Stewart Psychology CurriculumDRAFT COPY

Lesson 1 – What is psychology and how is it researched?

K/W/L

What is psychology? What is its purpose? How do we KNOW what we know about psychology?

Psychology – the scientific study of behavior (observable) and mental processes (cognitive activities).

Behavior includes involuntary activities such as respiration and heartbeat. Some behavior can be measured by things like an EEG.

Dreams – the fact that someone is dreaming is a behavior (an EEG can reveal that someone is dreaming). The contents of the dream are cognitive behavior (private mental process).

Memories – can’t be measured by a device . . . private mental process.

Study of the brain versus study of the mind.

As with all other sciences, practitioners of psychology attempt to observe, describe, explain, predict, and control the events they study.

Applications of psychology – therapeutic treatment, coaching/teaching, advertising/marketing, sales, politics, entertainment.

Psychology studies individual behavior. Sociology (next semester) will examine the behavior of groups.

Some parts of psychology are connected to the functioning of the brain. A psychiatrist may prescribe medicine to a patient to help influence/control a psychological issue that has its roots in the patient’s brain or body chemistry. Prior to the use of pharmaceuticals, things like electric shock and surgical procedures were used to attempt to influence an organic cause to mental illness.

Because psychology is a science, the foundations of psychological knowledge are found in research . . . surveys and experimentation.

Theory – an attempt to explain the world. A useful theory enables one to make predictions. If the theory makes faulty predictions, it will be modified/discarded.

Principle – a rule or law

Essential Questions

How do we KNOW the things we know? What is the source of knowledge?

Are the brain and the mind the same thing? How are they connected/similar? How are they different?

What particular challenges might exist in gaining knowledge about the human mind (as opposed to the human brain)?

Is studying animal behavior useful or naaah? What assumptions would a person need to make in order to conclude that the study of animal behavior yields useful information about how humans are likely to respond in given situations?

What are some of the hazards of using surveys to gain knowledge? What kinds of design elements should a responsible researcher have in place to make sure that her research yields reliable data?

What are some issues that a researcher ought to be mindful of when constructing an experiment in psychology?

How should a researcher balance the “quest for knowledge” against the obligation to act in a morally/ethically correct fashion?

Lesson 2 – A Brief History of Psychology

The Greeks –

Socrates and the value of introspection (Know thyself). Not the best guy to go out for drinks with.

Aristotle turns up the heat – Laws of associationism: how our mind connects past/present, experience/memories with emotions/feelings.

Aristotle posited that human behavior, just like the physical world, is subject to natural laws and could be learned through observation.

Greeks had a supernatural/religious explanation for oddities of human behavior. They were obviously limited by the lack of modern observational tools and by prohibitions against dissecting the human body.

Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) speculated that behavioral problems had an organic cause and that the brain was somehow connected to issues of the mind. Pretty cool conclusion given the limitations of the day!

The European Middle Ages –

God is the answer to everything. If you are showing signs of psychological deviance, it MUST be demonic possession!! What did you do to deserve it??

“Scientific test” – Throw you in a pond/lake. If you sink to the bottom and drown, you aren’t possessed. That’s a relief! If you float and don’t drown, then that means you are possessed by the devil . . . now you get to see whether almost drowning is better or worse than being burned at the stake.

Humanism and the Birth of Modern Science

Improved observational tools, the printing press, and the weakening of the power of the church versus secular governments create an environment for science to make strides forward. These advances also apply to psychology.

Development of the theory of the cell and the science of chemistry begin the idea of explaining things as being the effect of measurable causes that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Evidence can be found through improved observations.

Wilhelm Wundt (1879)

The father of structuralism – consciousness can be broken down into objective sensations (taste, sight, etc.) and subjective feelings. The human mind combines these. Wundt and his students started documenting their objective sensations in an effort to reveal subjective feeling.

Psychological knowledge derived from introspection.

William James (1890)

Conscious experience cannot be broken down as the structuralists believed. Experience is a continuous “stream of consciousness” and instead focused on the connection between experience and behavior.

The school of functionalism – How do mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment? Psychology should be applicable to everyday situations. In addition to introspection, knowledge can be gained through observing behavior of others in a laboratory setting.

Adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained because they serve us well. If it works, you keep doing it; if it doesn’t work, you will eventually learn to give up and/or try another approach.

Habits – muscle-memory things like using a key or riding a bicycle. Practice makes perfect!

John B. Watson

Consciousness is a private event that cannot be measured, and as such if psychology is going to be considered a science it must restrict itself to the scientific study of observable behavior (rats being trained to run a maze).

