Download What is consciousness?

What is consciousness?
Our awareness of ourselves and our
environment
If time is nature’s way of keeping
everything from happening at once,
then consciousness is nature’s way of
keeping us from thinking and doing
everything at once.
Consciousness:
it cannot be observed or measured
William James- consciousness is as the stream of
thought; James said even though we see people
out walking around we cannot actually measure
their consciousness
John B. Watson- founder of Behaviorismquestioned studying consciousness, he focused
on observable behaviors
Robert Sternberg- cognitive school- consciousness
is mental reality that we create in order to adapt
to our world
Consciousness
Consciousness was viewed like a car’s
speedometer- “It doesn’t make the car go, it
just reflects what’s happening”
Today….
Most psychologists believe consciousness can be
studied because it is linked with measurable
behaviors, like talking and brain waves.
Consciousness is a psychological construct- like
intelligence and emotion; none of them can
be seen, touched or measured directly
Meanings of Consciousness
Consciousness means awareness:
• Consciousness as Sensory Awareness- being
conscious of sensations, sights, sounds, and
smells, you are conscious of things outside your
body (selective attention = focus on a particular
stimuli)
• Consciousness as Direct Inner Awareness- being
aware of things inside yourself; thoughts
emotions, images, memories
• Conscious as Sense of Self- we are aware of
ourselves and our existence; we are unique
individuals, separate from other people
Levels of Consciousness
• Preconscious Level- ideas not in your awareness
right not, but you could recall them if you had to
• Unconscious Level- Sigmund Freud believed we
all have this, sometimes called the subconscious,
it is unavailable to awareness mostly, information
is hidden (Freud thinks we use defense
mechanisms to push painful memories into our
unconsciousness)
• Nonconscious Level- basic biological functions
exist here; you cannot sense your nails growing
Freud’s Levels of Consciousness
CONSCIOUS LEVEL
Perceptions
Thoughts
PRECONSCIOUS LEVEL
Memories
Stored Knowledge
UNCONSCIOUS LEVEL
Selfish needs
Violent motives
Immoral urges Fears
Irrational Wishes
Shameful Experiences Unacceptable Desires
Daydreams and Fantasies
• Jerome L. Singer- nearly everyone has daydreams or waking
fantasies everyday- on the job, in the classroom- almost anywhere
or anytime
• Compared with older adults, young adults spend more time
daydreaming
• Mostly familiar details of our lives
• Help us prepare for future events by keeping us aware of our
unfinished business and giving us the chance to mentally rehearse
• For children- daydreaming of imaginative play nourishes social and
cognitive development
• Daydreams may also substitute for impulsive behavior
• Daydreams and fantasies are a constructive part of everyone’s
repertoire of behaviors. Daydreams may release tensions, increase
creativity, illuminate solutions to problems and even lesson
boredom
Sleep and Dreams
We spend about 1/3 of our lives asleep!
• Biological Rhythms- periodic physiological fluctuations:
– annual cycles: birds migrate, bears hibernate, humans have
seasonal variations (seasonal affective disorder)
– 28-day cycles: female menstrual cycle
– 24-day cycles: cycles of varying alertness, body temp. and
growth hormone, even birds need sleep!
– 90-minute cycles: we cycle through various stages of sleep
• Circadian Rhythm- biological clocks (circa dies- about a
day), regular bodily rhythms (temperature and
wakefulness) that occur on a 24 hour cycle. Most studied
circadian rhythm is that of the sleep/wake cycle
It is true that if it were not for cues such as the sunrise and sunset, people
would act as if a day were 25 hours long. Because of Earth’s rotation, a day is
24 hours. For reasons not fully understood, however, people bay be more
suited for a 25 hour day.
The Stages of Sleep
We sleep in cyclical stages, defined in terms of brain-wave patterns , which can be
measured by an EEG. (Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta). EEG recording confirm that the brain’s
auditory cortex responds to sound stimuli even during sleep….
We process most information outside our conscious awareness
• Beta Waves- awake and alert, short and quick waves, as we relax beta  slower alpha
waves (when we experience visual images such as flashes of color or sensations like we are
falling)
• Stage 1- lightest sleep, alpha theta waves, we can awake and recall images, feel like
we haven’t fallen asleep. Feel like hallucinations- sensory experiences that occur without
sensory stimulus (if not awakened stay in stage 1 for 30-40 min.)
