* Appear every one to two minutes
* Only occur when one is sleeping

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Stage 3 and 4

Sleep

A
  • Delta waves (1-2 waves per second)
  • Stage three less than 50% are delta
  • Stage 4 more than 50% are delta
  • “Deep Sleep
  • Required for feeling well rested
  • Time spent in this declines with age
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Stage 5

Sleep

A

REM

  • Rapid eye movement
  • The brain is most active here
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Is there only one cycle of the sleep cycle overnigt?

A

NOPE

You do it multiple times

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Why do we sleep

A

We’re not quite sure, but the main theories are:
* Energy conservation
* Adaptive for avoiding predation
* Restorative (gives the body time to heal)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Insomnia

A

Difficulty falling and staying asleep
* Regularly taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep
* Waking too early in the morning
* Waking up during the night and trouble returning to sleep
* Factors such as age, drug use and exercise, mental status and bedtime routines help contribute

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Treatment for Insomnia

A
  • Make a consistent sleep wake schedule
  • GO TO BED ONLY IF YOU’RE TIRED
  • Exercise regularly
  • Avoid drugs like caffeine and alcohol
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Narcolepsy

A

An irregular control of sleep wake cycles

Symptoms
* Sleep attacks (often happens during times of rest)
* Cataplexy
* * About 70% of narcoleptic patients
* * Loss of voluntary control of muscles (has a range of severity)
* Hypnagogic (sleep onset) and Hypnopompic (sleep offset) hallucinations
* * The individual is not aware that they’re dreaming
* * Often not pleasant
* Sleep paralysis
* Disturbed nighttime sleep
* * They often fall asleep very fast and enter REM sleep, then follow regular sleep patterns

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Possible causes of Narcolepsy?

A

Genetic and environmental causes are at play
Identical twins only have a 20% chance of both having narcolepsy if one has one

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Treatments for Narcolepsy?

A

Pharmacological stimulants
Behavioural strategies

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Sleep Apnea

A

Disorder caused by a blockage of the airway during sleep, resulting in daytime fatigue
* Irritability
* Similar to Insomnia, but people aren’t aware it’s happening
* Many people have this 2-4% of the population

Creates health problems
Night sweats
* Weight gain
* Hearing loss
* Irregular heartbeat

Treatment
* Weight loss
* CPAP air mask

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Night Terrors

A

Sudden waking episodes characterised by screaming, perspring, and confusion followed by a return to deep sleep
* You can’t wake people up from this
* Common in children
* Occurs in stages 3 and 4 of sleep
* Not associated with nightmares
* Harmless

Treatment
* Getting older

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Sleep Walking

A

“Somnambulism”
* Walking while fully asleep
* Walking while totally asleep
* Occurs during deep sleep stages
* Usually harmless
* Common in children
* Not acting out dreams
* No harm in waking up a sleepwalker

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Freud’s Dream Theory

A
  • While dreaming, you get “wish-fulfilment”
  • How we wish things could be
  • Prevents our primal urges to bubble out too much (like a pressure valve)

Urges and desires are expressed symbolically
Manifest Content: the raw facts and details about the dream
Latent Content: the underlying meaning about details within the dream

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Activation Synthesis Theory

A

Theory that dreams reflect inputs from brain activation originating in the pons, which cortical regions of the brain then attempt to weave into story
* REM is induced by increased Acetylcholine in the Pons and reductions in Serotonin and norepinephrine
* Your brain is used to sensory input and they’re trying to interpret the information they have

30
Q

Out of Body experiences (OBE)

A

The sensation of our consciousness leaving our body
* Approx 10% of the general population experience this

People with this often report other strange experiences as well (hallucinations, perceptual distortions, lucid dreams)

OBE’s often occur in conjunction with near-death experiences
* People who thought they were going to die

Can be induced
The big spinny thing they use to train fighter pilots

The “god helmet”
Created to combat the claim that paranormal encounters exist
Alleged to induce a variety of experiences
Disrupts the brain’s wavelength?
Suffers from replication attempts
No attained effect if the participant and researcher don’t know about the waves

People have actually tried to measure whether someone was left their body
Most of these are retrospective accounts (not very accurate)
None of these cases have had good results

31
Q

Deja Vu

A

Feeling of reliving an experience that is new
Lasts 10-30 seconds

Possible causes
* Excess levels of dopamine in temporal lobe
* People who have small seizures in their temporal lobe often repost deja vu before hand
* Resemblance of past events poorly remembered

32
Q

Hypnosis

A

Set of techniques that provides people with suggestions for alterations in their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