B.F. Skinner

Concept of reinforcement. Rewards increase the frequency of the behavior. Like those piano-playing chickens on America’s Got Talent.

The Gestalt School (Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler)

Perception is influenced by context. Much of problem-solving is due to insight and not mechanical repetition.

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis and the role of the unconscious mind and internal conflicts. (Freudian slips and the meaning of dreams).

Freud’s understanding of psychology came from working with patients. Unconscious processes more important than conscious experience.

Id, ego, and superego.

Board Notes

William James – Functionalism – Adaptive behaviors are learned because they serve us well.John B. Watson – If psychology is going to be considered a science, it must restrict itself to the scientific study of observable behavior.B.F. Skinner – Reinforcement to encourage behavior.Gestalt School – Perception and problem solving are influenced by context.Sigmund Freud – The role of the unconscious mind and internal conflicts.

Homework – Prepare to present with a partner for class on Wednesday. These can be found on textbook pages 18-21.

Biological and Evolutionary Perspective:

Cognitive Perspective:

Humanistic Perspective:

Leaning Perspective:

Sociocultural Perspective:

Now – What must be true about a survey for it to yield useful information about a population?

EQ: How are various methods of observation used to gain knowledge in the field of psychology?

1) Now Q2) Notes to summarize yesterday and Homework Assignment3) Introduce Case-Studies4) Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional Methods (same philosophy approached in different

ways)5) Naturalistic vs. Laboratory6) Analyzing results – Correlation (Positive/Negative) vs. Causality (are they actually

results of a third cause?)

ASSESSMENT ONE QUESTIONS

1) Is Psychology a science? Explain.2) Why is the mind more difficult to study than the brain is?3) Given that two of the goals of psychology are the ability to predict and control/influence

behavior, what are two practical applications of psychological knowledge (how do people use this stuff?)

4) What are two things that MUST be true about a survey for us to have confidence that the survey has produced useful knowledge?

5) Explain the difference between the control group and the experimental group.

And . . .

6-7) From the presentations on modern psychological perspectives

Biological/Evolutionary (count this as ONE)CognitiveHumanisticLearningSociocultural

Choose any two from this list and explain them. You may use notes that you took from observing others’ presentations to support your work here.

Lesson 3 – The Biological Basis of Psychology

EQ – How does the physical structure of the nervous system help a student of psychology garner a more complete understanding of the discipline?

Do Now – Does alcohol affect the brain or the mind? Explain.

Biological foundation of some branches of psychology . . . unsurprisingly, the brain has something to do with psychology (who knew?)

Key biological structures that influence the mind/behavior Brain Nervous system Endocrine system Role of evolution/heredity in these connections.

Nervous system – CNS (Brain plus spinal cord), Peripheral NS (the rest)

Nerve Cells – Art time!!

Dendrites, Nucleus, Myelin Sheath, Axon, Axon Terminal (nerve impulses flow from dendrites to axon terminal and not the other way)

Axon terminal of one nerve cell communicates with the dendrite of another cell. They DO NOT touch – the transmission of information is chemical. Neurotransmitters have different shapes and fit different receptors just like a key and a lock.

Different types of neurons – Sensory neurons (messages to the brain); Motor neurons (messages from the brain).

Interruptions to CNS – concussion; drugs/alcohol

Types of neurotransmitter –

Acetylcholine – Muscle movement; deficiency creates memory issues.

Dopamine – Motor behavior; shortage (Parkinson’s Disease); surplus (Schizophrenia)

Serotonin – Emotional arousal; sleep

Spinal Reflex – Touching a hot stove – this is NOT a reaction to pain . . . the spinal reflex is often faster than the sensation of pain.

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Somatic: Sensory messages - touch, pain, change in temperature, change in body position (posture, balance).

Autonomic: Heartbeat/BP; respiration, digestion

Link to emotion

Sympathetic NS (stress) – “fight or flight” action time!!; suppress digestion (route blood/oxygen to muscles); increase heart rate

Parasympathetic NS (peace) – restores energy “after the fact” (re-establishes homeostatic norms).

NEXT PART

Brain Anatomy

Parts of the brain:

HINDBRAIN – Medulla: Heartrate, Respiration, BPPons: Body movement, Attention, Alertness, SleepCerebellum: Balance, Coordination

MIDBRAIN – Vision and HearingReticular Activating System: Attention, Sleep, Arousal, AlertnessAlcohol attacks this part of the brain

Activated by Loud Noises that are unfamiliar – City folk will sleep through traffic noises but may be awakened by an owl.

