Chapter 5: Consciousness
When does mind-wandering occur and what is another name for it?
"Stimulus-independent thoughts" Occurs most often when we are engaged in repetitive, undemanding tasks (about 50% of our day)
Manifest content
(Freud) Dream's apparent topic or superficial meaning; SMOKESCREEN for latent content
Latent content
(Freud) Dream's true underlying meaning
What are the five major distinctions between dream consciousness and waking consciousness?
1. Feeling of intense emotion 2. Thought is illogical; continuities of time, place, and person don't apply 3. Sensation is fully formed and meaningful 4. Uncritical acceptance (almost like a suspension of reality) 5. Difficulty remembering after dream is over
What are the four basic properties of consciousness?
1. Intentionality 2. Unity 3. Selectivity 4. Transience
How do people judge minds aka what are the two dimensions of mind perception?
1. Judge minds according to capacity for experience (ability to feel pain, hunger, pleasure, consciousness, anger, or fear) 2. Capacity for agency (ability for self-control, planning, memory, or thought)
When do humans have self-recognition in mirrors?
18 months of age
Short bursts of activity called K complexes and sleep spindles occur in stage ____ of sleep
2
How long does it take for a rat's bodily system to break down and die from lack of sleep?
21 days`
What are the percentages of people who report symptoms of insomnia, who have severe enough insomnia to lead to daytime complaints, and meet criteria for diagnosis of insomnia?
30-48% 9-15% 6%
What are the statistics of overcoming addiction?
64% of sample of people who had history of cigarette smoking were able to quit 75% of people with substance use disorders are able to overcome addiction
What is the percentage of people who report dreams after being awakened during REM sleep?
80%
Gateway drug
A drug whose use increases the risk of subsequent use of more harmful drugs Examples include marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco
What does the current view of the unconscious mind look like?
A factory that builds the products of conscious thought and behavior
Altered state of consciousness
A form of experience that departs significantly from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind
Repression
A mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness and keeps them in the unconscious
Consciousness
A person's subjective experience of the world and the mind
What happens during REM sleep?
A stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity; EEG patterns are high-frequency sawtooth waves (like beta waves) -> mind is as active as it is during waking
Daydreaming
A state of consciousness in which seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts come to mind; brain is STILL active
Night terrors
Abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional arousal
Robert had a dream about a dog wandering on the side of the road. Because Robert ascribes to the _____ model of dreaming, he thinks this dream began because of random activation in his brain.
Activation-synthesis
Which explanation of dreams proposes that they are produced when the mind attempts to make sense of random neural activity that occurs in the brain during sleep?
Activation-synthesis model
Martha believes that dreams have a meaning deeper than their surface story. Her view is inconsistent with the _____ and consistent with the _____.
Activation-synthesis model; Freudian theory of dreams
Expectancy theory
Alcohol effects can be produced by people's expectations of how alcohol will influence them in particular situations
Alcohol myopia
Alcohol hampers attention, leading people to respond in simple ways to complex situations AKA fine judgment is impaired and becomes hard to appreciate the subtlety of different options so you veer full tilt one way or another
Amber is drunk and her friends dare her to kiss a guy across the bar. Instead of thinking about the potential consequences of the action, Amber makes a quick decision to complete the dare. This behavior is consistent with the:
Alcohol myopia theory
What are the most commonly used depressants?
Alcohol, followed by barbiutrates, benzodiazepines, and toxic inhalents
Cognitive unconscious
All the mental processes that give rise to a person's thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person
What do changes in the brain that occur during REM sleep correspond with?
Alterations of consciousness that occur in dreaming
What is another term for dream consciousness?
Altered state of consciousness
What are the changes in EEG during waking?
Alternation between high-frequency activity (beta waves) during alertness and lower-frequency activity (alpha waves) during relaxation
Jason went to watch a hypnotist perform and was called on stage. The hypnotist suggested that he would forget the number 5 once he came out of his hypnotic state. When Jason was asked to count after undergoing hypnosis, he indeed skipped this number. This is an example of posthypnotic _____.
Amnesia
Ecstasy (MDMA, "X", "E")
Amphetamine derivative; stimulant but has added effects similar to hallucinogens; empathetic to those around them; rave drug
What part of the brain is quite active during REM sleep?