• Stage 2- sleep spindles, bursts of rapid rhythmic brainwave activity, sleep talking can
occur here or any other stages
• Stage 3, 4- (slow wave sleep) sleep is deep, brain produces Delta waves (slowest of the
4 patterns), stage 4 is deepest sleep, we would be hard to wake up; end of deep sleep stage
4 when children wet the bed or begin sleep walking (stage 4 for 1 hour or so then back
to…3… REM
• After about 90 mins of sleep REM
• 1-2-3-4-3-2-REM(sometimes called stage 5)- after REM you either wake up or go in to
stage 2-3-4-3-2-REM …. 90 min. cycle repeats itself about 5 times a night
Sleep Cycle
Brain Waves and Sleep Stages
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
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Brain waves are similar to that of stage 1
Breathing irregularly
Blood pressure rises
Heart beats faster
Eyes move rapidly under our lids
REM sleep is where we dream vividly!
When REM starts, snoring stops!
Sometimes called Paradoxical Sleep- the body is
internally aroused and externally calm
• Stages 1-4 are NREM
Why do we sleep?
• Not everyone needs 8 hours of sleep
• Newborns- 2/3 day asleep, adults 1/3
• Having a few 5 hour night sleeps will not be paid off by
one good night’s rest of 10 hours, our brain keeps a
sleep debt for at least 2 weeks
• A large sleep debt makes you stupid- 80% of students
are sleep deprived!
• Millions are sleep deprived and living less than optimal
life and performing at a less than optimal level, causes
depress immune stem, impaired concentration, and
higher risk for accidents
• People who get enough sleep outlive the sleep
deprived
So…what does sleep do?
• Sleep protects (darkness was dangerous-hide in a
cave and sleep!)
• Sleep recuperates- restores body tissues,
especially the brain. Sleep is food for the brain!
• Sleep helps the growth process-pituitary gland
releases growth hormone during sleep. Adults
spend less time in deep sleep, thus less growth
hormone
• We wont remember taped information played to
us during our sleep!
Sleep Disorders
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Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Sleep Apnea
Nightmares and Night Terrors
Sleep Walking
Insomnia
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in somnus
“not” “sleep”
Persistent problems in falling, or staying asleep
Quick fixes like sleeping pills and alcohol make
the problem worse and reduce REM sleep (see
remedies on p.279)
Insomnia worsens by trying to fall asleep
Occasional insomnia is common and is not
necessarily a problem, it is a problem when it
continues for long periods of time
Narcolepsy
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narco lepsy
“numbness” “seizure”
Periodic, overwhelming sleepiness, suddenly fall asleep
no matter what time it is or where they are
A brain disease, rare, sleep problem, one minute
awake, next minute immediately in REM sleep
Lasts about 5 minutes
Cause? Absence of a hypothalmic neural center that
produces a neurotransmitter called hypocretin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MBCeKn0Oeo
Sleep Apnea
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apnea
“with no breath”
Intermittently stop breathing during sleep
1 in 20 people (mostly overweight men)
Unaware they have it
Sometimes comes with snoring
Leads to high blood pressure, heart attacks
and strokes
Nightmares & Night Terrors
• Nightmares- products of REM sleep usually during the
morning hours, scary dreams
• Night Terrors- (sleep terrors) sever, person might sit up
or walk around, talk incoherently, experience a
doubling of heart and breathing rates, and appear
terrified. NOT nightmares. Usually occur during first
few hours of Stage 4 Sleep; mostly happens to children
• Sleep walking and talking- occur in families, stage 4
sleep, young children have the deepest and longest
stage 4 sleep, so they have more night terrors and
more sleep walking
Sleep Walking/ Sleep Talking
• occur in families
• stage 4 sleep
• young children have the deepest and longest
stage 4 sleep, so they have more night terrors
and more sleep walking
Dreams
“hallucinations of the sleeping mind”
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During REM sleep
Black/ white or color; vivid; clear
Lucid dreams- knowing you are in a dream while dreaming, some people are able
to test their state of consciousness
Why Do We Dream?
• Freudian View: “a dream is a wish your heart wants”…Freud thought dreams
reflect a person’s unconscious wishes and urges
– “The Interpretation of Dreams”- dreams give us a safe valve for otherwise
unacceptable feelings
– Manifest Content- the remembered storyline of a dream, it is the safe
censored, symbolic version of a dream’s latent content – unconscious drives
and wishes that would be threatening if expressed directly.