FOREBRAIN – Thalamus: “relay station” for stimuli . . . sends the sensory information to the parts of the brain that process the information.

Hypothalamus (so small!): Basic survival stuff (regulate temperature, strorage of nutrients, motivation and emotion (hunger, thirst, sex drive, aggression, caring for offspring). The selfish gene.

Limbic System: along the inner edge of cerebrum: Learning and memory (damage – remember old stuff, but can’t form new

memories) Emotion and aggression (damage in animals causes passive behavior) Hunger and sex (at the same time??)

Cerebrum (70% of weight of brain) Surface is the cerebral cortex (cortex is Latin for “tree bark”

o The part that makes us humans (thinking)o Memory, language, emotions, complex motor functions.

TWO HEMISPHERES

Left side of brain – right side of body (and vice-versa)

Four lobes per hemisphere

Frontal lobe (motor skills) Parietal lobe (touch and temperature) Temporal lobe (hearing) Occipital lobe (vision) – Damage – I know what I see, but I can’t specify it.

Association areas: Assembles data in a meaningful way (lines become letters/words/recognizable things)

Problem solving and decision making (frontal lobes) Memory storage Language

Most people (all right-handed and two-thirds of left-handed) – Language function in the left hemisphere.

Wernicke’s Area – Understand and craft speech. Broca’s Area – Control the parts of the face used for speaking. If damaged, speech is

slow and laborious.

Left versus Right Hemispheres

Left side – Language, Logic, Problem-solving, math computationRight side – Imagination, art, feelings, spatial relationships

THESE DIFFERENCES ARE EXAGGERATED . . . BOTH SIDES OF BRAIN ARE USED BY MOST EVERYONE

Split-brain operation (used to treat severe neural disorders such as severe cases of epilepsy)Cut the corpus collosum: the part that connects the two halves of the brain.Interesting effect . . . I can’t describe an item if it’s in my left hand. If I put it in my right hand, I can!

MODES OF STUDY (HOW DO WE KNOW THIS STUFF ABOUT BRAIN ANATOMY??)

Study victims of brain injuries to see how they have changed (Phineas Gage). It’s the location of the injury that is the most relevant issue and not the amount of brain injury.

Electrical stimulation of various parts of the brain . . . what does this do?

EEG – Measure brain activity as certain tasks are undertaken.

CAT scans and MRIs. Same idea, more developed science.

Positron Emission Tomography – Produces those colorful models of what parts of the brain are engaged. If a CAT doesn’t work, try another PET.

Genetic/Hereditary Element to Psychology

Heredity linked to shyness, leadership ability, aggressiveness, interest in arts and crafts.

Psych disorders linked in part to heredity include Anxiety and Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Alcoholism/Substance Abuse

Traits are determined by pairs of genes (one from each parent), although more complex traits are also influenced by environment/upbringing.

Genes make up chromosomes (23 pairs). One pair determines biological sex (XX or XY)

Down Syndrome – one extra chromosome in set 22.

Nature vs Nurture Studies (Kinship Studies)

Twin Studies – how are ID twins more similar behaviorally than fraternal twins. More frequent similarities are likely genetically-based.

Adoptee Studies – are you like your biological or adoptive parents?

Twins Reared Apart – how do you explain close similarities if the twins had been raised in different environments? It’s likely a genetic explanation.

ASSESSMENT #2 QUESTIONS:

1) How do nerve cells communicate with each other? Are they physically connected, or is there some other way?

2) Give an example of a spinal reflex.3) Name one type of neurotransmitter and identify one of its functions.4) What kind of situations activate the sympathetic nervous system?5) Name something that affects the reticular activating system. One good answer slows it

down and another good answer activates it.6) Name ANY part of the forebrain and give ONE function of that part.7) What do “association areas” do?8) What is one way that science has learned what the different parts of the brain do? You

can mention a specific piece of technology or you may mention another “unpredictable” way that the information was acquired over time.

9) Name one psychological disorder that has been linked to genes/heredity.10) Name one experimental technique that has been used to try and answer the question of

“nature vs nurture” (is psychology/behavior a function of genetics or environment/upbringing?).

CHAPTER FIVE

Sensation – Our biological function. Receive stimulus and send to brain.

Perception – The psychological process of interpreting the stimulus.

Key Terms for Chapter

Absolute threshold – the lowest level of stimuli that will be sensed. Varies from person to person. Being unable to sense everything is necessary to keep us from going insane from over stimulation of the senses.