People are chosen to be “hypnotised” on the basis of their suggestibility
* They are preselected ahead of the performance
* People on stage often feel compelled to do things because of peer pressure
* They are not “hypnotised” to be suggestible

33
Q

Regression Therapy

A

People are hypnotised to remember events from childhood (where their psych problems originated)

Problems:
* Reports of age-regressed individuals often cannot be corroborated by individuals present at the time
* Poggendorff Illusion (used to assess age)
* EEG responses

34
Q

Problems with Past Life Therapy

A

Claims of regressed individuals often prove false when fact-checked
Ability to be regressed to a past life is dependant on a belief in reincarnation

35
Q

Psychoactive Drugs

A

Substance that contains chemicals similar to those found naturally in the brain that alter consciousness by changing chemical processes in the neurons
* Alter how we think, feel, or act

Effects depend on:
* Dose
* Type

You need to do placebo studies to measure the actual effect of the drug

36
Q

What are the types of psychactive drugs?

A

Depressants - Decreased activity of CNS
Stimulants - Increased activity of CNS
Opiates - Sense of euphoria, decreased pain
Psychedelics (Hallucinogens) - Altered perception, mood, and thoughts

37
Q

Phenomenology

A

The study of how things seem to the consious person

38
Q

The Problem of other minds

A

The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consiouseness of others

39
Q

What are the four basic properties of consiousness?

A

Intentionality - It’s always about something

Unity - The ability to integrate information from all the senses into one coherent whole

Selectivity - Being able to include some things and not others, filtering information

Transience - The tendancy to change

40
Q

The Cocktail Party Phenomenon

A

People tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby

41
Q

Minimal consiousness

A

a low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsivness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behaviour

42
Q

Full consiousness

A

You know and are able to report your mental state

43
Q

Self-Consiousness

A

A distinct level of consiousness in which the person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object

44
Q

Coma vs Vegetative State vs Minimally Consious

A

Coma - Appear deeply asleep, do not respond to stimuli, complete unawareness

Vegetative State - Alternate beween eyes open and eyes closed state, may take actions (grunts, smiles, etc.) but none of them are produced reliably inresponse to external stimuli, on evidence of being aware of surroundings

Minimally Consious - Can respond reliably to external stimuli

45
Q

Locked-in Syndrome

A

Having full awareness, but unable to express it (unable to move voluntary muscles)

46
Q

Mental Control

A

The attempt to change the consious state of the mind
* Includes thought suppression
* This often causes the opposite of the intended effect (rebound effect of thought suppression)

47
Q

The theory of ironic processes of mental control

A

ironic errors occur because the mental process that monitors errors can itelf produce them

48
Q

Cognitive unconsiousness

A

All the mental processes that give rise to a person’s thought, choices, emotions, and behaviour even though they are not experienced by the person

49
Q

Dual Process Theory

Psychology

A

We have two different systems in our brains for processing information: fast (automatic, system 1), and slow (controlled, system 2)

50
Q

Which wavelength is higher frequency? Alpha or Beta

Sleep

A

Beta waves are higher frequency, associated with alertness

Alpha waves are lower frequency, associated with relaxation

BONUS: Theta waves are lower frequncy than alpha waves, occur in 1st stage of sleep, 2nd stage has lower frequncy sleep spindles & K complexes, Stage 3 and 4 have even lower frequency delta waves, REM sleep has random waves

51
Q

What are the five major characteristics that distinguish dream consiousness from the waking state?

A
  1. Intense emotion
  2. Thought is illogical (Time and locations are constructs that no longer apply)
  3. Sensation is fully formed and meaningful
  4. Uncritical acceptance (That dinosaur definatly belongs here)
  5. We have difficulty remembering a dream after its over
52
Q

Threat simulation theory of dreams

A

The theory that the purpose of dreams is to simulate threataning situations to practice escaping them

53
Q

Drug Tolerance

A

The tendancy for larger drug doses to be required over time to acheive the same effect

54
Q

Physical Dependance

Drugs

A

The pain, convulsions, hallucinations, or other inplesant symptoms that accompany withdrawl from drug use
* Having physical dependance on drugs mans that you ave to continue to use the drug to avoid becoming physically ill

55
Q

Psychological Dependance

Drugs

A

Strong desire to return to the drug, even when the physical withdrawl symptoms are gone

56
Q

Expectanccy Theory vs Alcohol Myopia Theory

A

Expectancy Theory - Alcohol effects can be produced by people’s expectations of how alcohol will influence them in particular situations

