Transcript States of Consciousness- Ch. 7 - Anderson School District Five

States of Consciousness
Chapter 7
Waking Consciousness
• During the first half of the century psychologists
mainly focused on behaviorism
– The study of observable behaviors because studying
internal thoughts was seen as virtually impossible or
unscientific
• By the 1960s psychology was almost purely a
study of behavior and did not look at
consciousness
• In the 1960s, mental concepts started to become
important again *
Waking Consciousness
• Consciousness- our awareness of ourselves and our
environment
• Consciousness brings varied information to the surface,
enabling us to reflect and plan
• Consciousness allows us to concentrate on one
particular thing or several things at once
• With driving the more we do it, the more it becomes
automatic allowing our consciousness to focus on
other things
• Do you notice the weight of your clothes on your
body?
• What happened when I asked you this question?
• You start focusing on your clothes and stop focusing on
these notes *
Waking Consciousness
• Conscious awareness enables us to exert
voluntary control and to communicate our
mental states to others
• We do process a great deal of information
outside our awareness
• We can register and react to stimuli we do not
consciously perceive
• We perform well-learned tasks automatically *
Waking Consciousness
• Subconscious information processing occurs
simultaneously on parallel tracks
• We see a bird flying, we are consciously aware of
the result of our cognitive processing but not of
our subprocessing of the bird’s color, form,
movement, distance, and identity
• Unlike parallel processing of subconscious
information, conscious processing takes place in
sequence
• Consciousness is relatively slow and has limited
capacity *
Waking Consciousness
• Our consciousness is like the chief executive
whose assistants automatically take care of
routine business
• Novel tasks require our conscious attention
• Doing something for the first time usually
requires our full attention
• Consciousness keeps us from trying to do
everything at once *
Waking Consciousness
• Almost everyone has daydreams or waking
fantasies every day
• Compared to older adults, young adults spend
more time daydreaming
• Most daydreams involve the familiar details of
our lives
– Figuring out another way to solve a problem we have
– Coming up with an explanation for our behavior
– Replaying events in our lives *
Waking Consciousness
• Daydreams can help us prepare for future
events by keeping us aware of our unfinished
business
• Daydreaming for children can help to nourish
social and cognitive development
• Daydreams can be a substitute for impulsive
behavior
– People who are more prone to violence and using
drugs have been found to have less vivid dreams *
Sleep and dreams
• Sleep is an irresistible tempter that we
inevitably succumb to
• Sleep has been a mystery to psychologists for
years
• Some of the mysteries are being solved over
time
• Using recording devices, scientists can study
what is happening in the brains of those that
are sleeping *
Sleep and dreams
• By recording brain waves and muscle movements
of someone that is sleeping, we can learn what
happens during sleep
• Biological rhythms- periodic physiological
fluctuations(controlled by our internal biological
clocks)
– Annual cycles- can explain seasonal affective disorder
– Twenty-eight day cycles- female menstrual cycle
– Twenty-four hour cycle- cycles of varying and falling
alertness
– Ninety-minute cycles- stages during sleep *
Sleep and dreams
• We will be looking at the 24 hour cycle and the
ninety minute cycles
• Our bodies roughly synchronize with the 24 hour
cycle of day and night through a biological clock
called the circadian rhythm
– From Latin circa, “about” and dies, “day”
– Regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle
– Our body temp rises as morning approaches, peaks
during the day, dips for a time in early afternoon, and
then begins to drop again before we go to sleep *
Sleep and dreams
• Pulling an all-nighter, we feel groggiest about
4 AM, and then a second wind after our
normal wake up time arrives
• Recent evidence suggests that thinking is
sharpest and memory most accurate when
people are at their daily peak in circadian
arousal
• Good thing our exam is at noon *
Sleep and dreams
• Larks is a nickname for morning lovers and
owls is a nickname for evening-energized
people
• With age, we tend to shift from being owls to
larks
• Most college kids see an improvement of their
performance throughout the day, while most
older adults see a decline in their performance
*
Sleep and dreams
• Transcontinental flights can affect our
circadian rhythms
• This is called jet lag and it causes our body to
cry out sleep when our surroundings are
saying its time to be awake
