Consciousness Psychology

7/28/2019 Consciousness Psychology

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States of Consciousness

Things never were “the way they used to be.”

Things will never be “the way it’s going to be someday.”

Things are always just the way they are for the time being. And the time is always in motion.

Alexander Evangeli Xenopouloudakis



What is consciousness?

Awareness of one‟s own mental activity Personal

Can be selective Consciousness is continuous

and ever-changing

Klinger (1978)



In performing an experiment like this one onman attention car it house is boy criticallyhat important shoe that candy the oldmaterial horse that tree is pen being phone read cow by book the hot subject tape for

pin the stand relevant view task sky be red cohesive man and car grammatically house complete boy but hat without shoe either

candy being horse so tree easy pen thatphone full cow attention book is hot not taperequired pin in stand order view to sky read

red it nor too difficult



Attentional Processes

Selective Attention The ability to focus awareness on a single

stimulus to the exclusion of other stimuli

Cocktail party phenomenon

Divided attention The ability to distribute one‟s attention

and simultaneously engage in two or moreactivities



Consciousness

Is awareness of both external andinternal stimuli or events.

It refers to our mental content(thoughts and feelings) which we are

aware.



Degrees of Consciousness Conscious Preconscious - is part of the conscious

mind and includes our memory. These

memories are not conscious, but we canretrieve them to conscious awarenessat any time.

Unconscious- is a reservoir of feelings,thoughts, urges, and memories thatoutside of our conscious awareness.



Levels of Consciousness High Level ofAwareness

Requires attention, controlled processes

Low Level ofAwareness

Automatic Processes- minimal attention

Day dreaming- between consciousness and

dreaming while sleepingAltered states ofConsciousness

Awareness produced by drugs, trauma,fatigue, meditation, and sensory deprivation.

Sleep and dreams- low level of consciousness

No Awareness Unconscious mind- Freud

Coma, disease, being knocked, anesthetized



“Daydream Believer”

Imaginary scenes & events that occurwhile awake

When do they happen?

Possible functions:

Mental rehearsal Mental arousal when bored

Problem solving (practical & creative)

Pleasure



Biological Rhythms

Periodic fluctuations in physiologicalfunctioning

Four cycles: Yearly

28-day

Circadian (24 hours) 90 minutes



Circadian Rhythm

Synchronized behavior and body states inthe environment

Influences sleep & wakefulness

As well as: Blood pressure Hormones Body temperature

Humans drift toward 25-hour cycle becauseof advances in technology Syprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN)

Controls our timing device for our circadianrhythm



Are you a Larks or Owls

Score Type70-86 Definitely Morning type

59-69 Moderately Morning type42-58 Neither Type31-41 Moderately Evening Type

16-30 Definitely Evening Type*extreme larks- difficulty in scheduleadjustment

*extreme owls- have little difficulty



Sleep IQ Test

1. During sleep your brain rests.2. You can not learn to function normally

with one or two fewer hours of sleep a

night than you need.3. Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if

you have had enough sleep.

4. Resting in bed with your eyes closedcannot satisfy your body‟s need for sleep. 5. Snoring is not harmful, as long as it

doesn‟t disturb others or wake you up.

6. Everyone dreams at night.



Sleep IQ Test

7. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.

8. Most people don‟t know when they are sleepy.

9. Raising the volume of your radio will help youstay awake while driving.

10. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry orpsychological problems.

11. The human body never adjusts to nightshift work.

12. Most sleep disorders go away, even without

treatment.



Sleep IQ Answers

1. During sleep your brain rests.False: While your body rests, your brain doesn‟t.

2. You can not learn to function normally with one

or two fewer hours of sleep a night than youneed.True: Sleep need is biological. While children need moresleep than adults, how much sleep any individual needs is

genetically determined.3. Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you have

had enough sleep.False: Boredom only unmasks sleepiness, but it doesn‟t

cause it.



Sleep IQ Answers

4. Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannotsatisfy your body‟s need for sleep. True: Sleep is as necessary to health as food and water,and rest is no substitute for sleep.

5. Snoring is not harmful, as long as it doesn‟tdisturb others or wake you up.False: Snoring may be a signal for sleep apnea (whichcan be fatal if untreated).

