Transcript Understanding Psychology 5th Edition Morris and Maisto

Understanding Psychology
6th Edition
Charles G. Morris and Albert A.Maisto
PowerPoint Presentation by
H. Lynn Bradman
Metropolitan Community College
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-1
Chapter 4
States of Consciousness
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-2
What is Consciousness?
• To make sense of our complex environment,
we choose what to absorb from the myriad
happenings around us and filter out the rest.
• This process applies to both external stimuli
such as sounds, sights, and smells, and
internal sensations such as heat, cold,
pressure, and pain.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-3
What is Consciousness?
• Our thoughts, memories, emotions, and
needs are subjected to this selective process.
• We also perform familiar tasks, such as
signing our names, without deliberate
attention.
• Many psychologists believe that important
mental processes go on outside normal
waking consciousness.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-4
Defining Consciousness
• Awareness of mental processes:
– Decision making, remembering, concentrating,
daydreaming, sleeping
• Waking consciousness:
– Thoughts, feelings, perceptions when awake and
alert
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-5
Defining Consciousness
• Altered states of consciousness:
– Sleep, daydreaming, dreaming, hypnosis,
meditation, intoxication
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-6
Sleep
• Evolutionary psychologists see sleep as an
adaptation allowing organisms to conserve
and restore energy.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-7
Circadian Cycles
• Circadian cycles are an ancient and a
fundamental adaptation to the 24-hour solar
cycle of light and dark
• The human biological clock is actually a tiny
cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus that
responds to levels of proteins in the body.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-8
Circadian Cycles
• Over the course of a day, metabolism,
stomach acidity, alertness, body temperature,
blood pressure, and the level of most
hormones vary predictably.
• But not all body cycles follow the same
pattern.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-9
Circadian Rhythms
• Epinephrine (which causes the body to go on
alert) reaches a peak in the late morning
hours and declines until around midnight.
• By contrast, levels of melatonin (which
promotes sleep) surge at night and drop off
during the day.
• Normally, the rhythms and chemistry of all
these different cycles interact smoothly, so
that a shift in one brings about a
corresponding shift in others.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-10
Body Temperature
• Body temperature is related to one’s level of
alertness and sleep/wake cycle.
• An increase in body temperature equals
greater alertness.
• A decrease in body temperature equals
reduced alertness and motivation.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-11
The Rhythms of Sleep
• Normal sleep consists of several stages.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-12
Stages of Sleep
• During Stage I, the pulse slows, muscles
relax, and the eyes move from side-to-side.
The sleeper is easily awakened from Stage I
sleep.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-13
Stages of Sleep
• In Stages 2 and 3 the sleeper is hard to
awaken and does not respond to noise or
light.
• Heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature
continue to drop.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-14
Stages of Sleep
• During Stage 4 sleep, heart and breathing
rates, blood pressure, and body temperature
are at their lowest points of the night.
• About an hour after first falling asleep, the
sleeper begins to ascend through the stages
back to Stage1
• This process takes about 40 minutes.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-15
REM Sleep
• At this stage in the sleep cycle, heart rate and
blood pressure increase, the muscles become
more relaxed than at any other time in the
cycle, and the eyes move rapidly under closed
eyelids.
• It is this rapid eye movement (REM) that
gives this stage of sleep its name.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-16
REM Sleep
• REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep
• Measures of brain activity, heart rate, blood
pressure, and other physiological functions
closely resemble those recorded during
waking consciousness.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-17
REM Sleep
• The person in this stage appears to be deeply
asleep and is incapable of moving; The
body's voluntary muscles are essentially
paralyzed.
• Some research suggests that REM sleep is
also the stage when most dreaming occurs,
though dreams take place during NREM sleep
as well.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-18
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-19
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-20
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-21
Sleep Disorders
• Sleeptalking and sleepwalking usually occur
during Stage 4.
– Both are more common among children than
adults.
– About 20 percent of children have at least one
episode of either sleepwalking or sleeptalking.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-22
Sleep Disorders
• Night (sleep) terrors:
– A disorder affecting 1-6% of children between 4
and 12 years old.
– Children wake up screaming, are difficult to
comfort, and remember very little of the dream.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-23
Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia:
– Difficulty falling asleep or remaining asleep
• Sleep apnea:
– An individual falls asleep and ceases breathing
• Narcolepsy:
– Characterized by sleep at inappropriate times and
sudden loss of muscle tone during moments of
excitement
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-24
Dreams
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-25
What Are Dreams?
• Dreams are visual or auditory experiences
that occur primarily during REM periods of
sleep.
• Less vivid experiences that resemble
conscious thinking tend to occur during NREM
sleep.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-26
Why Do We Dream?
• Several theories have been developed to
explain the nature and content of dreams.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-27
Freud’s Dream Theory
• Manifest content:
– The dream as remembered by the dreamer.
• Latent content:
– The real meaning of the dream; Known only to the
unconscious.
• Dream work:
– The process of turning latent content into manifest
content.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-28
Dreams and Information
Processing
• Another recent hypothesis suggests that
dreams arise out of the mind's reprocessing
of information absorbed during the day;
• This information is important to the survival
of the organism.
• According to this theory, then, dreaming
strengthens our memories of important
information.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-29
Dreams and Waking Life
• Another theory maintains that dreams are an
extension of the conscious concerns of daily
life in altered (but not disguised) form.