Difference threshold – the smallest amount of difference that can be sensed and create the reaction of “hey, those are different”.

Signal-detection theory – One’s ability to screen out superfluous stimuli and focus on one set of sensations over others. Picking out a friend’s voice over loud music at a concert, for example.

Sensory adaptation – Being able to see better in the dark after being in a dark room for a while. Filtering out “white noise” if it’s constantly in the background (the hum of fluorescent lights).VISION

Light is electromagnetic energy. The eye cannot detect all wavelengths of light. Radio waves, for example (yes, radio waves travel at the speed of light, not sound).

The Eye

Light enters the eye through the pupil and is projected on a surface. Why would pupils open wide if we are in fear?

The lens of the eye creates focus. Squinting is a means of adjusting the thickness of the lens.

The retina is the projection screen but is made up of neurons. Photoreceptors receive the image and pass it along to the brain.

Two kinds of photoreceptors – rods and cones: Rods – brightness, Cones – colors. Rods are more sensitive, so things in very low light will appear to be more on a gray scale than when light is sufficient.

Your ability to “see in the dark” improves for up to 45 minutes in a dark room. Adaptation to improved lighting is much faster.

Visual Acuity – How well you see in normal light. It’s what an eye-test measures. This (sadly) decays as one ages.

Mixing light does not create the same results as mixing pigments.

Total color blindness is rare, but partial color blindness (such as red-green) is not.

HEARING

Pitch dependent on frequency. More cycles/second -> higher pitch.

Humans can hear sounds from 20 to 20,000 cycles/second. Some animals can hear higher pitches (dogs/dolphins).

Loudness dependent on the amplitude of sound waves. Higher amplitude waves create louder sounds – measured in decibels. Zero dB is considered the threshold of hearing. So, there are sounds that are quieter than zero dB but we cannot detect them without instruments.

Sounds that are loud enough can create physical pain.

EAR ANATOMY

Eardrum – sound vibrates itThree bones – hammer, anvil, stirrup vibrate as a result of eardrum and transmit sound to the inner earInner ear – cochlea: bony tube containing fluids and neurons. Vibrations are turned into an electrical signal that is transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve.

Locating Sounds

Sound hits ears differently which allows us to locate. If sound is equidistant from the two ears, a simple head-tilt will help the listener localize. Other senses are also in play . . . blame evolution.

DEAFNESS

TWO KINDS – Conductive versus Sensorineural

Conductive deafness – Damage to the middle ear from aging/hard living. Hearing aids can compensate.

Sensorineural deafness – Problems with perception connected to damage to the inner ear (neurons in the cochlea or the auditory nerve). Caused by disease or prolonged exposure to very loud sounds (rock and roll, construction, airport runway). Cochlear implants are one treatment, but will be useless if the auditory nerve is damaged.

OTHER SENSES (Smell, Taste, Skin, Body)

Smell – Connected to taste. Why an onion and an apple taste as different as they do. Smell transmitted via the olfactory nerve.

An omnipresent smell is “filtered out” by our brain. Why doesn’t Mr. Stewart smell bacon in his apartment??

Odors can also be masked by other odors. Air fresheners, anyone?

Taste – Cats cannot taste sweetness! (and they won’t return your texts).

Four elements of taste – sweet, sour, salty, bitter. What you think is a broader range of tastes is a function of odor, texture, and temperature.

Sensitivity to different tastes vary among individuals and can be inherited. (nature vs nurture).

Taste cells can be killed by scraping or heat, but they replenish. It is very rare for a person to lose his sense of taste.

Skin – combination of pressure, temperature, and pain (not just touch).

Pressure – nerve receptors near the roots of hairs. Not all parts are equally sensitive or we would be freaking out from too much stimulation. Adapt to a persistent pressure like clothes against our body.

Temperature – It’s relative to your core temperature at any given time. Sensed by neurons just beneath the skin. Adaptation – from hot world to AC, for example.

Pain – Also adaptive . . . creates a reaction to get away from the pain. Various parts of the body vary in the amount of pain receptors they have.

Gate theory – only so many sensations can travel at once. Why does rubbing a sore area or blowing on a scrape seem to help??

Phantom pains! My leg hurts but it’s not there.

Body Senses – Vestibular and Kinesthesis

Vestibular – Am I upright or not? Am I falling? (sensory organs in ear)

Kinesthesis – detecting the position and motion of your body. (sensory information from joints, tendons, muscles).