Amygdala; seen from the themes of fear and stressful events that often occur during dreams
What do dreams normally consist of?
An "interleaving of fragments of experience" -> reflect day's experience tend to single out sensory experiences or objects from waking life; snapshots from day instead of retelling stories of what you've done or seen
Dynamic unconscious
An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person's deepest instincts and desires, and the person's inner struggles to control these forces
Hypnosis has been proven to have
An analgesic effect
What is the neurotransmitter that normally activates the receptors in the brain that respond to THC?
Anandamide
Mental control
Attempt to change conscious states of mind
Full consciousness requires that a person not only has an experience, but also that the person is __________ of the experience
Aware (or unconscious)
How has the expectancy theory been tested?
Balanced placebo design
Balanced placebo design
Behavior is observed following the presence or absence of an actual stimulus and also following the presence or absence of a placebo stimulus; BELIEF that one has had alcohol can influence behavior as strongly as ingestion of alcohol itself
What makes someone easy to hypnotize?
Being susceptible; test susceptibility with a series of suggestions designed to put a person into a more easily influenced state of mind; person's own judgment == good indication of how hypnotizable you are ALSO people who with active, vivid imaginations or who are easily absorbed in activities
A researcher asked participants to report the time at which they consciously made a decision to throw a ball, while simultaneously monitoring their brain activity. The researcher is MOST likely to find that the participants':
Brain shows activity before conscious decision to act
The _______ inhibits movements during dreams; this probably helps to avoid injury
Brain stem
What happens during the hypnagogic state?
Busy, task-oriented thoughts of waking mind are replaced by wandering thoughts and images and odd juxtapositions
What are some examples of stimulants?
Caffeine, amphetamines, nicotine, cocaine, modafinil, Ecstacy
What does hypnotic suggestion do?
Changes the subjective perception of those experiencing it
Psychoactive drugs
Chemicals that influence consciousness or behavior by altering the brain's chemical message system
Who are night terrors most commonly found in?
Children
Who is sleepwalking most common in>
Children between ages of 4 & 8 years
Which animals can recognize themselves in mirrors?
Chimpanzees, orangutans, dolphins, elephants
The Stroop task
Classic psychological test in which a person is asked to name the color of words on a page; words are printed in a different color -> people are alot slower and make more errors when the words don't match the colors BUT effect is completely eliminated when highly suggestible people are hypnotized
The ___________ unconscious is at work when subliminal and unconscious processes influence thought and behavior
Cognitive
Thought suppression
Conscious avoidance of thought
The problem of other minds refers to the difficulty a person has in perceiving the __________________ of others
Consciousness
Sleep needs _________ over the life span
Decrease
Why does worrying about insomnia make you an insomniac?
Desire to sleep initiates ironic process of mental control where you are then heightened in sensitivity to signs of sleeplessness
Insomnia
Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep; most common sleep disorder
Sleep apnea
Disorder in which person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep; usually snores because apnea involves involuntary obstruction of breathing passage
Which of the following is not a basic property of consciousness?
Disunity
The consciousness meter, used by anesthesiologists, does not provide a useful solution to the problem of other minds. This is because it:
Does not give insight into how it feels to be another person
What was Freud's theory on dreams?
Dreams are confusing and obscure because dynamic conscious WANTS them to be this way; representation of wishes in some disguised form, many of which are sexual
Activation-synthesis model
Dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of random neural activity that occurs during sleep
What was Freud right about concerning dreams?
Dreams harbor unwanted thoughts; Experiment in which people had to think of personal acquaintance and either suppress thoughts of person as they wrote, focus on thoughts, or write freely Those that suppressed mentioned dreaming more about that person than anyone else
The tendency for larger drug doses to be required over time to achieve the same effect is referred to as:
Drug tolerance
Hallucinogens
Drugs that alter sensation and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations
When do the largest changes in EEG occur?
During sleep
What happens during the first stage of sleep?
EEG moves to frequency patterns even lower than alpha waves (theta waves)
What time in the night does sleepwalking most often occur in?
Early in the night; during slow-wave sleep
Toxic inhalants (glue, hair spray, nail polish)
Easily accessible; temporary effects that resemble drunkenness, but overdoes can be lethal, and continued use holds potential for permanent neurological damage
How did scientists test whether the brain and conscious mind's activities were simultaneous?
