U4AOS1 - Consciousness And Sleep Flashcards
conciousness
can be defined as the awareness of our own thoughts, feelings, perceptions (internal) and our surroundings (external) at any given moment
- creates our reality (what we believe to be real and happening in the moment)
- a sense of self is developed through being aware of what we are doing, why we do it and the awareness that others are probably observing, evaluating and reacting to it
- can be thought of as operating on a continuum
psychological constructs
- psychological constructs can be used to understand or explain things that we believe to exist but we cannot see, touch or measure in any way
- can be difficult to measure as it is private and personal
stream of conciousness
William James coined the phrase ‘stream of consciousness’ as he viewed consciousness as an ever changing series of thoughts that can shift smoothly and effortlessly from one moment to the next
- our consciousness is every changing, continual, personal, selective and active
states of conciousness
normal waking consciousness
altered states of conciousness
normal waking conciousness
- state is relatively organised, meaningful and clear
- consciousness when you are awake, aware of your thoughts, feelings and environment
- creates your reality and provides a baseline to judge altered states of consciousness
altered states of conciousness
- defined as any state of consciousness that deviates from normal waking consciousness in terms of marked differences in levels of awareness, perceptions, memories, thinking, behaviours, sense of time, place and self control
- can be culturally significant and can happen through religious experiences
- an altered state of consciousness can be induced by occurring naturally or deliberately
measuring changes in psychological state
level of awareness attention controlled and automatic processes content limitations emotional awareness self-control time orientation perceptual and cognitive distortions
level of awareness
- awareness related to how conscious or aware you are of internal and external events
- a number of levels of awareness exist during normal waking consciousness from having little awareness to being tuned into specific events
- awareness increases or decreases compared to normal waking consciousness
attention
attention relates to information that you are actively processing either consciously or automatically
- a range of stimuli can affect attention
types of attention:
selective attention
selective inattention
divided attention
stimuli types
novel stimuli (new or unusual) changes in stimulation (volume of music increasing rapidly) something personally meaningful
selective attention
limitations placed on how much we can focus at any given moment on one stimulus or event to the exclusion of others
selective inattention
refers to the way we attend to or don’t attend to information that may be relevant but emotionally upsetting
divided attention
the capacity to attend to and perform two or more activities at the time
controlled processes
require the person to be aware of what they are going and concentrate on how to perform the task
- require full conscious awareness
- requires conscious awareness
- usually complex or novel tasks
automatic processes
require little awareness or mental effort or conscious awareness to be performed well and generally don’t interfere with the other processes
- requires little awareness
- little attention or natural effort
- simple or mastered tasks
content limitations - normal waking conciousness
- in nwc. we mainly control what we focus our attention on and our thoughts tend to be logical and organised
- the content of nwc. is more limited
content limitations - altered states of conciousness
- during altered states of consciousness our ability to pay attention to certain tasks can be increased or decreased compared to nwc.
- when in a dream state our mental defences are lowered and the content may be deeper and broader
- the content in altered states of consciousness tends to be disorganised, bizarre and unusual
perceptual and cognitive distortions
perception
cognition
perception
the process of organising sensory input and giving it meaning
- in normal waking consciousness our perceptions are clear and rational
- in an altered state of conscious perception our sensory input is quite different
cognition
a broad term that relates to mental activities such as thinking, problem solving, analysis and recording
- during nwc. we have a sense of reality
- our thoughts are usually rational, clear and meaningful // in nwc. our brain can store information in our memory and retrieve it for thinking
- in altered states of consciousness we may lack logic and problem solving may be impaired, memory of events may be inaccurate and we may not be able to retrieve them in nwc.