• Studies have shown that bright light can help
reset our biological clocks
• To help with jet lag, spend the first day
outdoors in the sunlight *
Sleep and dreams
• Light tweaks the circadian clock by activating light
sensitive proteins which trigger signals to a brain
region that controls the circadian clock
– it does this by causing the pineal gland to decrease(in
the morning) and increase(in the evening) its
production of sleep-inducing melatonin
• We can reset our biological clocks by adjusting
our sleep schedules
– Sleeping in late on the weekends can actually cause
more harm than good *
Sleep and dreams
• Because our ancestors’ body clocks were attuned
to the rising and setting sun of the 24 hour day,
many of today’s young adults adopt something
closer to a 25 hour day
• The cause of this adjustment was the light bulb
• We must discipline ourselves at a younger age to
go to bed on time and force ourselves to get up
– Its easier to progressively stay up late than to get up
earlier
– This extends our day
– Artificial light delays sleep *
Sleep stages
• About every 90 to 100 minutes we pass
through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages
• REM sleep- rapid eye movement sleep, a
recurring sleep stage during which vivid
dreams commonly occur
– Known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles
are relaxed but other body systems are active *
Sleep stages
• When you are in bed with your eyes closed,
alpha waves can be seen on an EEG
– Alpha waves- the relatively slow brain waves of a
relaxed, awake state
• Sleep- periodic, natural, reversible loss of
consciousness-as distinct from
unconsciousness resulting from a coma,
general anesthesia, or hibernation *
Sleep stages
• Sleep is a state that we do not know we are in
until we leave it
• Stage 1 sleep
– It starts in an unrecognized moment
– Light sleep
– Lasts up to 5 minutes
– May have a sensation of falling
– You may experience fantastic images resembling
hallucinations
• False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in
the absence of an external visual stimulus *
Sleep stages
• Stage 2
– Lasts about 20 minutes
– Characterized by periodic appearance of sleep
spindles
• Bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity
– Can still be awakened without too much difficulty
– Sleeptalking can occur during this or any other
stage of sleep *
Sleep stages
• Stage 3
– Transitional stage
– Start to show delta waves
• Stage 4
– Deep sleep
– You are showing large, slow delta waves
• The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep
– Stage 3 and 4 are called slow wave sleep
– Last for about 30 minutes and you are hard to awaken
– During this stage children may wet the bed or begin
walking in their sleep *
Sleep stages
• Even during deep sleep your brain can process
certain stimuli
• You move around on your bed but don’t fall
off
• You may be easily awoken from the sound of a
baby cry but not from a train passing by
• Your auditory cortex responds even during
sleep *
Sleep stages
• About an hour after falling asleep you start to
go back in order of the stages
• You return through stage 3 and 2
– This is where you will spend about half of your
night *
Sleep stages
• REM sleep
– For about 10 minutes your brain waves became rapid
and saw toothed like those of stage 1 sleep
– Unlike stage 1 your heart rate rises, your breathing
becomes rapid and irregular, and every half minute or
so your eyes dart around in a momentary burst of
activity
– Your motor cortex is active but your brainstem blocks
the messages leaving your muscles relaxed
• Almost paralyzed
– Cannot be easily awakened
– Paradoxical sleep- the body is internally aroused and
externally calm *
Sleep stages
• The rapid eye movement in REM sleep announces
the beginning of a dream
• All of us dream
• The chance of remembering the dream is higher
if awakened from REM sleep
• Unlike the fleeting images of stage 1, REM sleep
dreams are often emotional and usually storylike
• Dreams in other stages usually just consist of one
thought or a single vague image *
Sleep stages
• REM dreams are more richly hallucinatory
• The sleep cycle repeats itself about every 90
minutes
• As the night wears on, deep stage 4 sleep gets
progressively briefer and then disappears
• The REM sleep period gets longer
• By morning, 20 to 25 percent of your average
night’s sleep has been REM sleep
• Most of us spend about 600 hours a year of
experiencing some 1500 dreams or more than
100,000 dreams over a typical lifetime *
Why do we sleep?
• The idea that everyone needs 8 hours is not true
• Newborns spend 2/3 of their day sleeping while
adults spend no more than 1/3 of their day
sleeping
• Allowed to sleep unhindered, most adults will
sleep 9 hours a night
• Because of lights and social diversions, people are
able to get by with less sleep today than they did
in the past *
Why do we sleep?
