States of Consciousness

1. States of Consciousness

2. Consciousness • Is our awareness of ourselves and our environment. • Allows one to think and plan • Enables concentration • Jake doesn’t agree with this formulation…

3. Waking Consciousness • Selective Attention – the limited aspect of experience that we focus our attention on. • Dichotomoue hearing; cocktail party effect • Can you sing along with the radio when you drive? • Daydreams & Fantasies – • Bad when escapist and counterproductive • Adaptive when relieving boredom, problem solving, or a coping method.

4. Sleep and Dreams • Circadian Rythyms – biological clock set for 24 hour period. • Melatonin – produced in darkness, and slows biological activity.

5. Sleep Stages • Awake and relaxed – alpha waves • Stage 1 Sleep – ca. 5 min, hallucinations (perception w/o sensation) • Stage 2 – ca. 20 min, sleep spindles (bursts of brainwave activity) • Stage 3 – transition, a few minutes • Stage 4 – delta waves • Stages 3 & 4 are slow wave sleep and are difficult to awaken people from • REM – paradoxical sleep

6. REM • After about an hour of sleep return to stage 1: REM • Lasts about 10 minutes • Cycle repeats every 90 minutes • Genital arousal ‘always’ occurs • Brainstem blocks messages to muscles

7. Why Sleep? • Growth hormone released • Low sleep: poor attention • Tissue repair – lowers body temperature • So we don’t run into (or off of) stuff in the dark

8. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia – persistent problems falling or staying asleep • Sleep Apnea – stop breathing during night; snoring • Narcolepsy – spontaneously fall asleep • Night terrors – occur during stage 4 sleep, not REM

9. Dreams • Might put together information from the day (manifest content: the storyline) • Might be subconscious desires, conflicts that would be unsafe to express otherwise (latent content) • Freud’s interpretation of dreams… (1900) • REM rebound – when deprived of REM you will return more and more rapidly to REM sleep

10. Hypnosis • Facts & Falsehoods – you cannot recall more accurately in hypnosis • you can separate awareness • some people are more hypnotizeable than others • can alleviate pain • Hypnosis may be an authority effect – remember Stanley Milgram?

11. Drugs • Dependence & Addiction • Tolerance – with use effects diminish, so you gotta take more to get the same effect • Withdrawal – pain after cessation of administration • Physical dependence – characterized by withdrawal • Psychological dependence – drug becomes an important part of person’s life, often as a way of relieving negative emotions

12. Psychoactive Drugs • Depressants (alcohol, barbiturates, opiates) – reduce neural activity & slow body functions • Stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, nose candy) – excite neural activity & speed up body functions • Hallucinogens (weed, LSD, shrooms, X) – distort perception & evoke sensory images w/o input from environment • X is real bad! – triggers dopamine release (reinforcing use); triggers release of serotonin & prevents reuptake • X can break your brain. Serotonin receptors can be damaged, which can result in depressed mood, interference in circadian rhythms, suppress immune system, inhibit memory & cognitive functions

13. Influences on Drug Use • Genetics • Culture

14. NDE • Near Death Experience (more accurately, “I came back from the dead” experience) • About 1/3 people who die and come back experience NDEs, not everyone • Stable across cultures and time • Explained by oxygen deprivation • People who experience isolation/extreme conditions also have ‘mystic experiences’

15. Monism or Dualism • Monism – there is no mind, just brain • Dualism – mind and brain are distinct (but not necessarily separate) • Both have problems that are very difficult to address, but most biopsychologists take a monistic stance.

16. References • Myers, D. (2005). Exploring Psychology (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. • www.crystalinks.com/ reality.html