Insert Text Here From Group Presentaitons

CHAPTER FIVE – CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness – Awareness of things inside and outside of you.

Consciousness cannot be directly measured – it can be posited to exist due to other observable evidence. (A psychological construct) DOES THIS MEAN WE ARE STRAYING FROM SCIENCE??

Three ‘levels’ of consciousness

Consciousness of sensory awareness: our engagement with the world around us. What we see, hear, smell, taste, touch. It is how we interact with our environment and is what we were looking at in the last chapter.

Our ability to focus on one stimulus and screen out others is known as selective attention – as in when we are talking to a friend in a noisy room full of other people having conversations. We attend to one stimulus and put others in the background.

We tend to be more sensitive to sudden changes and unusual stimuli (survival advantage?).

Consciousness as Direct Inner Awareness

Vivid rememberings and imaginings. Recreating an experience without having any direct sensory input at the time.

Awareness of our emotions and the consideration of abstract concepts is another example. These are not a direct result of sensory perception (although they can be driven by sensory perception), but they are “real” to us. They happen inside of us.

Consciousness as Sense of Self

A function of cognitive development. We understand that we are unique individuals and we exist. “I yam what I yam.” –Popeye “I think, therefore I am.” –Descartes

LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Preconscious Level – Stuff that resides “in our heads” that is below the surface of what we are doing at any given moment. “What year did you get married?” or “What’s the capital of Nicaragua?” are things an individual might be able to recall, but those facts aren’t floating around at a conscious level. I know the lyrics to hundreds of songs, but I can’t sing them all at once.

PRECONSCIOUS IDEAS CAN BE “ACTIVATED” THROUGH OUR INNER AWARENESS

The Unconscious (or Subconscious) Level – Paging Dr. Freud! Thoughts we have “pushed down” because they are painful, uncomfortable, or socially unacceptable. We manage these through defense mechanisms, but they sometimes “bubble up” and manifest themselves by influencing dreams and behavior.

Repression – Ideas are pushed into the unconscious mind. They are pushed down to avoid feelings of anxiety, guilt, and shame (function of superego).

Rationalization – We tell ourselves a story to “justify” our unacceptable behavior. Displacement – Transferring an idea or impulse to another object so we can deal with it. Regression – Under stressful times we may revert to an earlier stage of development (an

adolescent will act like a child, an adult with act like an adolescent “mid-life crisis”?) Projection – People see their own faults in other people. If you pay attention to Donald

Trump, you see this all the time. Reaction Formation – “Putting on a front” an acting the opposite of how you actually

feel. Little boys and girls who “like” each other will hit each other. Denial – Refusing to accept unpleasant facts . . . “it won’t happen to me” and “I can quit

anytime I want” are a couple good examples. Sublimation – Channeling unacceptable behavior into something that is socially

acceptable – combat sports as an outlet.

EFFECTS OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS: Freud posited that these are normal and even useful when used in moderation. They become unhealthy when they lead us to ignore the underlying issues that are causing the feelings that we are trying to escape. Freud believed that a strong and healthy ego would reconcile the conflict between id and superego and that defense mechanisms wouldn’t be necessary.

The presence of defense mechanisms can be seen as evidence that there is inner conflict or personal anxiety.

The Nonconscious Level – Things we cannot perceive even if we tried (molecular processes in body, fingernails growing). We’d go crazy if this occupied our attention.

ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Sleeping (dreams), drugs, meditation/biofeedback/hypnosis.

SLEEPING AND DREAMING

Circadian rhythm – or “biological clock”. Cycle of bodily changes that occur over a 24-hour period. Most commonly studied circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle. Without outside “reminders” like clocks, television programming, and sunrise/sunset; our cycle tends to push up to 25 hours.

Why would this happen?

THE STAGES OF SLEEP

We are aware of these through the use of the EEG.

Beta Waves – Awake and alert. The waves are short and quick.

Alpha Waves – Relaxed and drowsy. Slower beta waves. The process of falling asleep.

Theta Waves – Stage 1 of sleep. Light sleep. Brief dreamlike images that resemble photographs. If we are awoken at this stage, we will likely remember the images. We will stay in Stage 1 for 30 to 40 minutes max.

Delta Waves – Stages 3 and 4. Deep sleep. People in stage 4 sleep are hardest to wake up. Stay in stage 4 for about half an hour and then back up the ladder to stage 1.

REM sleep – brain waves similar to Stage 1, Our eyes are moving rapidly (during rapid eye movement? You’re joking.)

