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EEG Activity to Variations in Consciousness

EEG Activity to Variations in Consciousness. Which type of wave would an EEG detect if you… _____ 1. Are playing a video game. _____ 2. Are deep in meditation. _____ 3. Have just fallen asleep. _____ 4. Are sleepwalking across the lawn. _____ 5. Are in the midst of a terrible nightmare.

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EEG Activity to Variations in Consciousness

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  1. EEG Activity to Variations in Consciousness • Which type of wave would an EEG detect if you… _____ 1. Are playing a video game. _____ 2. Are deep in meditation. _____ 3. Have just fallen asleep. _____ 4. Are sleepwalking across the lawn. _____ 5. Are in the midst of a terrible nightmare.

  2. Hypnosis Today’s Goal: Discuss theories of hypnosis, noting the behavior of hypnotized people and claims regarding its uses.

  3. Mesmerism • Claimed to cure illnesses by a “laying on of hands” • “Animal magnetism”

  4. Hypnotism • Systematic procedure that produces heightened state of suggestibility • Two parts • Hypnotic induction • Subject told to relax, concentrate, or focus attention • Hypnotic suggestions

  5. Hypnotic Suggestibility = Degree to which people respond to hypnotic suggestions • 10% of adults are difficult or impossible to hypnotize • Highly “susceptible” individuals report vivid hypnotic experiences • Willingness is most important factor

  6. True or False? • People in hypnosis lose control and can be made to do whatever the hypnotist wants. • People may not be able to come out of hypnosis. • Hypnosis only affects weak-willed or gullible people. • Hypnosis reliably enhances the accuracy of memory. • Hypnosis enables people to re-experience a past life. • Hypnosis depends primarily on the skill of the hypnotist. • Relaxation is an important part of hypnosis. All of these statements are false.

  7. Posthypnotic suggestion • Instructions about behavior to take place after hypnotic experience (i.e. smiling whenever someone says “England”) • Posthypnotic amnesia • Inability to recall what happened while hypnotized

  8. Ernest Hilgard (1965, 1992) • Hypnotized people show reduced planfulness Waited for hypnotist’s instructions before acting • Attention is redistributed Ignore all but the hypnotist’s voice • Ability to fantasize More vivid imagination • Increased role taking More easily act like person of different age or gender • Reduced reality testing Not to question if statements are true, more willing to accept apparent distortions of reality

  9. Altered State of Consciousness? • State theory = yes • Notable changes in brain activity during hypnosis • Insensitivity to pain, disappearance of warts

  10. Altered State of Consciousness? • Role theory = no • Changes in brain activity can also be created without hypnosis • Merely complying with social demands • Socially acceptable reason to follow suggestions • Evidence to support role theory • Non-hypnotized people display behaviors associated with hypnosis

  11. Altered State of Consciousness? • Hilgard’s Dissociation Theory = yes and no • Not a specific state, but instead a split in consciousness (dissociation) • Body movements under voluntary control can occur on their own, involuntary processes can be controlled voluntarily • Social agreement to share control w/hypnotist

  12. Altered State of Consciousness? • Evidence to support dissociation • Brain imaging == ability to dissociate mental processes greater in people who are more hypnotically susceptible • “ice water” study = told to feel no pain, felt almost none • “hidden observer” outside of conscious awareness

  13. Applications of Hypnosis • Alleviation of pain • Hypnotherapy • Reduce symptoms (nausea, headaches, arthritis, skin disorders, etc.) • Effective for obesity • Does NOT work for drug addictions • Aid in memory?  not accurate • Does NOT cause people to act against their will

  14. Meditation • Intended to create altered state of consciousness characterized by inner peace & tranquility • Bring mental processes under greater voluntary control • Yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation (TM) • mantras

  15. Meditation • Physiological correlates • Alpha waves and theta waves become more prominent in EEG recordings • Heart rate, skin conductance, breathing, oxygen consumption/CO2 elimination all decline • However, lowered bodily arousal and changes in brain activity could be likely due to simple relaxation effects

  16. Long-Term Benefits of Meditation – View With Caution • Reduce effects of stress • Lower levels of “stress hormones” & enhanced immune response • Improve mental health while reducing anxiety • Beneficial effects on self-esteem, mood • Improves concentration and awareness?

  17. Altered States of Consciousness • Biofeedback training (BFT) system that provides or “feeds back” info about a bodily function (i.e. heart rate) • Combat stress, tension, anxiety • Use EEG and EMG (electromyograph)

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