• 80 percent of students are said to be
dangerously sleep deprived
• These individuals are at a high risk of some
sort of accident
• Sleep deprivation can lead to a difficulty in
studying, diminished productivity, tendency to
make mistakes, irritability, fatigue
• Driver fatigue contributes to an estimated 20
percent of traffic accidents *
Why do we sleep?
• Other effects of a loss of sleep are:
– a suppression of the disease fighting immune
system
– an altered metabolic and hormonal functioning in
ways that mimic aging and can lead to obesity
– Hypertension and memory impairment
– Irritability, slowed performance, and impaired
creativity, concentration, and communication *
Why do we sleep?
• The survival function of sleep is not known but there
are several functions of sleep that are known
• Sleep protects
– Our ancestors’ would sleep at night to protect themselves
from predators
• Sleep helps us recuperate
– It helps to restore body tissue especially those of the brain
– It helps us to consolidate our memories
• Sleep plays a role in the growth process
– During deep sleep, the pituitary gland releases a growth
hormone
– As adults grow older they release less of this hormone and
they spend less time in deep sleep *
Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia
– 10 to 15 percent of adults complain of suffering from insomnia
– It is recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
– True insomnia is not the occasional inability to sleep that we
experience when anxious or excited
– The quick fixes for insomnia are often sleeping pills and alcohol
– These can aggravate the problem
– Both reduce REM sleep
– The drug needs to be increased over time to produce the same
results
– Insomnia can be worse when the treatment is stopped
– There are some natural solutions that scientists believe will help
with insomnia *
Sleep Disorders
• Narcolepsy
– A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep
attacks
– The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often
at inopportune times
– More rare than insomnia
– Usually lasts less than 5 minutes
– 1 in 2000 suffer from it
– There has been a gene to be found that causes it in
dogs
– Caused by a lack in the neurotransmitter, hypocretin *
Sleep Disorders
• Sleep apnea
– A sleep disorder characterized by temporary
cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent
momentary reawakenings
– 1 in 20 people suffer from it
– Mostly overweight men
– After a minute with no air, the sleeper awakens and
snorts in air for a few seconds
– Can happen more than 400 times a night
– Apnea sufferers are often unaware of their disorder *
Sleep Disorders
• Night terrors
– A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and
an appearance of being terrified
– Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during
stage 4 sleep, within 2 to 3 hours of falling asleep
– Seldom remembered
– Usually in children
– The person may sit up or walk around, talk
incoherently, experience a doubling of heart and
breathing rates, and appear terrified *
Sleep Disorders
• Sleepwalking and sleep talking
– Usually runs in families
– Sleepwalking is usually harmless and unrecalled
– Sleepwalkers will usually return to bed on their
own
– Young children who have the deepest and longest
stage 4 sleep are most likely to experience it
– Sleepwalking usually disappears as we get older
– The same is for sleep talking *
Dreams
• REM dreams are vivid, emotional, and bizarre
• Dreams- a sequence of images, emotions, and
thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s
mind
• Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory
imagery, and discontinuities
• Dreams are so real we can often confuse them
with reality *
Dreams
• Sometimes we can wonder during a dream if
we are actually dreaming
• Lucid dreams- dreams in which we are aware
that we are dreaming or dreams in which we
wonder if we are in fact dreaming
– People will sometimes test their state of
consciousness
– They can perform absurd act such as floating in
the air to prove they are dreaming *
Dreams
• We spend six years of our life dreaming
• Most are anything but sweet
• 8 in 10 dreams are marked by negative
emotions
• People will dream about failing in an attempt
to do something, being attacked, pursued, or
rejected, and they will dream of experiencing
some misfortune *
Dreams
• We usually dream of events in our daily lives
• Women dream of males and females equally
where 65 percent of characters in men’s
dreams are males
• No one knows why *
Dreams
• Sigmund Freud did a lot of research on
dreams and their meanings
• Manifest content- the remembered story line
of a dream
– Sometimes incorporates traces of previous days’
experiences and preoccupations
• The sensory stimuli of our sleeping
environment may also intrude and woven into
our dream *
Dreams
• Anything that happens during the 5 minutes
just before we fall asleep is typically lost from
memory
• This is why sleep apnea patients do not
remember waking up
• Dreams that momentarily wake us up are
usually forgotten by the morning