Electrical activity measured using sensors placed on scalps as they decided when to move a hand Indicate when they consciously chose to move by reporting position of dot moving rapidly around the face of the clock Brain showed electrical activity half a second before voluntary action and EVEN before the person's conscious decision to move
Mary tries a psychoactive drug once. It is MOST likely that she will:
Enjoy the experience and try it again
How long is the cycle between REM and slow-wave sleep?
Every 90 mins or so
Freudian slip
Evidence of the unconscious mind shown in speech errors
Cocaine
Exhilaration and euphoria that are both addictive
What are two theories that account for the variable effects of alcohol?
Expectancy theory and alcohol myopia
What is the defining feature of consciousness?
Experience
Sleep paralysis
Experience of waking up unable to move
Posthypnotic amnesia
Failure to retrieve memories following hypnotic suggestions to forget
What are the symptoms of stimulant withdrawal?
Fatigue and negative emotions
What are the stages in a typical night's sleep?
First hour = go from waking to fourth and deepest stage of sleep (delta waves) -> slow waves indicate general synchronization of neural firing -> lighter sleep stages -> REM and dreamland
Self-consciousness
Focuses on the self to the exclusion of almost everything else; distinct level of consciousness where person's attention is drawn to the self as an object
Who is famous for proposing a difference in the machine-like human body and the "thinking substance" of the human mind/soul?
French philosopher Rene Descartes
Speech errors and lapses of consciousness, which Sigmund Freud believed gave a view of the unconscious, are referred to as
Freudian slips
What is the difference between Freudian theory and activation-synthesis theory?
Freudian theory: dreams begin with meaning Activation-synthesis: dreams begin randomly, but meaning can be added as mind lends interpretations in process of dreaming
Problem of other minds
Fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others
What neurotransmitter does alcohol increase the activity of?
GABA; inhibits transmission of neural impulses HOWEVER it is strange that some people who drunk become loud and aggressive while others become giddy
What is an example of an experiment done to test subliminal perception?
Getting old can make a person walk more slowly -> College students complete survey calling them to make sentences with various words. Not told that these words had to do with aging and afterwards, they reported that they didn't notice this trend. -> As they left experiment, they walked down the hall and it was found that they walked more slowly
What happens when you "try not to think about the white bear"?
Given a task aka try not to think about white bear and then asked to record thoughts Thought suppression simply does not work and the white bear was mentioned multiple times mind actually ironically searches for the white bear
What is the problem Wilhelm Wundt came across?
He asked research volunteers to discern what happens when you solve a simple problem, but they all drew a blank because nothing conscious seems to bridge this gap, but the answer comes from your unconscious mind.
According to the text, there is little support for claims that hypnosis can:
Help people recover memories
What is a benefit of mind-wandering?
Helps improve our creative problem solving
Narcotics/opiates
Highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve pain
Phenomenology
How things seem to the conscious person
What does drug addiction reveal about humans?
Human frailty; inability to look past immediate consequences of behavior and appreciate long-term consequences AKA immediate satisfaction is always first
What is the presleep consciousness known as?
Hypnagogic state
In one study investing hypnotic analgesia, _____ was MOST effective for relief of pain induced in the laboratory.
Hypnosis
Mike feels as though his actions are manipulated, instead of actions that he consciously is choosing to do. Mike may be in a state of _____, characterized by suggestibility.
Hypnosis
________ refers to an altered state of consciousness characterized by suggestibility and feeling that one's actions are occurring involuntarily
Hypnosis
A well-established phenomenon of hypnosis is that some people can experience a reduction of pain that is even more effective than that produced under anesthesia; this phenomenon is known as:
Hypnotic analgesia
Boris wants to quit smoking. He believes that he can quit if he follows anti-smoking suggestions while in an altered state of consciousness. Boris schedules an appointment with a(n):
Hypnotist
People with a vivid ________ are more likely to be hypnotizable
Imagination
What is consciousness dominated by?
Immediate environment - what is seen, felt, heard, tasted, and smelled
What are some real-life examples of harm reduction approaches?
In the Netherlands and England: eliminate criminal penalties for drug use or providing intravenous drug users with sterile syringes; may even go so far as to provide drugs for addicts to reduce risks of poisoning and overdoes when getting impure drugs
Dichotic listening
In which people wearing headphones hear different messages in each ear
What do stimulants do?