We run down and up through the stages typically five times (sleep cycles) in an eight-hour sleep session. REM sessions get longer with each sleep cycle that passes. The last ones in the session can last 30 minutes or more.

Why Sleep??

Revive tired body and build up resistance to infection. There is also a psychological function . . . perhaps helping us recover from stress.

If someone is denied REM sleep, they will have extra REM sessions to catch up (REM-rebound). REM deprivation impairs learning and memory.

To sleep, perchance to dream . . .

Most vivid dreams take place during REM sleep. Dreams can be in black and white (white and white for Donald Trump) or in color (orange and white?). Some dreams are super realistic and others not so much.

Dreams take place in “real time”. We don’t remember all our dreams to the point where we may not be aware that we had some of the dreams we had.

FREUD’S PERSPECTIVE

Dreams represent our wishes and urges. The most likely ones to appear in dreams are those wishes and urges that our superego tells us we shouldn’t have. We dream symbolically to mask what we are “really” dreaming about. It’s a way to deal with uncomfortable or painful material.

BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

The brain has to make sense of the stimuli it gets during REM sleep. If the part of the brain that influences movement is firing, then there will be movement in the dream.

SLEEP PROBLEMS

Insomnia – The inability to sleep. If you invite an insomniac to a slumber party, you know he’ll be up for it. Most commonly an inability to fall asleep. More common during periods of anxiety and depression. Trying to sleep can make it worse, because it increases the stress that is causing the insomnia in the first place. Organic approach to alleviating insomnia . . .

1) Tense and relax muscles one at a time.2) If you are worrying, get up.3) Have a regular bedtime and waking time and stick to it.4) Use pleasant images or daydreams to relax.

Occasional insomnia is pretty common.

Nightmares and Night Terrors

In one study, college students keeping dream diaries reported having on average two nightmares a month. Anxiety and depression will cause a bump in the frequency of nightmares.

NIGHT TERRORS are severe nightmares. Heartbeat spikes and gasping for air! May even sit up and/or thrash about . . . ewww. Night terrors do not occur during REM, they occur during stages 3 and 4 of the sleep cycle. Most common among young children, and will occur during the first couple sleep cycles.

Sleepwalking

Common among children. They can respond to questions, but when they wake they will have no recollection of what they said. It is not true that it is dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker, but it is important to monitor them because they can hurt themselves.

Sleep Apnea

Interruption of breathing. Dangerous. CPAP.

Narcolepsy

Suddenly falling asleep and going straight into REM sleep. Treatment by drug therapy and frequent naps. Believed to be genetically connected.

MEDITATION, BIOFEEDBACK, AND HYPNOSIS

Altered states of consciousness while we are awake.

Meditation – focus on one peaceful, repetitive stimulus such as a flickering light, a pattern, or a chant/sound. This helps the meditator narrow his focus and become relaxed. Other issues melt away due to the selective attention and focus on a “relaxing” detail.

Evidence suggest the value of meditation as a relaxation technique (lowering BP), but other benefits (becoming at one with the universe) are beyond the current reach of scientific confirmation.

Biofeedback – People have learned to control bodily functions such as heart rate. Like meditation with a monitor.

Hypnosis – Derived from the Greek word hypnos (to sleep). IS IT AN ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS OR NOT? Brain waves as measured by EEG suggest that it is not.

FRANZ MESMER – The “father” of hypnosis. He had ideas about it, but they lacked any real scientific basis. It does appear to be the origin of the term “mesmerized”.

Modern applications (using hypnosis as an anesthetic during certain surgeries, reduction of anxiety, overcome fears) have some basis in science.

DO NOT ATTEMPT HYPNOSIS ON YOUR OWN!! SCAAARY!!

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Didn’t the book say not to try this? Get the subject to focus on something specific. Hearing the word sleep does seem to help the process of putting someone into a hypnotic trance.

People can only be hypnotized if they want to be. People who like the idea of being hypnotized are even more susceptible. People with vivid imaginations are also prime subjects for hypnosis.

IS HYPNOSIS EFFECTIVE?

Connection to recovering memory? Studies show that unhypnotized people are just as likely to remember details of a crime, and hypnotized people are just as likely to have mistaken recollections. Sounds pretty unreliable to me.

Connection to pain prevention? Some studies have shown that it works with particularly susceptible people, but relaxation techniques have been shown to have similar effects.

Connection to quitting bad habits? This is attempted by giving the subject a posthypnotic suggestion. Create an association in the subject’s mind between the habit one wants to break and an unpleasant/disgusting image. The effectiveness of this approach is uncertain.