• To remember a dream, get up and stay awake
for a few minutes *
Dreams
• Freud argued that by fulfilling wishes, a dream
provides a psychic safety valve that discharges
otherwise unacceptable feelings
• A dream’s manifest content is a censored,
symbolic version of its latent content
– The underlying meaning of a dream
– Functions as a safety valve
• If these drives and wishes were expressed
directly they would be threatening *
Dreams
• Freud believed that most adult dreams can be
traced back by analysis to erotic wishes
• Most theorists say that dreams usually have
very little to do with sexual desires
• Freud believed that even though they were
not overtly expressing sexual desires, the
latent content was focused around them
• Freud considered dreams the key to
understanding our inner conflicts *
Dreams
• Many psychologists argue against Freud’s
ideas and say that even if dreams were
symbolic, they could be interpreted any way
one wished
• Some say that dreams do not hide anything
• There is no latent content according to them
• Freud’s theory is often referred to as his wishfulfillment theory *
Dreams
• Some researchers see dreams as information
processing
– Dreams help us sift, sort, and fix the day’s
experiences in our memory
• Studies have confirmed the belief that sleep
helps us to remember *
Dreams
• Dreams may also serve a physiological
function
• Dreams can provide the brain with periodic
stimulation during sleep
• The stimulation can help to develop and
preserve our neural networks *
Dreams
• Some theorists believe our dreams come from a burst
of neural activity that spreads upward from the
brainstem
• This theory is called the activation-synthesis theory
• This theory states that the neural activity is random
and dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of
the activity
• Dreams spring from the mind’s relentless effort to
make sense of unrelated visual bursts, which are given
their emotional tone by the limbic system
• Dreams are the brain’s interpretation of its own activity
*
Dreams
• We need REM sleep
• Deprived of it by repeatedly being awakened,
people return more and more quickly to REM
stage after falling back to sleep
• When allowed to sleep undisturbed, we sleep like
babies with increased REM sleep
• REM rebound- the tendency for REM sleep to
increase following REM sleep deprivation
• Withdrawing REM suppressing sleeping
medications also increases REM sleep but with
accompanying nightmares *
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis- a social interaction in which one
person suggests to another that certain
perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors
will spontaneously occur
• Examples on pg. 285
• Posthypnotic suggestion- supposed inability to
recall what one experienced during hypnosis;
induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion *
Hypnosis
• Even though they say they don’t remember
forgotten material, the material must be in
there, for it can affect later behavior and be
recalled at a prearranged signal
• Are people genuinely unable to recall the
forgotten material, or do people distract
themselves or withhold information to meet
the hypnotist’s expectations? *
Hypnosis
• Anton Mesmer gets credit for the current ideas or
theories about hypnosis
• Mesmer passed magnets over the bodies of ailing
people, some of whom would lapse into a
trancelike state(mesmerized), the awaken much
improved
• Other scientists found no evidence that his
studies were legitimate and attributed Mesmer’s
cures to mere imagination
• Hypnosis or mesmerism has since been linked to
quackery *
Hypnosis
• Other reasons that hypnosis was not respected
by many from the beginning is that many
hypnotists claimed that mesmerized people could
see with the backs of their heads, perceive
others’ internal organs, and communicate with
the dead
• Studies have shown that hypnotized people
cannot show anymore feats of strength or
superhuman traits than an non-hypnotized
person can *
Hypnosis
• The power of hypnosis resides not in the
hypnotist but in the subject’s openness to
suggestion
• Hypnotists cannot control your mind, they
simply engage people’s ability to focus on
certain images or behaviors
• Everyone is suggestible to some extent
• Examples on pg. 287- Stanford Hypnotic
Susceptibility Scale *
Hypnosis
• The people who respond to suggestions without
hypnosis are the people who respond with
hypnosis
• People that are most hypnotizable typically have
rich fantasy lives and easily become absorbed in
the imaginary events of a novel or movie
• Anyone who can turn attention inward and
imagine is able to experience some degree of
hypnosis *
Hypnosis
• Age-regressed people are people that are
supposedly reliving experiences from childhood
• some believe hypnosis can help people go back to
their childhood to remember forgotten events all
the way back to birth
• Many people dispute this claim and say ageregressed people act as they believe children
would, but they typically miss the mark by
outperforming real children of the specified age *
Hypnosis
• Researchers have found that hypnotically