Increase levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in brain; higher levels of activity in brain circuits that depend on those neurotransmitters -> increase alertness and energy and produce euphoric sense of confidence and agitated motivation to get things done
fMRI studies of the dreaming brain reveal all of the following except
Increased capacity for planning
What did researchers find when they gave rats an unlimited supply of cocaine?
Increased use over course of 30 days; self-administered and then binged to point of giving convulsions; stopped grooming themselves and lost 1/3 of body weight
What do narcotics do?
Induce feeling of well-being and relaxation that is enjoyable and can also induce stupor and lethargy
Valium
Induces sleep but prevents dreaming so it creates a state similar to slow-wave sleep
Electrooculograph (EOG)
Instrument that measures eye movements
Alyssa is trying to relax by practicing a technique that is supposed to clear her mind. However, it seems as if her mind is always focused on something; this refers to the property of consciousness called _____.
Intentionality
What happens during narcolepsy?
Intrusion of dreaming state of sleep (with REM) and is often accompanied by unrelenting excessive sleepiness and uncontrollable sleep attacks lasting from 30 seconds to 30 mins
Ironic processes of mental control
Ironic errors occur because the mental process that monitors errors can itself produce them; Ironic monitor is a process of mind that works OUTSIDE of consciousness, making us sensitive to all the things we do not want to think, feel, or do, so that we can notice and consciously take steps to regain control if these thoughts come back to mind
According to the theory of ___________ of mental control, Damien will be more likely to make a mistake while throwing a bowling ball if he thinks very hard about not messing up
Ironic processes
Which of the following four individuals is LEAST likely to be a good candidate for hypnosis?
Isabel, who loves to play sports
Is the feeling that you are consciously willing your actions a result or a cause of your brain activity?
It is a result! Though your intuition says that you think of an action THEN do it, in reality, your brain has already started before either the thinking or the doing, preparing the way for both thought and action
What are unpleasant effects of ecstasy?
Jaw clenching; interference with regulation of body temperature (highly susceptible to heat stroke and exhaustion); however does not cause as much physical or psychological dependence
Alcohol
King of depressants; initial effects are euphoria and reduced anxiety -> drunkenness in greater quantites AKA slowed reactions, slurred speech, poor judgement
What are examples of hallucinogens?
LSD, mescaline, psilocybin/shrooms, PCP, ketamine
Tolerance for drugs involves
Larger doses being required over time to achieve the same effect
Minimal consciousness
Low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior; just a connection between the person and the world -> something registers in your mind that in the least way possible you have experienced something
Researchers use experience-sampling methods to record emotions people experience during everyday activities. When studying data collected from 900 working women what did they find?
Lowest positive affect = working, commuting, doing housework -> large part of day Most positive affect -> being intimate with another person Surprising result -> spending time with children was only two ticks higher than doing housework
Nancy dreamt that she moved into a large open house with huge picture windows. When she awoke in the morning, she thought about her dream and determined that the dream actually reflected the idea that she is feeling smothered in her relationship and that the house and windows were actually just the superficial _____ content.
Manifest
What is the problem with Freud's work?
Many of the meaningful errors Freud attributed to the dynamic unconscious were not predicted in advance and seemed thus to depend on clever interpretations AKA finding meaning in errors that would otherwise have been random
The immediate effects of drugs ________________, leading to substance abuse
May outweigh the long-term effects of not using drugs
___________ control refers to an attempt by a person to change his or her own conscious state
Mental
Which drugs are laboratory animals less likely to work to receive?
Mescaline: Why? Because it's a hallucinogen and it is not as addictive as the other drugs
Who does apnea occur most in?
Middle-age, overweight men; may go undiagnosed
What happens when you smoke marijuana?
Mildly hallucinogenic intoxication; euphoric rush with heightened senses of sight and sound and perception of rush of ideas; affects judgment and short-term memory, and impairs motor skills and coordination
Why are narcotics alluring?
Mimic brain's own internal relaxation and well-being system
Benzodiazepines (Valium and Xanax)
Minor tranquilizers and prescribed as antianxiety drugs; treat anxiety or sleep problems, but dangerous when used in combination with alcohol because they can cause respiratory depression
In order to test for self-consciousness in animals, a colored mark is painted on their face and then they are placed in front of a ___________ to see how they behave
Mirror
Among people who are highly susceptible to hypnosis, brain activity during hypnosis is _____ compared to what it is when they just imagine events.
