States of Consciousness Flashcards
Priming
Research participants respond more quickly and/or accurately to questions they have seen before, even if they do not remember seeing them
Blind sight
People who report being blind can nonetheless accurately describe the path of a moving object or accurately grasp objects they say they cannot see
Consciousness
Consists of different well-established layers or levels: conscious level, nonconscious level, preconscious level, subconscious level, unconscious level
Psychoactive drugs
Chemicals that change the chemistry of the brain (and the rest of the body) and induce an altered state of consciousness
Agonists
Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters
Antagonists
Drugs that block neurotransmitters
Reuptake
Prevents hormones from being reabsorbed back into the neuron
Tolerance
A physiological change that produces a need for more of the same drug in order to achieve the same effect
Withdrawal
Symptoms brought about by tolerance in need for more of a drug
Caffeine
Stimulant
Cocaine
Stimulant
Stimulants
Speed up body processes, including autonomic nervous system functions such as heart and respiration rates. This dramatic increase is accompanied by a sense of euphoria
Alcohol
Depressant that is the most commonly used; A euphoria can accompany the depressing effects of depressants as do tolerance and withdrawal system
Depressants
Slow down the same body systems that stimulants speed up
Hallucinogens
Or psychedelics, cause changes in perceptions of reality, including sensory hallucinations, include LSD, peyote, psilocybin, mushrooms, and marijuana
Marijuana
A hallucinogen
Opiates
Relieve pain and elevate mood
Heroin
An opiate
Circadian rhythm
The body’s internal clock that regulates sleep, wake, and other bodily functions over a 24-hour cycle
Restoration of resources
Sleep is necessary because our body has to rebuild various resources it used while we were awake and active
REM-rapid eye movement
Our brain produces a period of intense activity, our eyes dart back and forth, and many of our muscles may twitch repeatedly as we reach NREM stage 1
Paradoxical sleep
Stage of REM sleep is sometimes called this because our brain waves appear as active and intense as they do when we are awake
REM rebound
Occurs when individuals are deprived of REM sleep and they experience more and longer periods of REM the next time they are allowed to sleep normally
Insomnia
The most common sleep disorder, affecting up to 10% of the population; A person with this disorder has a persistent problem getting to sleep or staying at sleep at night
Narcolepsy
Rare sleep disorder, affecting 0.001% of the population; A person with this disorder suffers from periods of intense sleepiness and may fall asleep at unpredictable and inappropriate times
Sleep apnea
Common sleep disorder; Causes a person to stop breathing for short periods of time during the night
Somnambulism
Or sleepwalking, might be related to night terrors
Activation-synthesis theory
This theory of dreaming looks at dreams first biological phenomena in which dreams are no more than the brain’s interpretations of what is happening physiologically during REM sleep
Consolidation theory
This theory of dreaming looks at dreams purpose might be to help us encode events and information in our short-term memory into our long-term memory