• Research has shown that what people dream
about is generally similar to what they think
about and do while awake.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-30
Dreams and Neural Activity
• New research has indicated that the limbic
system, which is involved with emotions,
motivations, and memories, is "wildly" active
during dreams.
• Also involved are the visual and auditory
areas of the forebrain that process sensory
information.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-31
Dreams and Neural Activity
• Areas of the forebrain involved in working
memory, attention, logic, and self-monitoring
are relatively inactive during dreams.
• This would explain the highly emotional
texture of dreams, as well as bizarre imagery,
and the loss of critical insight, logic, and selfreflection.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-32
Dreams and Neural Activity
• This uncensored mixture of desires, fears,
and memories comes very close to the
psychoanalytic concept of unconscious
wishes.
• This suggests that Freud may have come
closer to the meaning of dreams than many
contemporary psychologists have
acknowledged.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-33
Drug-Altered Consciousness
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-34
Drug Use in Other Societies
and Times
• Although many of the psychoactive drugs
available today have been used for thousands
of years, the motivation for using drugs is
different today.
• Traditionally, these drugs were used in
religious rituals, as nutrient beverages, or as
culturally approved stimulants.
• Today, most psychoactive drug use is
recreational, divorced from religious or family
traditions.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-35
Substance Use Terms
• Substance abuse:
– A pattern of use that diminishes one’s ability to
fulfill one’s responsibilities.
• Substance dependence:
– The compulsive use of a substance that often
results in tolerance or withdrawal.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-36
Substance Use Terms
• Tolerance:
– Occurs when higher drug doses are needed to
produce original effects
• Withdrawal:
– The unpleasant symptoms that follow
discontinuation of substance
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-37
Sources of Drug-Altered
Consciousness
• Depressants:
– Slow down behavior and cognition
• Stimulants:
– Excite sympathetic nervous system and produce
feelings of optimism and boundless energy
• Hallucinogens:
– Distort visual and auditory perception
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-38
Depressants
• Alcohol
• Barbiturates
• Opiates
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-39
Short-term Effects of Alcohol
• Initially affects frontal lobe, reducing
inhibitions, impairing reason and judgment.
• With continued drinking, the cerebellum
(balance) and spinal cord and medulla
(breathing, body temperature, and heart
rate) are affected.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-40
Short-term Effects of Alcohol
• Visual acuity and depth perception are also
affected.
• Smell and taste become distorted.
• Memory storage is affected.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-41
Long-Term Effects of Alcohol
•
•
•
•
•
Memory loss
Decreased sexual drive or impotence
Menstrual problems
Liver and kidney damage
Possibly develop korsakoff’s syndrome
memory loss
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-42
Barbiturates
• Typical effects:
– Depressed reflexes, impaired motor functioning,
tension reduction
– Can cause amnesia
– In small doses, they can enhance memory (socalled “truth serum”)
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-43
Opiates
• Opium, heroin, morphine
• Typical effects:
– Euphoria, drowsiness, “rush” of pleasure, little
impairment of psychological functions
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-44
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-45
Stimulants
• Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and
amphetamines:
– Chemically similar to epinephrine
• Typical effects:
– Increased alertness, excitation, euphoria,
increased pulse rate and blood pressure,
sleeplessness
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-46
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-47
Hallucinogens
• LSD, PCP, and mescaline
• Typical effects:
– Illusions, hallucinations, distortions in time
perception, loss of contact with reality
– No apparent withdrawal effects
– Tolerance can develop quickly
– Flashbacks
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-48
Marijuana
• Typical effects:
– Euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, increased appetite,
possible disorientation, expands blood vessels in
the eyes (bloodshot)
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-49
Adverse Effects of Marijuana
• Respiratory system risks:
– Cancer, pulmonary disease, and chronic bronchitis
• Nervous system risks:
– Increased symptoms of mental illness, personality
changes, and altered judgment and coordination
• THC is stored in brain tissue for up to 45 days
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-50
Adverse Effects of Marijuana
• Reproductive system risks:
– abnormal sperm and fetal abnormalities
• THC is stored in sex organ tissue for up to 45
days
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-51
Explaining Abuse and
Addiction
• Several factors make it more likely that a
person will abuse drugs.
• The factors include a possible genetic
predisposition, the person's expectations, the
social setting, and cultural beliefs and values.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-52
Meditation and Hypnosis
• At one time Western scientists viewed
meditation and hypnosis with great
skepticism.
• However, research has shown that both
techniques can produce alterations in
consciousness that can be measured through
such sophisticated methods as brain imaging.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-53
Meditation
• A method of concentration and reflection that
reduces sympathetic nervous system activity.
• Meditation not only lowers the rate of
metabolism but also reduces heart and
respiratory rates.
• Brain activity during meditation resembles
that experienced during relaxed wakefulness,
and the accompanying decrease in blood
lactate reduces stress.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-54
Hypnosis
• A trancelike state in which susceptibility to
suggestion is heightened.
• People's susceptibility to hypnosis depends on
how suggestible they are.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-55
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis has several practical applications:
– It eases the pain of certain medical conditions
– Hypnosis can help people stop smoking and break
other habits.
©Prentice Hall 2003
4-56