More active
What happens when you are deprived from slow-wave sleep (3 & 4)?
More physical effects; few nights leave people tired, fatigued, and hypersensitive to muscle and bone pain
What happens during REM sleep to the motor cortex and spinal neurons?
Motor cortex is activated, but spinal neurons running through brain stem inhibit expression of motor activation; prevents us from acting out every dream AND to prevent us from hurting ourselves during dreams
Jen falls asleep suddenly, when she is trying to study, work or even to talk on the telephone. Jen would probably be diagnosed with:
Narcolepsy
Renee suffers from a sleep disorder that runs in her family. Although her medication is working effectively, she still avoids driving cars, in case she suffers an attack of _____.
Narcolepsy
______ are drugs derived from opium that are capable of relieving pain
Narcotics
Circadian rhythm
Naturally occurring 24-hour life cycle
Psychoactive drugs influence consciousness by altering the effects of
Neurotransmitters
Fran's 4-year-old son woke up around 9 PM. He was crying and in a panic, but did not remember the episode when asked about it in the morning. It is likely that Fran's son experienced a(n) _____.
Night terror
______ are abrupt awakenings accompanied by panic and intense emotional arousal
Night terrors
Is opium a stimulant?
No
Is consciousness just limited to full and minimal consciousness?
No -> There are different levels of consciousness
Are the areas of the brain responsible for visual perception active during dreaming?
No, but visual association areas in occipital lobe DO show activiation
Is sleep expendable?
No; Robert Stickgold and colleagues found that when people learning a difficult task are kept up all night after finishing practicing the task, their learning of the task is wiped out
Do people get hooked on psychoactive drugs the first time they use it?
No; experiment a few times and then try again, and eventually find tendency to use drug increases over time
Are hallucinogens likely to be addictive?
No; main class of drugs that animals won't work to self-administer, so they're not likely to be addictive
Are the brain's activities and the activities of the conscious mind simultaneous? AKA what comes first: brain activity or thinking?
No; the brain's activities precede the activities of the conscious mind
Is the addiction potential of marijuana strong?
No; tolerance does not seem to develop and physical withdrawal symptoms are minimal
As people become _____, they tend to need fewer hours of sleep.
Older
What are examples of narcotics?
Opium, heroin, morphine, methadone, codeine
Amphetamines (speed, methedrine, dexedrine)
Originally prepared for medicinal uses like diet drugs, but are widely abused and cause insomnia, aggression, and paranoia with long-term use
Rachel has been reading about consciousness in her psychology class. She has been thinking about how it is impossible to really know if those around her are really conscious and feel things in the same ways that she does. This is known in psychology as the problem of _____.
Other minds
What is an example of a study of dichotic listening?
Participants are instructed to repeat aloud words heard in one ear while a different message was presented to the other ear; focusing on words coming from one ear == noticed little of the words coming from other ear AKA consciousness filters out some information
What evidence shows that the unconscious mind is a good decision maker?
Participants asked to choose which of three hypothetical people with different qualities would be preferred as roommate Conscious decision -> Given four mins Immediate decision -> Right away Unconscious decision -> Solved anagrams for four mins and then asked for an answer === showed stronger preference for good roommate
What happens during the second stage?
Patterns interrupted by short bursts of activity known as sleep spindles and K complexes and the sleeper becomes more difficult to awaken
Cocktail-party phenomenon
People tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby; selectively tune in to other information
Alcohol expectancy refers to
People's beliefs about how alcohol will influence them in particular situations
Somnambulism (sleepwalking)
Person rises and walks around while asleep
What are the prefrontal areas associated with?
Planning and executing actions; dreams often seem unplanned and rambling
Marijuana/cannabis
Plant whose leaves and buds contain a psychoactive drug called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
Mary saw a hypnotist as part of a smoking cessation program. While Mary was hypnotized, the hypnotist suggested that she forget the name of her dog. When she went home, she could not remember the dog's name. This is an example of:
Posthypnotic amnesia
Hypnopompic state
Postsleep consciousness
Dreams are often unplanned and rambling. This may be connected to the low level of activation that occurs in the _______________.
