Unit V - States of Consciousness Flashcards
What is sleep?
A periodic, natural loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation
What is the circadian rhythm?
circa = “about”
diem = “day”
Our bodies roughly
synchronize with the 24-hour cycle of day and night thanks to an internal biological clock
What does the circadian rhythm impact?
Sleep-wake cycles, temperature, hormonal, and digestive cycles
How does the circadian rhythm affect our daily functioning?
Body temperature rises as dawn nears, peaks during the day, dips in the afternoon then drops again in the evening.
Thinking and memory improve as we approach our daily peak in circadian arousal.
Age and experience may alter our circadian rhythm.
How do psychologists research biological rhythms that occur during sleep?
EEG records brain wave activity while sleeping.
Varying wave patterns occur during sleep.
What are alpha waves?
Relatively slow alpha waves of awake but relaxed state
Then you slowly enter sleep
What will be recorded as you move into sleep?
We seem unaware of the moment we fall into sleep, but someone watching our brain waves could tell.
Lower amplitude
What are the two divisions of sleep stages?
NREM sleep
REM sleep
What is NREM sleep?
non-rapid eye
movement sleep; encompasses all
sleep stages except for REM sleep
What is REM sleep?
rapid eye movement
sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams
commonly occur
What is NREM -1 stage sleep?
You may experience fantastic images resembling hallucinations, sensation of falling or floating weightlessly, a leg or arm may jerk
What are hypnagogic sensations?
Occurs during NREM-1 sleep
Imagined sensations that seems very realistic
What is NREM -2 stage sleep?
Relax more deeply
Begin about 20 minutes of NREM-2 sleep
Periodic sleep spindles — bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity, and K-complexes.
Point at which you can considered asleep
What is NREM -3 stage sleep?
Last stage of slow-wave sleep Last about 30 minutes Hard to awake Brain emits large, slow delta waves Causes you to miss loud noises
How do we move through the stages of sleep in a night?
Cycling through sleep stages is like being
on a roller coaster.
REM increases as night progresses
REM sleeps comes directly after…
NREM-2 sleep
How does the stages of sleep progress?
Awake NREM-1 NREM-2 NREM-3 NREM-2 REM NREM-2 NREM-3
What is REM sleep?
rapid eye movement
sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur
Why is REM sleep known as paradoxical sleep?
Muscles are relaxed while other body systems are active
How do researchers study REM?
Using an EEG, researchers were able to see that the sleeper’s eyes moved rapidly from left to right
while emitting rapid, saw-toothed brain waves.
What physiological events occur during REM?
heart rate rises
breathing becomes rapid/irregular
genitals become aroused- erection/vaginal lubrication
muscle paralysis occurs
How does sleep change as we age?
As people age, sleep becomes
more fragile, with awakenings
common among older adults.
How do biology and environment interact in our sleep patterns
Sleep patterns are genetically influenced, but they are also culturally influenced.
In Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the United States, adults average 7 hours of sleep a night on work days, 7-8 hours on other days
Why do American students get less sleep than their Australian counterparts?
earlier school start times
increased extracurricular activities
lack of parent-set (and enforced) bedtimes
What three environmental factors play a role in our biological ability to sleep?
Modern electric lighting
Shift work
Social media diversions
What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm
In response to light, the SCN causes the brain’s pineal gland to…
decrease its production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin in
the morning and to increase it in the evening thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness.
How does the SCN react during the day?
Light striking retina signals SCN to suppress the pineal gland’s production of sleep hormone melatonin
How does the SCN react at night?
At night, the SCN
quiets down, allowing the pineal
gland to release melatonin into the
bloodstream
What are sleep’s functions?
Protection Recuperation Restoration & Rebuilding Feeds creative thinking Support Growth
How does sleep provide protection?
Ancestors better off to sleep in a cave out of harm’s way
Those who didn’t wander around dark cliffs were more likely to have kids
How does sleep provide recuperation?
Sleep helps to restore immune system and repair brain tissue
Resting neurons time to repair while pruning unused connections
How does sleep provide restoration & rebuilding?
Sleep consolidates our memories by replaying recent learning
and strengthening neural connections.
How does sleep feeds creative thinking?
Dreams can inspire noteworthy artistic and scientific achievements.
A complete night’s sleep gives a boost to
our thinking and learning.
How does sleep supports growth?
During slow-wave sleep, which occurs mostly in the first half of a night’s sleep, the pituitary gland releases human growth hormone, which is necessary for muscle development.
Who were two major figures in consciousness research?
William James
Sigmund Freud
What did William James believe about consciousness?
James discussed a continuous “stream of consciousness,” with each moment flowing into
the next.
What did Sigmund Freud believe about consciousness?
Freud believed the
unconscious was a hiding place for our most anxiety-provoking ideas and emotions, and that
uncovering those hidden thoughts could lead to healing.
What is the place of consciousness in psychology’s history?
Early half of 20th century, study of consciousness abandoned for behaviorism
After 1960, study of mental process rebounded due to neuroscience linking brain activity to consciousness
What is consciousness?
Subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment
One part of dual processing of two track minds
What are some aspects about consciousness?
Although much of our information
processing is conscious, more is unconscious and automatic — outside our awareness.
What is hypnosis?
social interaction in
which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject)
that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will
spontaneously occur.
Altered states of consciousness that occur spontaneously
Daydreaming
Drowsiness
Dreaming
Altered states of consciousness that are physiologically induced
Hallucinations
Orgasm
Food or oxygen starvation
Altered states of consciousness that are psychologically induced
Sensory deprivation
Hypnosis
Meditation
Can anyone experience hypnosis?
To some extent, we are all suggestible.
Highly hypnotizable people, about 20% of us, are usually very imaginative.
Children also make good subjects for hypnosis.
Can you recall forgotten events?
NOPE
Life experiences are not stored in memory banks
Memories retrieved through hypnosis combine fact with fiction
What is the post-hypnotic suggestion?
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
How effective are post-hypnotic suggestions?
Helped to alleviate headaches, asthma, and stress-related anxiety and skin disorders
Can I be forced to act against my will?
Hypnosis can suggest to perform an action but can’t force you to do something against your will
What is hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapists try to help patients harness their
own healing powers.
What results has hypnosis brought about?
the average client whose therapy was supplemented with hypnosis showed greater improvement than 70 percent of other therapy patients.
Hypnosis seemed especially helpful for
the treatment of obesity. but not as effective to drug, alcohol, or smoking addiction
Can hypnosis relieve pain?
Yes
When unhypnotized people put their arm in an ice
bath, they felt intense pain within 25 seconds.
When hypnotized people did the same after being given suggestions to feel no pain, they indeed
reported feeling little pain.
Is hypnosis an extension of normal consciousness?
The more the individual being hypnotized likes and trusts the hypnotist, the more they allow that person to direct their attention and fantasies.
Is hypnosis an altered state?
Hilgard believed hypnosis involves not only social influence but also a special
dual-processing state of dissociation as vivid form of everyday mind splits
What is dissociation?
a split between different levels of consciousness.
Give an example of dissociation.
Listening to a lecture or typing the end of a sentence while starting a conversation
How did Ernest Hilgard test hypnosis?
A hypnotized woman exhibited no pain
when her arm was placed in an ice bath.
When the same hypnotized woman was asked to press a key if some part of her felt the pain, she did
How do the two theories explain hypnosis?
Divided consciousness theory claims that hypnosis has caused a split in awareness
social influence theory claim that the subject is so caught up in the hypnotized role that the cold is ignored
The _________approach explains hypnosis.
biopsychosocial
What are some biological influences on hypnosis?
Distinctive brain activity
Unconscious info processing
What are some psychological influences on hypnosis?
focused attention
expectations
heightened suggestibility
dissociation between normal sensations and conscious awareness