6. Everyone dreams at night.

True: Every person dreams every night – it‟s just thatsome of us can‟t remember much of our dreams.



Sleep IQ Answers

7. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep youneed.False: Although we tend to sleep less, our need for sleepdoesn‟t decrease as we age.

8. Most people don‟t know when they are sleepy.

True: We are not very good judges of our biologicalneed for sleep.

9. Raising the volume of your radio will help youstay awake while driving.False: The only short-term solutions are to pull over andtake a nap or to have a caffeinated drink.



Sleep IQ Answers

10. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry orpsychological problems.False: Sleep apnea is caused by relaxed muscles andnarcolepsy appears to be genetic.

11. The human body never adjusts to night shift work.True: No matter how long you work a night shift,sleeping during the day remains a challenge because ofour circadian rhythms that operate on the light/dark

schedule.12. Most sleep disorders go away, even without

treatment.False: On average, sleep disorders do not disappear

without treatment.



The Stages of Sleep 5 stages

First four stages are non-REM Fifth, and final, stage is REM

Stage 1 As you start this stage, brain waves go

from beta to alpha to theta (by end ofstage)

Hypnic jerks Lasts about 10 minutes This is the transition from relaxed

wakefulness to sleep



The Stages of Sleep

Stage 2 Sleep spindles

Lasts about 20 minutes

Stages 3 & 4 Delta wave

Deep sleep Last about 30 minutes



The Stages of Sleep

REM After reverting back through stages 3 and 2,

the brain enters the REM (rapid eye movement)stage

Marked by more vivid, detailed, and storylikedreams We dream during all stages but these are more visual

Each cycle lasts roughly 90 minutes Approx. 4 to 6 cycles per night

The first time through the cycle, you only spendabout 10 minutes in REM – which increases to 30to 60 minutes by the last cycle



Why do we sleep? Restorative theories

Sleep rejuvenates us Amount of slow wave sleep depends on

how long we‟ve been awake

Circadian theories Evolutionarily, it has survival value

Amount of REM sleep depends oncircadian rhythm



What are dreams?

Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane

every night of our lives.

Charles Fisher What are dreams?

Electrochemical events that involve the

brainstem, areas of the cortex, and theeyes



What do we dream about?

Dream content Most common themes: falling, being

chased/attacked, repeatedly trying but

failing to do something What influences the dreams we have

Concerns of your

everyday life External stimuli Yourself

Lucid dreaming



Why do we dream?

Wish fulfillment (Freud) Manifest content

Latent content

Activation-synthesis (Hobson & McCarley) Activation: random neural signals firing in the

brainstem that spread up to the cortex

Synthesis: the brain then creates images andstories in an effort to make sense out of theserandom signals

So who‟s right?



Sleep Disorders

Insomnia Chronic problems in getting good sleep

Difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep

Causes Stress, depression, health problems

Solutions Sedatives aren‟t always effective and should never be a

long-term solution!!! Don‟t take naps during the day

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and cigarettes within 5 hrsbefore bedtime (avoid exercise within 2 hrs)

Keep a rigid schedule – going to bed and waking up at the

same time



Sleep Disorders

Hypersomnia Being sleepy during the day and sleeping

too much at night

Narcolepsy

Parasomnias Sleep apnea

Nightmares

Night terrors

Sleepwalking



Meditation

Procedure that uses mental exercisesto achieve a highly focused state ofconsciousness TM

Relaxation response

Effects include: Increased self esteem & sense of control

Overcoming insomnia, preventing smoking



Hypnotic Susceptibility Hilgard‟s Stanford HypnoticSusceptibility Scale

Roughly 10% highly hypnotizable Roughly 10% not hypnotizable at all

Effects of hypnosis Perceptual effects

Altering smells

Pain relief Cognitive effects

Hypermnesia vs. psuedomemories

Behavioral effects Posthypnotic suggestion



Chemically Altered Consciousness

Psychoactive drugs Induce changes in thinking, perception &

behavior by affecting neuronal activity in

the brain

Four general categories

Depressants Stimulants Hallucinogens Opiates

Consciousness Psychology

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