Prefrontal cortex
How do drugs alter the functioning of neurotransmitters?
Prevent them from bonding to sites on postsynaptic neuron, by inhibiting reuptake to presynaptic neuron, or by enhancing boding and transmission
What are effects of hallucinogens?
Profound changes in perception; sensations are intense, stationary objects may seem to move or change, patterns or colors may appear, and these perceptions may be accompanied by exaggerated emotions
Carl has decided to quit smoking. After two weeks, he has finally managed to get over his feelings of panic and nausea that came from quitting. Although these have subsided, he still often craves cigarettes. This demonstrates that Carl has _____ dependence on cigarettes.
Psychological
Is marijuana more of an addiction or a psychological dependency?
Psychological dependency; marijuana abuse and dependence has been linked with increased risk of depression, anxiety, and other forms of psychopathology
What are the bodily effects of REM sleep?
Pulse quickens, blood pressure rises, signs of sexual arousal; measurements of muscle movements indicate the sleeper is very still except for rapid side-to-side movement of the eyes
How did researchers test if chimps can recognize themselves in the mirror?
Put odorless red dye over eyebrow and watched when awakened chimp was then presented with a mirror -> The chimp reached toward its OWN eye suggesting it recognized the image as a reflection of itself
Nicotine
Puzzle because it has almost nothing to recommend to the newcomer; motivated more by unpleasantness of quitting than by the pleasantness of using Positive effects of relaxation and improved concentration come from relief from withdrawal symptoms
What is the fifth stage of sleep?
REM Sleep
What does the brain do that show it values something about REM sleep?
REM deprivation causes a rebound of more REM sleep the next night
A study investigating hypnosis found that a person who is hypnotized appears to register what the hypnotist has asked and experiences the suggestion as _____.
Real
What did EEG recordings of sleeping tell us about sleep?
Regular pattern of changes in electrical activity in the brain accompanying the circadian cycle
Experience-sampling technique
Report conscious experiences at particular times Ex: Asked to record current thoughts when asked at random times during the day
What is an example of the cocktail-party phenomenon in dichotic listening?
Research participants are especially likely to notice if their own name is spoken into the unattended ear
Unity
Resistance to division; ability to integrate information from all of your body's senses into one coherent whole
Harm reduction approach
Response to high-risk behaviors that focuses on reducing the harm such behaviors have on people's lives
What did the skin conductance level (SCL) test show?
SCL sensors attached to fingers indicated when sweat appeared on their skin -> indication that they were thinking about something distressing When asked about spikes in SCL at certain times == current concern popped into mind (current concerns often corresponded with emotional bang aka spike in SCL even if they weren't emotional at all)
Why does the US government classify marijuana as?
Schedule I Controlled Substance; no medical use and maintaining that marijuana has the same high potential for abuse as other drugs like heroin
Barbiturates
Seconal or Nembutal; sleep aids and anesthetics before surgery
Endorphins
Secreted in pituitary gland as response to injury or exertion, create natural remedy (like runner's high_ that reduces pain and increases feelings of well-being
What is the effect of depressants?
Sedative or calming effect; induce sleep in high does; arrest breathing in extremely high doses
What do animals that can't recognize themselves in mirrors do when they see a mirror?
Seem mystified by a mirror; ignore it or act as though there is some other critter back there
Jon can focus on the television while ignoring a conversation with his father. This ability refers to the property of consciousness called _____.
Selectivity
The property of consciousness that refers to the capacity to include some objects but not others is known as
Selectivity
Whenever Hakim is at a party, he generally does not hear all of the conversations around him. However, if someone suddenly says Hakim's name while talking with someone else, his attention shifts to that conversation. The ability to tune out background noise and pay attention to only certain stimuli refers to what aspect of consciousness?
Selectivity
Hallucinogens are drugs that affect ________ and perception and often cause hallucinations
Sensation
What kind of neurons can ecstasy cause damage to?
Serotonin neurons
What are some of the most common neurotransmitters?
Serotonin, dopamine, gammaminobutyric acid (GABA), acetylcholine
What does the prefrontal cortex do during REM sleep?
Shows less arousal than it does during waking consciousness
Who was the true champion of the unconscious mind?
Sigmund Freud
Sheri sometimes has an experience upon waking during which she has the feeling of pressure on her chest and cannot move. She has likely been diagnosed with
Sleep paralysis
What have researchers found when using an eelctrooculograph on sleepers?
Sleepers wakened during REM periods have dreams much more often than those wakened during non-REM periods
What are some problems caused by sleeping pills?
Sleeping pills are addictive and people become dependent on pills and may need to increase dose over time to achieve the same effect Interfere with normal sleep cycle (reduce proportion of time spent in REM and slow-wave sleep) -> quality of sleep is lessened Stopping use can produce even worse insomnia
Hypnosis
Social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) makes suggestions that lead to a change in the other person (the subject's) subjective experience of the world
What are the five stages of sleep?
Stage 1 (theta waves) -> Stage 2 (sleep spindles; K complexes) -> Stage 3/Stage 4 (delta) -> REM sleep (fast, random)
What are the deepest stages of sleep?
Stages 3 & 4; slow-wave sleep; EEG patterns sow delta waves; lowest frequencies
What do fMRI results show about mental work done during daydreaming?
Still show widespread pattern of activation in many areas of the brain == DEFAULT NETWORK
Drugs that heighten arousal and activity levels by affecting the central nervous system are
Stimulants
What is the allure of altered consciousness?
Strangely attractive to go through stage of consciousness that departs from the norm; begin as pleasant and spark initial attraction
Psychological dependence
Strong desire to return to drug even when physical withdrawal symptoms are gone; created an emotional need over time that continues to prey on mind
Stimulants
Substances that excite central nervous system, heightening arousal and activity levels
Depressants
Substances that reduce the activity of central nervous system
Hypnic jerk
Sudden quiver or sensation of dropping, like missing a stair in a staircase, that occurs sometimes during the hypnagogic sate
Narcolepsy
Sudden sleep attacks occur in middle of waking activities
How can the unconscious mind act as a mental butler?
Takes over background tasks that are too tedious, subtle, or bothersome for consciousness to trifle with
Drug tolerance
Tendency for larger drug doses to be required over time to achieve the same effect
Rebound effect of thought suppression
Tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression; mental control is very difficult
Transience
Tendency to change; mind incessantly wanders like a STREAM
Zombie
Term used by philosophers to describe someone who can talk about experiences and seemingly react to them, but may not be having any inner experience at all
The following evidence supports the idea that hypnosis is a real altered state of consciousness EXCEPT that:
The ability to recover lost memories
Selectivity
The capacity to include some objects but not others Mind makes decisions about which pieces of information to include and which to exclude
The cycle of sleep and waking is one of the major patterns of human life called
The circadian rhythm
Why is consciousness a stream?
The conscious mind has a limited capacity; humans can only hold so much information and so when more info is selected, some of what is currently there must disappear
What is the consciousness next dominated by (after immediate environment)?
The current concerns of a person
Mind-body problem
The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body
What do we know now that differs from Descartes' proposition?
The mind is what the brain does -> AKA the mind and brain are connected everywhere to each other
What have researchers found about conscious attention?
The object of your consciousness at any one moment is just a small part of the world (also this idea of "filling in") == this limitation is described in the other three properties of consciousness: unity, selectivity, and transience
What happens to the periods of REM as the night goes on?
The periods last longer and lighter sleep stages predominate with deeper slow-wave stages 3 and 4 disappearing halfway through the night
What did Descartes suggest was the area in which the mind has its effects on the brain and body?
The pineal gland, a small structure located near the center of the brain
What do fMRIs tell us about why dreams don't have coherent storylines?
The prefrontal cortex is NOT active and there is thus no ability to plan storylines
Intentionality
The quality of being directed toward an object; consciousness is always ABOUT something
Hypnotic analgesia
The reduction of pain through hypnosis in people who are susceptible to hypnosis
What is anandamide involved in?
The regulation of mood, memory, appetite, and pain perception and has been found temporarily to stimulate overeating in animals
Jessie has been playing softball for a few months with a new team, and for some reason she always seems to swing the bat too early and hits foul balls. She is trying very hard to be conscious of her form when she swings the bat. However, by putting all this thought and caution into it, she seems to be hitting even more foul balls. This can be explained by:
The theory of ironic processes of mental control
What happens to brain's endorphin receptors when people use narcotics?
They are artificially flooded; reduce future receptor effectiveness and also depress the productions of endorphines
What have researchers found about memories that have been lost under hypnosis?
They can only be retrieved through hypnosis
Subliminal perception
Thought or behavior is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving
What topics come up most when the default network is being used aka when we are daydreaming?
Thoughts about social life, about the self, about past and future
What happens with long-term use of narcotics?
Tolerance and dependence; also increase rates of HIV because administered through syringe
What does psychology have the unique challenge of doing?
Trying to make sense of SUBJECTS as opposed to the objects studied in the other sciences Ex: Try to understand what it is like to be a human whereas a physicist doesn't care about what it's like to be a neuron
Carolina was trying to make an objective decision about which college was the best for her. According to the text, she would be MOST likely to accurately choose the best school by making a(n) _____ decision.
Unconscious
During dreaming, the dreamer ________ changes in emotion, thought, and sensation
Uncritically accepts
Currently, unconscious processes are understood as
Unexperienced mental processes that give rise to thoughts and behavior
A person who does not think that they can be hypnotized is ______ to be susceptible and a person who is easily absorbed in activities is _______ to be hypnotizable
Unlikely; likely
What are withdrawal symptoms of cocaine?
Unpleasant crash; dangerous side effects including insomnia, depression, aggression, and paranoia; physical problems like death from heart attack or hyperthermia
Joey wanted to systematically measure conscious experiences at certain times. The BEST method to do so would be to:
Use the experience sampling technique aka report conscious experiences throughout the day
What sense is present in all dreams?
Visual events; very few auditory sensations, even fewer tactile and almost no smells or tastes
What happens to the mind and external sensations during dream mode that is different from that of waking consciousness?
Waking consciousness: mind is devoted to interpreting lots of info that arrives through the senses In dream state: mind has no access to external sensations, bu continues to interpret info which now comes from neural activations that occur without continuity provided by perception of reality so brain's interpretive mechanisms can now run free
When does sleep paralysis normally occur?
Waking from REM sleep, but before regaining motor control; only lasts a few seconds or minutes and can be accompanied by hypnopompic (awakening) or hypnagogic (falling asleep) hallucinations in which dream content may appear to occur in the waking world
What are some therapies for sleep apnea?
Weight loss, drugs, sleep masks that push air into nasal passage, surgery
Current concerns
What a person is thinking about repeatedly
When do people go out of their way to avoid mirrors?
When they are self-conscious because mirrors make people self-critical
What is an example of full consciousness?
When you hurt your leg and realize that it hurts Minimal consciousness: hurt leg and the mindlessly rub it -> aware of pain BUT not fully conscious of it
Example of minimal consciousness
When you sense sun coming through the window, you might turn towards the window
When does the default network become activated?
Whenever people worked on a mental task so well that they could daydream while doing it
Physical dependence
Withdrawal symptom of addictive drugs; pain, convulsions, hallucinations and other unpleasant symptoms accompany withdrawal
What did sleep researchers William Dement and Nathaniel Kleitman find about REM sleep?
Woke volunteers either 5 or 15 mins after onset of REM sleep and asked them to judge on basis of remembered dream, how long they had been dreaming === most were accurate AKA dreaming occurs in "real time"
Is it safe to wake a sleepwalker?
Yes
Does selectivity work even in other states besides waking consciousness?
Yes; selectivity works the same way in other states; people are more sensitive to their own name than others' names even during sleep
Full consciousness
You know and are able to report your mental state; aware having a mental state while experiencing the mental state itself
Research on pain control provides evidence that hypnosis is a different state of _________________
consciousness
Research suggests that if Karin reaches to pick something up:
her conscious awareness of deciding to reach occurred because of her brain activity.
The circadian rhythm is a naturally occurring cycle that lasts _______ and influences sleeping and waking
hours
Sarah does not have her usual after-dinner martini, and she begins to shake and feel nauseous. These symptoms might indicate that Sarah:
is physically dependent on drinking alcohol
When do night terrors coccur?
non-REM sleep early in the sleep cycle and do not normally have dream content
Christopher has an exam on the nervous system the following day and he does not know anything about the topic. Which method of studying will MOST likely result in the best score on the test?
studying for a few hours and getting plenty of sleep
Many mental processes occur under the radar of human awareness. That is, ______________
the unconscious
