States of Consciousness Flashcards
Although consciousness isn’t easy to define, what is one way to explain it?
Our awareness of our environment
Explain what an altered state of consciousness is?
A variation from our normal waking state (eg. on drugs)
What are the three levels the psychodynamic view distinguishes?
Conscious (aware of our actions), Preconscious(unaware but we can recall), Unconscious (unaware but influence our behaviour)
What is subliminal perception?
Something that is below our threshold to be considered in our consciousness
Describe controlled processing vs automatic processing
Controlled processing takes more effort and is the effortful use of attention is more flexible for tasks while automatic processing takes no effort and is more simple but less flexible for tasks.
Define divided attention
The simultaneous processing of info from multiple sources, often leads to lack of concentration for one task at hand (eg. multitasking)
Describe the modular mind view
Our consciousness consists of the interactions of multiple outputs from modules.
What is visual agnoisa?
An inability to attach meaning to what you see.
What is simultagnosia?
An inability to focus on multiple things.
Describe Circadian Rhythm
Daily cycles associated with various characteristics and physiological changes (eg. feeling less tired after you wake up over time)
What is the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei and where is it located?
It regulates circadian rhythm and is located in the hypothalamus and is connected to the uses which uses light cues to adjust your daily cylce.
What is the pineal gland?
A gland that secretes melatonin which promotes relaxation and sleepiness
When do beta and alpha waves occur?
Beta waves occur when we are awake and alert while alpha waves occur when we are drowsy and near sleep.
Stage one of sleeping
Slow waves, may experience body jerks
Stage two of sleeping
Breathing and heart rate slowed, sudden jerks of neural activity (neural spindles)
Stage 3/4 of sleeping
Delta waves (shorter waves) take over. Stage three and four together are known as slow wave sleep
REM sleep
Involves eye movement and high arousal, area where most dreaming occurs, as well as sleep paralysis.
Describe a REM rebound
As we experience less sleep, the relative time in REM sleep increases.
Describe the three models that explain why we sleep
The restoration model states that sleep is important for recovering energy. The evolution/circadian model reference sleep as an adaptive mechanism (using it to avoid predators/ store energy). The two factor model draws on both models
Describe insomnia
An inability to fall asleep or stay in sleep
What stages does sleep walking occur?
Stage 3/4
What is REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder?
When dreamers act out in their sleep and hurt others or themselves due to a lack of sleep paralysis.
What is the difference between nightmares and night terrors?
Nightmares are more complex and illustrate a story while night terrors only focus on one action.
How is our sleep affected as we age?
We have less REM sleep and sleep less in general
When is dreaming more likely?
Closer to morning, which is when our brain is more active because of our circadian rhythm
Describe the psychoanalytical theory
Dreams are a source of wish fulfillment and are split into manifest content (what’s happening in the dream) and latent content (what your mind is trying to tell you ie. the deeper meaning)
Describe activation synthesis theory
Dreams are a by product of what is happening in the real world.
How does the problem solving dream model explain why we dream?
Dreams are an attempt to work through inner conflicts.
How does cognitive-process dream theories explain why we dream?
They suggest that dreams are an extension of our normal waking state
What are psychoactive substances?
Substances that alter the chemistry of the brain by crossing the blood brain barrier
Agonist
Increases activity of neurotransmitter
Antagonist
Decrease activity of neurotransmitter
Opiates
Bind to opioid receptors which bind to endorphins and activate a feeling of reward
Amphetamines
Block reuptake and produce more dopamine and norepinephrine
Antipsychotic
Antagonist which stops release of dopamine
Naloxone
Neutralizes the effects of opioid receptors
Describe tolerance
Gaining a decrease to a response to a drug overtime to a similar dose
What is compensatory response?
Actions our body does to work against drugs
What is withdrawal?
Having strong physiological reactions that are opposite to those associated with a drug
Physiologically addicting vs Psychologically addicting
Physiologically addicting can cause withdrawal while psychologically can’t
What causes weaker compensatory responses and what can this lead to?
A change in environment can cause this and this can lead to an overdose with a dose which you may have had tolerance for in a different environment