emotional awareness
- in nwc. we are generally more aware of our feelings and usually show a range of emotions that are normal for us and appropriate for the situation
- in altered states of consciousness emotions can become heightened, dulled or inappropriate for the event
self control
- consciousness allows us to direct our thinking and monitor our impulses and behaviours
- maintained in normal waking consciousness and not when in altered states of consciousness / the exception in some people gain greater self control in certain altered states of consciousness
time orientation
- it is perceived we ‘move’ in the normal waking consciousness
- in altered states of consciousness it moves at different speeds (slower and faster)
measuring physiological responses
- these are the most reliable and east subjective means of indicating different states of consciousness during sleep and wakefulness
- there are weaknesses with this method alone however:
> it is limited in its ability to identify the participants private and personal conscious experience - many physiological measures provide psychologists with information about how bodily functions change during nwc. altered states of consciousness
measuring physiological responses examples
- measures include; eye muscle movement, body muscle movement, heart rate, body temperature, electrical conductivity of the skin, blood pressure and brainwave patterns
electroencephalograph (EEG)
a device that detects, amplifies and record electrical activity in the brain in the form of brainwaves, it monitors the electrical activity of the brain that is detectible on the outside of the skull
- indicate brainwave activity associated with changes to states of consciousness, such as when a person is drowsy or asleep
brainwave patterns
patterns vary in frequency;
- high frequency patterns indicate faster brainwaves demonstrated by more waves per unit of time (usually seconds)
- frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz)
- brainwaves very in amplitude (the height of peaks and troughs of the cured graph that represents brainwave activity)
types of brainwave patterns
gamma beta alpha theta delta
other indicators
k-complex
sleep spindles
sawtooth waves
k-complex
sharp rise and fall in amplitude, lasting two seconds]
- indicative of stage 2 nrem sleep
sleep spindles
periodic bursts of rapid frequency
- indicative of stage 2 nrem sleep
sawtooth waves
fast, random waves slightly bigger than alpha waves
- indicative of dreaming
alertness levels
hyper alert: gamma and beta waves awake and alert: beta waves awake and drowsy: alpha waves focus zone: alpha- theta waves // some gamma waves REM sleep: beta waves stages 1 & 2 NREM sleep: theta sleep stages 3 & 4 NREM sleep: delta waves vegetative state: alpha waves
electro-oculograph
- a device that detects, amplifies and records electrical activity in muscles that allow the eyes to move
- electrodes are attached to the areas on the face around the eyes as they move and rotate in their sockets
- can detect whether someone awake: in REM or NREM sleep
electro-oculograph signals
alert: depends if activity requires eye movement
relaxed: little movement
NREM: none or little
REM: bursts of rapid movement
electromyograph
- detects and amplifies electrical activity of muscles
- electrodes attached directly to skin
- can be useful to detect whether someone is awake or asleep or in REM/NREM sleep
- when someone is awake activity in EMG recordings varies between moderate/high and moderate/low in NREM sleep and virtually non existent in REM sleep
behavioural and cognitive measurements
speed and accuracy on cognitive tests
attention (selective vs. divided)
acquired brain damage
subjective reporting
speed and accuracy on cognitive tests
- measuring the two factors can inform us of characteristics associated with normal waking consciousness and altered states of consciousness
- this is more subjective
attention (selective vs. divided)
- selective attention relates to focusing our attention to the exclusion of other stimuli
- divided attention relates to focusing on multiple stimuli. at one time (this is shown to not be effective)
- we need more attention for controlled processing
acquired brain damage
- has been known to disrupt the way a person attends to the world and this the speed and accuracy of cognitive tests
subjective reporting
self reporting
sleep diaries
video monitoring
self reporting
- statements and answers to questions made by participants concerning their psychological response
- they can be in a form, questionnaire etc.
- psychologists may use sampling techniques where participants are asked to self report conscious experiences at specific times
sleep diaries
- are used when a person is experiencing sleep troubles such as insomnia
- limitations are if the participant tells the truth and can describe the experiences accurately or not
video monitoring
- using an IR camera that operates silently to allow footage to be seen and taped in the dark without disturbing the participant
- often data is recorded along with physiological measurements
video monitoring advantages
- gives insight into observable behaviours within sleep
- can be undertaken in sleep labs or natural settings
- researchers can continuously monitor the behaviour either at the time of collection, at a later stage or both
video monitoring disadvantages
- data is open to interpretation and requires clear definitions for a specific behaviour
- may miss important events if only considering still photos every few seconds
- participants behaviour may be blocked from the camera
drug induced states
psychoactive drugs
depressants
stimulants
psychoactive drugs
chemical substances that affect the nervous system and brain activity
- they cross the blood-brain barrier and affect our brain chemistry usually by modifying it (increasing or decreasing the number of neurotransmitters)
- constant drug use can cause a reliance leading to an increased risk of death and overdoses
types of drugs
depressants (decreasing nervous system activity e.g. alcohol)
stimulants (increase ns. activity e.g. cocaine)
opioids (provide pain relief and cause mood changes e.g. morphine)
hallucinogens (cause hallucinations e.g. psilocybin)
marijuana (produces a euphoric state and impaired judgement and thinking)
depressants
- decrease nervous system activity
- decrease levels of alertness and increase the presence of lower frequency brainwaves such as delta, alpha and theta
> benzos
> alcohol
benzodiazepines / barbiturates
- slow brain functioning down and produce muscle relaxation
- mild doses are relaxing and higher doses can cause sleeping
- they are addictive and tolerance develops
- when combined with alcohol their effects are exaggerated
alcohol
- depressant even though people may have a perception it isn’t
- in low doses alcohol can reduce inhibitions and cause feelings of relaxation and wellbeing
- people who have consumed alcohol may seem more stimulated, active and talkative than usual
- the way it affects people depends on age, gender, height and weight
> caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines