CHAPTER 2. Cribb, Gridley, McKersie, Rice & Anin (2004)

STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESSREVISION

CHAPTER 2

Cribb, Gridley, McKersie, Rice & Anin (2004)

consciousness {p96} as a psychological construct informed by the work of

René Descartes {p97} and William James {p100}

‘…the awareness of objects and events in the external world and of our own existence and mental

experiences at any given moment.’ Your consciousness is changing

and shifting depending on your attention.

• Dualism• The mind & the body are 2 different

things.• Mind: non-physical spiritual entity (soul)• Body: physical, fleshy structure (matter)• Mind and body come interact through

the pineal gland.

‘…consciousness is constantly changing.’ It is like a stream, a

continual flow of ‘thoughts, feelings,

perceptions, images, sensations and so on.’

Total Awareness

State of focused attention

Divided attention

Daydreaming state

Meditative state

Hypnotic state

Sleep state

Anaesthetised

State of unconsciousness (coma)

Complete lack of awareness.

States (levels) of consciousness

Normal Waking Consciousness2/3 of day in this state

Altered state of Consciousness

concepts of normal waking consciousness {p105}

and altered states of consciousness {p115},

including daydreaming, meditative and alcohol-induced, in terms of levels of awareness, content limitations, controlled and automatic processes, perceptual and cognitive distortions, emotional

awareness, self-control and time orientation

‘…refers to the states of consciousness associated

with being awake and aware of our thoughts,

memories, feelings and the sensations we are

experiencing from the outside world.’

‘Attention in a concentration of mental

activity that involved focusing on specific

stimuli while ignoring other stimuli.’

Often used as a measure of

awareness to distinguish between

different states

Automatic Processes

Controlled

Processes

Stroop effect

‘…used to describe any state of consciousness that is distinctly different from normal waking

consciousness…’

Distortions of perception & cognition

The Stroop Effect

The Stroop Effect Tendency is to automatically read the word

Reading is an automatic process

Takes much longer to state the colour of the ink as we have to prevent automatic

processing and impose controlled processing

Conclusion – automatic processing takes precedence over controlled processing

Distortions of Perception & Cognition (thought)

• Sensations can become vivid, dulled or not experienced at all

• Can sometimes hallucinate – perceive what does not exist

• Sometimes perception so distorted people cal have out of body experiences, or

lose sense of their identity

• People often experience disorganised thought – illogical, lacking in sequence

• Also difficulty problem solving and remembering

Changes in self control• Our ability to maintain self control

may be raised or lowered during an ASC

• Lowered inhibitions displayed by people affected by alcohol.

• May gain greater self control under hypnosis e.g. conquering addictions.

Changes in emotional awareness• Emotions are experienced differently during an ASC. • Emotions may be heightened or dulled, - happier or sadder. • Being in an ASC may cause emotions to be expressed inappropriately.

Disturbed sense of timeIn an ASC time is experienced at a different speed than in NWC. Eg

sleeping, daydreaming

Cribb, Gridley, McKersie, Rice & Anin (2004)

Frequency

High = faster & more

brain waves

Low = slower & less

brain waves

methods used to study the level of alertness in normal waking consciousness and the stages of

sleep:– measurement of physiological responses including

electroencephalograph (EEG) {p133}, electrooculargraph (EOG) {p135}, heart rate, body

temperature and galvanic skin response (GSR) {p124}

– the use of sleep laboratories, video monitoring and self reports

AmplitudeHigh amplitude; bigger waves with bigger peaks and troughsLow amplitude; smaller peaks and troughs.

Electroencephalograpg (EEG)

‘detects, amplifies and records general patterns of

electrical activity of the brain.’

Galvanic skin response‘…a physiological response that indicates the change in the resistance of the skin to

an electrical current.’

high emotional arousal,

increase in sweating =

increase in electrical

conductivity (decrease in

electrical resistance)

Measures eye movements or eye positions

through activity in eye muscles

Brain wave patterns

Beta:

when the brain’s activity is at it’s highest. High

frequency and low amplitude.

Delta:

slowest brain waves, low frequency,

high amplitude. Deepest state of

sleep.

Theta:

medium frequency some high

amplitude mixed with small

amplitude. Early stages of sleep.

Alpha: high frequency, low amplitude

(slightly larger than beta). Relaxed or meditative state.

PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS

Renaé Descartes’ theory of consciousness as a psychological construct relies on the concept that

a) The mind and body are separate entitiesb) Interactions between brain neurons influence our

consciousnessc) Consciousness is an everchanging stream of ideas

and occurs only in the braind) Consciousness is produced by the soul and is located

in organs such as the liver and heart

QUESTION 1

VCAA Psychology Exam 1, (q1), 2011

Hilary has been knitting for twenty years. She is able to knit quickly and accurately while she watches television. Her granddaughter, who is just learning how to knit, makes many mistakes if she tries to knit and watch television at the same time.

This is becausea) Hilary is in an altered state of consciousness when

she is knittingb) Knitting is a controlled process for Hilary and an

automatic process for her granddaughterc) Hilary is able to divide her attention while her

granddaughter is unable to divide her attentiond) Hilary is able to use selective attention to know while

her granddaughter needs to use divided attention

QUESTION 2


Paulette meditates to reduce her stress levels.Evidence that Paulette is in a meditative state could include

a) Reduced heart rate, alpha waves, lowered temperatureb) Increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, beta

wavesc) Reduced heart rate, beta waves, low galvanic skin

responsed) Alpha and beta waves, reduced breathing rate,

increased muscle activity

QUESTION 3


Psychological measures such as those in Question 3 are useful for measuring an individual’s state of consciousness. However, it should not be assumed that a person is an altered state of consciousness on the bias of these measures alone because

a) These measures re not as accurate as self-reportb) An increase or decrease in heart rate is possible as a

result of meditationc) Psychological measures are subjective measures of a

person’s state of consciousnessd) Changes in psychological responses may be due to a

range of reasons other than a person’s state of consciousness

QUESTION 4


Petra was completing her psychology examination.

At the beginning of the examination, various thoughts were active in her mind such as how to fill in the multiple-choice answers, whether she should attempt the short answer questions first, and that the room was a little cold.Petra’s state of consciousness is best described as

a) Dualismb) Selective attentionc) Normal waking consciousnessd) An altered state of consciousness

QUESTION 5



Petra’s thoughts then began to drift onto other things while completing the examination, such as what she will wear at her school formal, what everyone else will be wearing, whether the boy she likes will notice her.The term that most accurately explains Petra’s experience at this time is

a) Daydreaming b) Meditative state c) Content limitationsd) Automatic processing

QUESTION 6


ANSWERS

Renaé Descartes’ theory of consciousness as a psychological construct relies on the concept that

a) The mind and body are separate entities 89%b) Interactions between brain neurons influence our

consciousness 3%c) Consciousness is an everchanging stream of ideas

and occurs only in the brain 6%d) Consciousness is produced by the soul and is located

in organs such as the liver and heart 2%

QUESTION 1


Hilary has been knitting for twenty years. She is able to knit quickly and accurately while she watches television. Her granddaughter, who is just learning how to knit, makes many mistakes if she tries to knit and watch television at the same time.

This is becausea) Hilary is in an altered state of consciousness when she

is knitting 1%b) Knitting is a controlled process for Hilary and an

automatic process for her granddaughter 5%c) Hilary is able to divide her attention while her

granddaughter is unable to divide her attention 88%d) Hilary is able to use selective attention to know while

her granddaughter needs to use divided attention 7%

QUESTION 2


Paulette meditates to reduce her stress levels.Evidence that Paulette is in a meditative state could include

a) Reduced heart rate, alpha waves, lowered temperature 70%b) Increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, beta waves

1%c) Reduced heart rate, beta waves, low galvanic skin response

25%d) Alpha and beta waves, reduced breathing rate, increased

muscle activity 4%

QUESTION 3


Paulette would be most unlikely to show beta-waves in a meditative state. The meditative state is sometimes referred to as the ‘alpha state’.

Psychological measures such as those in Question 3 are useful for measuring an individual’s state of consciousness. However, it should not be assumed that a person is an altered state of consciousness on the bias of these measures alone because

a) These measures re not as accurate as self-report 1%b) An increase or decrease in heart rate is possible as a

result of meditation 4%c) Psychological measures are subjective measures of a

person’s state of consciousness 9%d) Changes in psychological responses may be due to a

range of reasons other than a person’s state of consciousness 86%

QUESTION 4



At the beginning of the examination, various thoughts were active in her mind such as how to fill in the multiple-choice answers, whether she should attempt the short answer questions first, and that the room was a little cold.Petra’s state of consciousness is best described as

a) Dualism 5%

b) Selective attention 11%

c) Normal waking consciousness 80%

d) An altered state of consciousness 4%

QUESTION 5



Petra’s thoughts then began to drift onto other things while completing the examination, such as what she will wear at her school formal, what everyone else will be wearing, whether the boy she likes will notice her.The term that most accurately explains Petra’s experience at this time is

a) Daydreaming 95%b) Meditative state 1%c) Content limitations 2%d) Automatic processing 2%

QUESTION 6


CHAPTER 2. Cribb, Gridley, McKersie, Rice & Anin (2004)

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