Chapter 4 Consciousness Scope of Consciousness Consciousness awareness

Chapter 4: Consciousness

Scope of Consciousness • Consciousness – awareness of external stimuli & our own mental activity. • State of Consciousness – consciousness at any moment. • Conscious Level – mental activities accessible to awareness. • Non-conscious Level – mental processes that are totally inaccessible to conscious awareness. • Preconscious Level – mental events that are not currently conscious but can become conscious at will. • Unconscious – mental activity which an individual is unaware. – Freud said it contained unacceptable sexual, aggressive & other impulses. • Subconscious – influential, but normally inaccessible, mental processes take place.

Altered States of Consciousness • Altered State of Consciousness – A condition that exists when changes in mental processes are extensive enough to produce noticeable differences in psychological & behavioral functioning. – Waking consciousness used as baseline to compare “altered” states too. – Judgments about altered states vary culturally. (Hallucinations)

Sleeping and Dreaming During sleep we alternate between REM and non-REM – Rapid eye movement • Lasts a few minutes up to an hour, average about 30 - 45 min. , gets longer and more frequent during the night. – Electrical patterns resemble being fully awake. – Time dreaming occurs – Called “paradoxical sleep” – Body movement Non-REM – non- rapid eye movement – Periods of less eye movement – Non-REM is divided into 4 stages: • Feel self drifting on the edge of consciousness • Sleeping soundly, not usually awakened by minor noises. • Brain waves, breathing, pulse have slowed considerably • Deep sleep & are difficult to awaken; sleepwalking or talking occurs • Then you move back 4, 3, 2 but instead of going into stage 1 you enter REM.

• Sleep Patterns change w/ age & by individuals • Infant sleeps 16 hrs. • 70 yr. old sleeps 6 hrs. • REM makes up ½ of sleep of newborns • REM makes up ¼ of sleep in young adults Sleep Disorders • Insomnia – feel daytime fatigue due to trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. – Associated w/ depressive & anxiety disorders. – 3 x’s more likely to have mental disorders. – Treatments = short term sleeping pills & long term learning based treatment seems best.

Sleep Disorders (con’t) • Narcolepsy – abruptly enters REM sleep directly from the waking state. – People 15 – 25 yrs. Usually during some emotional state. – Cause seems to be a deficiency of orexin; a neurotransmitter. – Treatments= regular naps and stimulant drugs help. • Sleep Apnea – briefly stop breathing hundreds of times each night, waking each time to breath. – Feel tired & have headaches, reduced attention, learning difficulties. – Causes = genetic predisposition, obesity, problems w/ brain mechanism that controls of breathing.

Sleep Disorders (con’t) • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) – infants stop breathing & die – 2 of 1000 infants, usually of low birth weight. – Causes = problems w/ brain stem regulation of breathing, cigarette smoke, genetic causes and sleeping face down. • Sleepwalking – in non-REM sleep & childhood • Nightmares – frightening REM dreams – Occur in 4 – 8% of people, highest in PTSD sufferers. • Night Terrors – horrific dream images during stage 4 sleep. – Awaken w/ a bloodcurdling scream & remain intensely afraid for up to 30 min. • REM Behavior Disorder – near paralysis of REM doesn’t occur. – Sleepers move as if acting out their dreams, can be dangerous. – Drug treatments usually effective.

Why Do People Sleep? Circadian Rhythm • Set of behaviors, cycles every 24 hrs. (sleeping, eating, urination, hormone release, etc. ) • Effected by light of day & dark of night but continues in their absence. • Sleep-Wake Cycle Disruption – Jet-lag – air travel across multiple time zones; • Causes fatigue, irritability, inattention & sleeping problems, lasts several days. • Night Shift, going to bed earlier to catch up • Length of Rhythm varies by individuals • Suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of hypothalamus – Internal clock. Receives light info. from eyes. – Regulates melatonin to maintain CR.

Functions of Sleep Deprivation causes: • Fatigue, irritability, inattention, learning is hindered, increase in work mishaps, car accidents. Sleep results: • Restores the body, the brain, consolidates memories of new information; happens during non-REM.

Dreaming Brain Dreams – brain activity during sleep is experienced as the story-like sensations & perceptions. – Most dreams occur during REM. – Its rare for a person to transform into an object. Lucid Dreaming – awareness of dreams while dreaming. Why we dream? – Analyze & consolidate information that is personally important or has survival value. – Freud, dreams are a disguised form of “wish fulfillment, ” a way to satisfy unconscious urges or resolve unconscious conflicts too upsetting to deal w/ consciously.

Hypnosis • Hypnosis – an altered state of consciousness brought on by special techniques & produces responsiveness to suggestions for changes in experience or behavior – More open you are to it the more likely you are to be hypnotized. • Hypnotic Susceptibility – degree to which a person will respond to hypnotic suggestions. – Susceptible people tend to have common traits: • • Active imaginations, fantasize, capacity to process information quickly & easily, suggestible & positive attitude towards hypnosis. Effects can be extended for hrs, days by posthypnotic suggestions. – Main changes; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tend not to begin actions on their own Ignore all but the hypnotist’s voice & whatever it points out Enhances the ability to fantasize Readily take on roles Reduced reality testing, don’t question things or statements.

Explaining Hypnosis • State theory – notable changes in brain activity that occurs & dramatic effects hypnosis can produce. • Role theory – participants are playing a role of the situation. Not actually hypnotized. – – – Non-hypnotized people can show signs of being Hypn. Motivation cause similar behaviors. People who have been rendered blind or deaf by Hypn. can still hear and see. • Dissociative theory – not an altered state but a general condition that temporarily reorganizes or breaks down our normal control over thoughts and actions. – Participant has agreed to relinquish control or share control w/ the hypnotist. – Imaging studies shows the ability to dissociate behavior greater in those who are more susceptible to hypnosis.

Applications of Hypnosis • Useful – w/ pain; dental work, childbirth, burns, surgery, chronic pain. – Can eliminate diarrhea, reduce nausea & vomiting due to chemotherapy, speed postoperative recovery. • Some are controversial: – Aid memory, recall details of crime, etc.

Psychoactive Drugs • Psychopharmacology – study of psychoactive drugs. • Psychoactive Drugs – drugs that affect the brain, changing consciousness and other psychological processes. – Alters interactions between neurotransmitters & their receptors – Blood-brain barrier – feature of blood vessels in brain that prevents substances from getting into blood stream. – Agonists – bind to receptors & imitate or mimic normal neurotransmitters. – Antagonists – similar enough to bind to NT but not mimic, just block normal NT. – Other drugs will increase or decrease the release of specific NT. – Some work by speeding or slowing removal of NT from synapses. – Brain can compensate by producing more receptors sites.

Drug Effects Vary • Substance Abuse – Pattern of use that causes serious social, legal, or interpersonal problems for the user. – Psychological dependence – need drug for sense of wellbeing & preoccupied w/ trying to get it. – Physical dependence (Addiction) – a strong craving for drug & drug necessary to prevent withdrawal syndromes. • Can develop in anyone, very easily, w/o our awareness • Addictive drugs stimulate “pleasure centers, ” dopamine areas – Withdrawal Symptoms – intense desire for drug, physical effects generally opposite to those of drug itself. – Tolerance – ever larger doses required to produce same effect.

Expectations & Drug Effects • Effects not determined by biochemistry alone. • Expectations play a role, act according to what we believe to be the effects of a drug. – Develop from watching people, what they see differs by individual & culture. – Learned expectations contribute to effects of heroin, cocaine & marijuana.