refreshed memories combine fact and fiction
• They are not reliable in court so testimony by
hypnotized witnesses is banned
• Hypnosis can sometimes boost recall but for the
most part it contaminates memory with false
recollections or even increases one’s confidence
in false memories
• Without meaning to, the hypnotist can influence
the memory with their questions *
Hypnosis
• Hypnotherapists try to help patients harness their
own healing powers
• Posthypnotic suggestion- a 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
– Can help to alleviate headaches, asthma, warts, and
stress related skin disorders
– Studies show that hypnosis and positive suggestions
can have equal impact on a person’s behavior *
Hypnosis
• Some researchers have said that hypnosis can
cause people to perform an apparently
dangerous act
• In one study, participants followed a request to
dip one hand briefly into fuming acid then throw
the acid in a research assistant’s face
• When interviewed later they denied doing so and
said they would have not done so
• After further research they found that
unhypnotized people were just as likely to
perform the same acts as those hypnotized *
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis can relieve pain
• Hypnotizable subjects can put their hands in an
ice bath and state that they feel no pain after
they are told they will feel no pain
• Nearly 10 percent of us can become so deeply
hypnotized that even major surgery can be
performed without anesthesia
• Dissociation- a split of consciousness, which
allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur
simultaneously with others *
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis can help to dissociate the sensation
of a pain stimulus from the emotional
suffering that defines our experience of pain
• The ice water feels cold but not painful
• The pain relief can also come from selective
attention
• Hypnosis can serve as a distraction to get
someone’s mind off the pain *
Hypnosis
• People may not be consciously faking
hypnosis, they are just doing and reporting
what’s expected of them
• They may be just acting their hypnotic role as
actors act their role in movies and TV
• Hidden observer- Ernest Hilgard’s term
describing a hypnotized subject’s awareness
of experiences, such as pain, that go
unreported during hypnosis *
Drugs and consciousness
• There is doubt that hypnosis alters
consciousness but there is no doubt about
psychoactive drugs altering consciousness
• Psychoactive drug- a chemical substance that
alters perceptions and mood
• Tolerance- the diminishing effect with regular
use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the
user to take larger and larger doses before
experiencing the drug’s effect *
Drugs and consciousness
• A person who rarely drinks alcohol might get
tipsy on one can of beer, but an experienced
drinker may not get tipsy until the second six
pack
• Even though it seems your body is tolerating
more, the drug is still causing harm to the
body
• Withdrawal- the discomfort and distress that
follow discontinuing the use of an addictive
drug *
Drugs and consciousness
• Physical dependence- a physiological need for a
drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal
symptoms when the drug is discontinued
• Psychological dependence- a psychological need
to use a drug, such as to relieve negative
emotions
• Even though someone does not get physically
addictive to a drug, they still need it and use it
regularly to usually deal with negative emotions
• Psychological dependence can often be harder to
deal with than physical dependence *
Drugs and consciousness
• Addiction- a craving for a substance with
physical symptoms such as aches, nausea, and
distress following sudden withdrawal
• Today, addiction also includes certain
behaviors or habits
• The three myths on pg. 294 and 295 *
Drugs and consciousness
• Psychoactive drugs can be categorized into
three categories: depressants, stimulants, and
hallucinogens
– Depressants- also called downers- calm neural
activity and slow body functions
– Stimulants- uppers- temporarily excite neural
activity and arouse body functions
– Hallucinogens- distort perceptions and evoke
sensory images in the absence of sensory input *
Depressants
• Includes alcohol, barbiturates(tranquilizers), and
opiates
• Slow our body’s functions
• Alcohol
– Sometimes alcohol seems to enliven a drinker but it is
actually slowing brain activity that controls judgment and
inhibitions
– Most abused psychoactive drug
– Alcohol can increase harmful and helpful tendencies
– Alcohol leads to people acting on urges they have when
they are sober
– Alcohol causes the most harm of any drug
– Alcohol can also impact memory
– Prolonged drinking can lead to a shrinking of the braineven more in women because they lack an enzyme that
breaks down alcohol *
Depressants
• Barbiturates- drugs that depress the activity of
the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but
impairing memory and judgment
–
–
–
–
–
Also called tranquilizers
Mimic the effects of alcohol