Alcohol Myopia - A condition that results when alcohol hampers attention, leading people to respond in simple ways to complex situations

57
Q

How must psychoactive drugs enter the brain

A

Must enter via the bloodstream

58
Q

Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

A

The user has significant and recurring impairments in their life as a result of the drug
* Note: This is simplified

59
Q

Drug Tolerance

A

Reduction in the effect of a drug as a result of repeated use, requiring users to consume greater quantities to achieve the same effect
* You body will learn to compensate for the presence of drugs in the body, lessening their effect
* Take away the drug and the compensatory response will still exist (withdrawal)

60
Q

Drug Withdrawl

A

Unpleasant effect of reducing or stopping consumption of a drug that users had consumed habitually

61
Q

Depressants

Drug

A

Drugs that decrease nervous system activity

Ie. Alcohol, Barbiturates, and Tranquilizers

62
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Alcohol

A

Depressant

  • Increases GABA
  • Decreases Glutamate
  • At low doses inhibitory control centres in the cortex are “depressed”
    • Creates a release of inhibitions
    • “Upper” phase of drinking
  • At higher doses other regions are “depressed”
    • Loss of motor control
    • Impaired judgement (alcohol myopia)
      * A “short-sightedness in thinking caused by a inability to pay to as much attention as a sober person
  • “Downer” phase of drinking
    • This causes people to try to drink more to bring back the high
63
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Barbiturates and Tranquillisers

A

Depresants
Sleeping pills and sedatives

  • Increase GABA activity
  • Addictive
  • High does can lead to depressing, a loss of motor coordination, and memory impairments
  • Notoriously overprescribed, especially to 1800s housewives
  • Withdrawal symptoms are bad
    * Insomnia and anxiety
64
Q

Stimulants

Drugs

A

Drugs that cause an increase in nervous activity

Ex. Caffeine, amphetamines, methamphetamine, MDMA (estasy), Cocaine

65
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Amphetamines

A

Stimulant

  • Reduce sleep, fatigue, appetite, and depression
  • Increase dopamine and norepinephrine
  • Injections can lead to massive spikes in blood pressure
  • Can cause strokes and brain damage
  • Amphetamine Psychosis
    • Schizophrenia-like hallucinations that occur when the brains dopamine activity is artificially increased far beyond normal levels
66
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Methamphetamine (Meth)

A

Stimulant
* A type of amphetamine

Uses and Effects:
* Inhaled via smoking
* More potent than average amphetamine
* Higher risk of OD and dependance
* Ingredients to make it are accessible
* Can cause aggression, paranoia, acne, “meth moulth”

67
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

MDMA (Estacy)

A

Stimulant

Induces release of epinephrine and its reuptake
* Causes feelings of euphoria

68
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Cocaine

A

Stimulant
* Grows from a south american plant (it’s a shrub)
* Common “curative” in the 1800s
* Can be injected, snorted, or inhaled (smoked)

Effects:
* Has analgesic properties
* Creates excitements and euphoria
* Blocks reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine
* Mild withdrawal symptoms with strong cravings for the frup
* Restlessness
* Anhedonia

Effects at High doses:
* Hallucinations
* Delusions

69
Q

Opiates (narcotics)

A

Bind to opioid/endorphin receptors and produce analgesic and euphoric effects
* Derived from opium poppy
* Can lead to increased levels of dopamine leading to euphoria
* Many ways to administer

Examples
* Morphine
* Codeine
* Heroin (like x2 more effective than morphine and very addictive) (watch Trainspotting?)
* Fentanyl (more powerful than Oxy-Contin)
* Oxy-Contin

70
Q

Hallucinogens/Psychedelics

A

Drugs that cause dramatic alterations of perception, mood, and thought
* Can enhance, distort, and intensify sensory experience
* Effects are often unpredictable leading to paranoia, violence, and anxiety in some people

71
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

Cannabis

A

Hallucinogen (psychedelic)
* Comes from the leaves of a plant
* Primary ingredient THC

Effects:
* Stimulates cannabinoid receptors
* “Slows time”, the “giggles”
* Short effect
* Negative effects on attention and memory

Myths:
* Acts as a “gateway drug”
* Causes amotivational syndrome (not caring about things)

72
Q

Explain the type of drug and effects

LSD

A

Hallucinogen (psychodelic)

Effects:
* Time “slows down”
* Kaleidoscopic vision
* Affects dopamine and serotonin receptors (5HG2A)
* Very few people have died from LSD overdoses

Note: project MK-Ultra was the US government giving peolpe this drug without consent

Psychology 104 (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions