Transcript Ch 5 Consciousness

Consciousness
Ch 5
Construct
 Can not be seen, touched, or measured directly
 Known by their effects on behavior and play roles in
psychological theories
 Ex: consciousness, intelligence, and emotion
What is consciousness?
 Awareness
 Sensory awareness
 Direct inner awareness
 Sense of self
Sensory Awareness
 Things outside yourself
 Tend to be more conscious of some things than others
 Sudden changes (cool breeze)
 Unusual stimuli (dog entering classroom)
 Intense stimuli (bright colors, loud noises, sharp pains)
Direct Inner Awareness
 Being aware of things inside yourself
 Thoughts, images, emotions, memories
 Aware of how you are feeling, remember a friend you
had when you were younger, think about abstract
concepts like fairness or love
Sense of Self
 We are aware of ourselves and our existence
 People begin to understand that they are unique
individuals as they get older
Levels of Consciousness
 Conscious Level
 What you are currently aware of/thinking about
 Preconscious Level
 Not in awareness right now but could recall them if you
had to by directing your inner awareness (attention) to
them
 Unconscious Level
 Unavailable to awareness under most circumstances
 Nonconscious Level
 Basic biological functions
Freud’s view of the unconscious
level
 Believed certain memories are painful and that
some of our impulses (aggressiveness) are
considered unacceptable
 We use mental strategies (defense
mechanisms) to push painful or unacceptable
ideas out of our consciousness
 Protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety, guilt,
and shame
Altered States of Consciousness
 Person’s sense of self or sense of the world changes
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Sleep
Under the influence of drugs
Meditation
Biofeedback
Hypnosis
Circadian Rhythms
 Biological clocks
 In humans, include sequence of bodily changes, like
temperature, blood pressure, and
sleepiness/wakefulness, that occurs every 24 hours
 Most studied: sleep/wake cycle
Stages of Sleep
 Stage 1: lightest, alpha to theta waves, brief dreamlike
images (30-40 mins)
 Stages 2, 3, and 4: sleep gets deeper
 Stages 3 and 4: delta waves
 Stage 4: deepest, most difficulty if waking from this
stage (NREM is deeper than REM)
 Move through 4, 3, 2, and then REM
REM Sleep
 Rapid Eye Movement
 Breathe irregularly, blood pressure rises, heart beats
faster, brains waves similar to stage 1 sleep, body is
basically paralyzed
 Whole cycle in about 90 mins
 Typical 8 hr night, move through stages about 5 times
 REM gets longer each time
Why do people sleep?
 Revive tired body and build up resistance to infection
 Help recover from stress
 What happens if we don’t get sleep?
 Become irritable, difficulty focusing eyes, speech
difficulties and memory lapses
 Catching up takes a long time
Why do we need REM sleep?
 When deprived of REM sleep, people experience REMrebound
 Having much more REM sleep when they do finally sleep
 When sleep deprived, tend to learn slower than usual,
forget more rapidly
 Some research suggests REM may help brain
development in infants and “exercise” brain cells in
adults
Dreams
 Most vivid dreams happen during REM
 Can be in black and white or color
 During REM tend to have plots and can be very
realistic
 During NREM sleep, plots are more vague and images
more fleeting
 Most are about everyday events
Freudian View of Dreams
 Dreams reflect a person’s unconscious wishes and
urges
 Some are unacceptable/painful and these are the ones
that show up most often in dreams
 Not always obvious
 Dream in symbols which can be interpreted
Sleep Problems
 Insomnia: inability to fall/stay asleep
 Alcohol can cause
 Sleeping pills probably not greatest option
 Fairly common
 Nightmares: bad dreams during REM
 Night Terrors: may actually move during sleep
 During NREM sleep, most common in kids
 Episode of fear and panic
 Sleepwalking: during deep stages of sleep
 Typically don’t remember what did/said
 No evidence that sleepwalkers become violent/upset if
awakened, but sit down 1st
 Most children outgrow it as they mature
 Probably also reflects immaturity of nervous system
 Sleep Apnea: breathing interruption during sleep
 When air passages are blocked
 Snoring and obesity associated with it
 Breathing mask worn to help
 Narcolepsy: rare
sleep problem in
which people
suddenly fall asleep