Used to sometimes induce sleep and lower anxiety
If combined with alcohol the result can be lethal
With sufficient doses, barbiturates themselves can be
lethal
– Xanax and Valium are examples *
Depressants
• Opiates- opium and its derivatives, such as
morphine and heroin; they depress neural
activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety
– When used the pupils constrict, the breathing slows,
and the user becomes lethargic
– They are very addictive and with each use the user
craves another fix and a larger fix
– Withdrawal can last for a week
– When repeatedly used, the brain stops producing its
own natural opiates so if the drug is withdrawn the
brain lacks the normal level of painkilling
neurotransmitters
– Withdrawal from opiates is agonizing and painful *
Stimulants
• The most widely used stimulants are caffeine, nicotine,
amphetamines, and cocaine
• Caffeine is the most frequently used psychoactive drug in
the US
• Stimulants speed up body functions, hence the nickname
“speed” for amphetamines
• Strong stimulants increase heart and breathing rates
• When used appetite diminishes because blood sugar levels
increase
• Energy and self-confidence increase
• Stimulants are used to stay awake, lose weight, or boost
mood or athletic performance
• When the drug is stopped the person can experience a
crash
• Stimulants are addictive *
Stimulants
• Amphetamines- causes speeded up body functions and
associated energy and mood changes
• Cocaine
– 5 percent of high school seniors reported having tried cocaine
during the past year
– Crack is a form of cocaine that can be smoked
– When cocaine is sniffed, injected, or smoked it enters the blood
quickly
– The result of using the drug is a rush that last about 30 minutes
and ends in a crash
– The crash is because the rush depletes the brain’s supply of
dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine
– The crash comes in the form of an agitated depression
– Crack works faster and produces a briefer but more intense
high, a more intense crash, and a craving for more crack *
Stimulants
• Cocaine cont.
– Cocaine is addictive
– A study with monkeys has shown that monkeys
addicted to cocaine will press a lever more than
12,000 times to gain each cocaine injection *
Stimulants
• Ecstasy- a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen
– Also called MDMA
– Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but short term
health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin producing
neurons and to mood and cognition
– Triggers the release of dopamine
– Releases stored serotonin and blocks its reuptake
prolonging its feel good feeling
– Ecstasy was considered a club drug the late 1990s
– Leads to a 3 to 4 hour feeling of emotional elevation and a
feeling of connectedness with people around them
– Can lead to dehydration, overheating, blood pressure
increase, and death *
Hallucinogens
• Also called psychedelics
• Distort perceptions and evoke vivid images in the
absence of sensory input
• LSD- a powerful hallucinogen drug also called acid
– Synthetic
– Similar to a subtype of serotonin
– Emotions from use of LSD can be euphoria,
detachment, and panic
– Very powerful, even a very small amount can have a
strong effect *
Hallucinogens
• Marijuana
– Consists of the leaves and flowers of the hemp plant
– THC- the major active ingredient in marijuana- triggers mild
hallucinations
– Marijuana is difficult to classify because of its mixed effects
– It relaxes, disinhibits, and produces a euphoric high
– Acts as a hallucinogen by amplifying sensitivity to colors, sounds,
tastes, and smells
– It can intensify pre-existing emotions or feelings
– Can be used to help with pain, nausea, and severe weight loss
associated with AIDS
– It is recommended to use THC through an inhaler for medical reasons
– THC lingers in the body for a month or so after it is taken in
– It is not considered as physically addictive as the other psychoactive
drugs but it does change brain chemistry and make the brain more
susceptible to addiction to stronger drugs
– It is very psychologically addictive *
Near Death Experiences
• Near death experience- an altered state of
consciousness reported after a close brush
with death
– Often similar to drug induced hallucinations
• Dualists- the presumption that mind and body
are two distinct entities that interact
• Monists- the presumption that mind and body
are different aspects of the same thing *
Additional Terms
• Beta Waves- waves associated with someone that
is awake and alert
• SIDS- Sudden death infant syndrome
– Usually caused by a disturbance in an infants
breathing
– Can be caused by suffocation
– The best sleep position for an infant is on his or her
back to help prevent SIDS
• nREM sleep(non-REM sleep)- stages 1-4
– Along with REM sleep this is the other group of stages
when discussing your stages of sleep *
Additional Terms
• Experimental drug use- short term drug use
usually caused by curiosity
• Detoxification- the cessation of the use of
certain drug, usually deals with the alcohol
– The first step in treatment for a drug addiction *