Unit 3: Consciousness And The Two-Track Mind

Question 1

Consciousness

Answer 1

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Question 2

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 2

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language)

Question 3

Dual processing

Answer 3

The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

Question 4

Selective attention

Answer 4

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Question 5

Inattentional blindness

Answer 5

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed else where

Question 6

Change blindness

Answer 6

Failing to notice changes in the environment

Question 7

Circadian rhythm

Answer 7

The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (ex. of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24 hour cycle

Question 8

REM sleep

Answer 8

Rapid 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

Question 9

Alpha waves

Answer 9

The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

Question 10

Sleep

Answer 10

Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness-as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia or hibernation

Question 11

Hallucinations

Answer 11

False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus

Question 12

Delta waves

Answer 12

The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

Question 13

Insomnia

Answer 13

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

Question 14

Narcolepsy

Answer 14

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times

Question 15

Sleep apnea

Answer 15

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings

Question 16

Night terrors

Answer 16

A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered

Question 17

Dream

Answer 17

A sequence of images, emotions and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinued, and incongruities, and for the dreamer’s delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it

Question 18

Manifest content

Answer 18

According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent of hidden content)

Question 19

Latent content

Answer 19

According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream(as distinct from its manifest content)

Question 20

REM rebound

Answer 20

The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeating awakenings during REM sleep)

Question 21

Hypnosis

Answer 21

A social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts or behaviors will spontaneously occur

Question 22

Posthypnotic suggestion

Answer 22

A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Question 23

Dissociation

Answer 23

A split in consciousness which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

Question 24

Psychoactive drug

Answer 24

A chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods

Question 25

Tolerance

Answer 25

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same does of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effects

Question 26

Withdrawal

Answer 26

The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

Question 27

Physical dependence

Answer 27

A physiological need for a drug, mated by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued

Question 28

Psychological dependence

Answer 28

A psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions

Question 29

Addiction

Answer 29

Compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences

Question 30

Depressants

Answer 30

Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Question 31

Barbiturates

Answer 31

Drives that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement

Question 32

Opiates

Answer 32

Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening plain and anxiety

Question 33

Stimulants

Answer 33

Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions

Question 34

Amphetamines

Answer 34

Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes

Question 35

Methamphetamine

Answer 35

A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over times, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels

Question 36

Ecstasy (MDMA)

Answer 36

A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition

Question 37

Hallucinogens

Answer 37

Psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drugs such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input

Question 38

LSD

Answer 38

A powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide)

Question 39

THC

Answer 39

The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of reflects, including mild hallucinations

Question 40

Near death experiences

Answer 40

An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced hallucinations