no matter the time or
where they are
 Episodes can be
dangerous
 Believed to be a
genetic disorder or
REM sleep functioning
Meditation
 Focus on peaceful, repetitive stimulus
 Become relaxed
 Can help people lower their blood pressure
 Make stresses of outside world fade away
Biofeedback
 Provides information about something happening in the
body
 Used to learn to create brain waves produced when
relaxing – alpha waves – as a way of coping with
tension
 Should only be used under direct supervision of a
medical professional
Hypnosis
 People respond to suggestions and behave as
though they are in a trance, relaxed state
 Used in variety of ways:
 Anesthetic/pain prevention
 Reduce anxiety, manage pain, or overcome fears
 Used with witnesses to crime (just as likely to make
mistakes as others)
 Quitting bad habits through posthypnotic suggestion
Drugs and Consciousness
 Addiction: after a person takes a drug for a while,
his/her body craves it just to feel normal
 Have a number of effects on consciousness
Depressants
 Slow activity of nervous system
 Alcohol: relax, put to sleep, even lethal
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Long term effects as well
Intoxication = drunkenness
Less able to focus on the consequences of behavior
Can bring feelings of elation, take away inhibitions
Can be excuse for behaviors otherwise
unacceptable
 Narcotics: addictive depressants that have been
used to relieve pain and induce sleep
 Ex: Morphine, heroin
 Can give intense feelings of pleasure, but coming off
can put the user in deep depression
 High doses impair judgment and memory, cause
drowsiness and stupor
 High doses can depress respiratory system to point of
coma and even death
 Experience withdrawal when trying to stop using them
(tremors, chills, insomnia, vomiting, diarrhea…)
Stimulants
 Increase activity of nervous system
 Speed up heart rate, and breathing rate
 Nicotine: spurs release of adrenaline
 May make people feel more alert and attentive but
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doesn’t improve ability to perform complex tasks
Reduces appetite and raises rate at which the body
changes food to energy
Addicting
Serious health risks: cancer, emphysema, low birth
weight, etc…
Second-hand smoke can be hazardous as well
 Amphetamines: especially known for helping people stay
awake and for reducing appetite
 “speed” or “uppers”
 Can produce feelings of pleasure, especially in high doses
 High doses can cause restlessness, insomnia, loss of
appetite, and irritability
 Can cause hallucinations (perception of an object/sound
that seems real but is not)
 Can cause delusions (false idea that seems real)
 Cocaine:
 Produces feelings of pleasure, reduces hunger, deadens
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pain, and boosts self-confidence
Raises blood pressure and decreases supply of oxygen to
the heart while speeding up the heart rate (sometimes
leads to death)
Originally a pain killer
Freud used it to overcome depression
Overdoses can cause restlessness, insomnia, trembling,
headaches, nausea, convulsions, hallucinations, delusions
Crack cocaine is particularly harmful form
Hallucinogens
 Drug that produces hallucinations
 May causes relaxation or feelings of pleasure
 Can also cause feelings of panic
 Marijuana: produces feelings of relaxation and
mild hallucinations
 Impairs perception and coordination along with
memory and learning
 Can cause anxiety and confusion
 Strong intoxication can cause frightening
experiences
 LSD: sometimes called acid
 Much stronger than marijuana and can produce more
intense hallucinations which can be very bizarre
 Often convinced that while under the influence they
have achieved great insights but once drug wears off,
cannot recall
 Effects are not predictable
 Some so frightening that users injure themselves seriously or
even commit suicide because in a panic
 Some lasting effects (memory loss, violent outbursts,
nightmares, feelings of panic)
 Even flashbacks
Treatment for Drug Abuse
 Detoxification: removal of harmful substance
from the body (most common with alcohol and
narcotics)
 Maintenance Programs: given controlled and
less dangerous amounts of the drug or some
less addictive substitute (narcotics)
 Counseling: individually or group
 Support Groups: in setting to provide emotional
and moral support (ex: AA, NA)