Ch. 4: Consciousness

Four Elements of Hypnosis

1. person told to focus on what's being saved 2. person told to relax 3. person told to accept suggestions 4. person told to use vivid imagination

REM (rapid eye movement)

A recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because muscles all relax (except for twitches) but other body systems are active; accompanied by paralysis of voluntary muscles (don't act out dreams); occurs 4 to 5 times a night

sleep apnea

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.

dreams

Freud saw them as wish fulfillment (including sexual desires); manifest content and latent content; also saw themas symbolic and not literal.

sleep deprivation

a loss of sleep that contributes to general fatigue, irrability, inattention, poor decision making, and impairments in concentration, short term memory.

sleepwalking/somnambolism

a phenomenon primarily occurring in non-REM sleep in which people walk while asleep

REM behavior disorder

a rare disorder in which the mechanism that blocks the movement of the voluntary muscles fails, allowing the person to thrash around and even get up and act out nightmares

night terrors

a rare sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified in stage 4 sleep; more often in children

narcolepsy

a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times

hypnosis

a state of consciousness resulting from a narrowed focus of attention and characterized by heightened suggestibility; unless you're open to it, it won't work. can create amnesia, reduce pain, help relax; cannot give increased strength

activation-synthesis hypothesis

a theory of dreaming that proposes that neural stimulation from the pons activates mechanisms that normally interpret visual input; frontal lobes shut down

psychoactive drugs

alter thinking, perception, and memory.

nightmares

bad dreams arousing horror, helplessness, or sorrow, that lead to awakening, usually from REM sleep

microsleeps

brief, unintended sleep episodes, ranging from a few seconds to a minute, caused by chronic sleep deprivation.

stages 3 & 4: Non-REM

delta waves; harder to wake up; growth hormones released; more groggy if woken up

pre-sleep

drop in body temp., slow and rhythmic breathing, eyes close, body twitches, images flash through mind

sleep

has a circadian rhythm of 24 hours; controlled by the hypothalamus part of the brain; the suprachiasmatic nucleus controls the internal clock

beta waves

rapid brain waves; appear when a person is awake

insomnia

sleep abnormalities, including difficulty in falling asleep and wakefulness through the night

waking consciousness

state in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear, organized, and the person feels alert

stage 2: Non-REM

temperature warmer, breathing and heart rate decrease; sleep spindles

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. sometimes lightly sleeping

altered state

the state in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness is called

social-cognitive theory hypnosis

theories that emphasize how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs

adaptive theory

theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active

restorative theory

theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

stage 1: Non-REM

theta waves; light sleep; hypnic jerk (feel movement and move to wake); hypnagogic images (hallucinate reality)

withdrawal

uncomfortable physical and psychological symptoms produced when a physically dependent drug user stops using drugs

hypnosis as dissociation

hypnosis works only in a person's immediate consciousness, while a hidden "observer" remained aware of all that was going on.

physical dependence

person's body unable to function normally without a particular drug

consciousness

personal awareness of mental activities, internal sensations, and the external environment