– Freud thought most dreams can be “traced back by analysis to erotic wishes”,
dreams = key to understanding our inner conflicts, but sometimes… “a cigar is
just a cigar”
• Biopsychological Approach: Dreams may have a Physiological Function: dreams
may provide sleeping brain with stimulation; dreams may be because of neural
activity that spreads up to brainstem;
– Activation-Synthesis Theory- neural activity is random, and dreams are the
brain’s attempt to make sense of it
Altered States of Consciousness
• Altered States of Consciousness= shifts from
our normal waking state of consciousness
• Hypnosis, Psychoactive Drugs, Meditation, and
Sleep all produce Altered States of
Consciousness
• Critical Thinking is impaired (we may perceive
something unrealistic as logical)
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis= an altered state of consciousness in which the
hypnotized person is very relaxed and open to suggestion,
they can be convinced that they may see things that are not
there, or that they are having experiences that they are not
having
• Hypnotized people can sometimes recall things that they
could not recall when they were in a normal state of
consciousness
• Usually they will have no recollection of the hypnosis
• Posthypnotic Amnesia- a temporary memory loss rather like
being unable to recall a familiar name
Theories of Hypnosis
• Some theories say that hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation,
• Other theories hold that hypnosis is not a real effect at all, but
is rather a form of the participant’s living up to the
expectation of the hypnotist or the researcher…Perhaps
hypnotized people are just acting the role of “good hypnotic
subjects” (p.291)
• Neodissociative Theory- According to Hilgard’s theory of the
hidden observer, hypnosis somehow divides or dissociates
the mind into 2 parts. One part obeys the hypnotist, while the
other part, referred to as the hidden observer, silently
observes everything.
• This theory may explain the phenomenonology of hypnotism,
the physiology of hypnotism remains unexplained
• Some people are more susceptible to hypnosis than others
• Post hypnotic suggestion – instructions given
to people when they are hypnotized that are
to be implemented after they wake
– Some success in treating chronic pain, reducing
blood pressure, and even help people quit
smoking)
• Can anyone experience hypnosis?
…When people standing upright with their
eyes closed are told repeatedly that they are
swaying back and forth, most will indeed sway
a little
• Can hypnosis alleviate pain?
…hypnosis relieves pain no better than does
merely relaxing and distracting people
Psychoactive Drugs
• These are drugs that affect the brain and change consciousness and other
psychological processes.
1. Most affect the brain by altering the interaction between
neurotransmitters and receptors
2. Drugs must cross the blood-brain barrier, a feature of the blood vessels in
the brain that prevents substances from entering brain tissue
3. Agonists bind to the receptors and mimic effects of normal
neurotransmitters
4. Antagonists bind to the receptors and prevent the normal
neurotransmitters from binding
5. Other drugs work by increasing or decreasing release of specific
neurotransmitters
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Psychopharmacology -study of psychoactive drugs and their effects on behavior
and mental processes
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Physical Dependence or Addiction -a physiological state in which drug use is
necessary to prevent a withdrawal symptom
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Tolerance - a condition in which increasingly large drug doses are necessary to
achieve the same effect
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Psychological Dependence -a condition in which the person continues drug use
despite adverse effects, needs the drug for a sense of well being, and is
preoccupied with obtaining the drug if it is no longer available
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Learned Expectations Contribute to the Effects of Many Drugs
Categories of drugs
• Depressants - reduce the activity of the central
nervous system and increase the activity of the
inhibiting neurotransmitter gamma-amino-butyric
acid (GABA)
• Stimulants -increase behavioral and mental activity
• Opiates -relieve pain and cause euphoria and
relaxation
• Psychedelics -cause loss of contact with reality; alter
emotions, perception, and thought; and can cause
hallucinations
Depressants
Depressants reduce the activity of the central nervous system and increase the activity of the
inhibiting neurotransmitter gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA)
1. Alcohol causes memory problems, poor motor coordination, and can suppress breathing and
heartbeat to the point of fatality
a. Genetic factors may contribute to an inhibition of, or predisposition to alcohol dependence
b. High potential for physical and psychological dependence
2. Barbiturates cause relaxation, mild euphoria, loss of muscle coordination, and lowered attention
a. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe
b. Examples include sleeping pills and "downers"
c. High potential for physical and psychological dependence
3. Anxiolytics cause relaxation, anxiety reduction, or sleep
a. They cause GABA to bind more effectively to receptors
b. They can result in severe withdrawal symptoms
c. With long-term use they can cause panic, confusion, anger, and memory loss
d. Examples include Librium, Valium, and other tranquilizers
e. A high potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
Stimulants
Stimulants increase behavioral and mental activity
1.Amphetamines- stimulate the brain and the sympathetic branch of the autonomic
nervous system, raise heart rate and blood pressure, constrict blood vessels, shrink
mucous membranes, reduce appetite, and increase alertness and response speed
a. Amphetamines increase the release and decrease the removal of
norepinephrine and dopamine at synapses, increasing activity at these receptors
2. Cocaine causes euphoria, self-confidence, and optimism
a. It increases norepinephrine and dopamine activity similar to amphetamines
b. Its use can lead to nausea, overactivity, insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations,
sexual dysfunction, seizures, heart attack, stroke, and behavior problems in babies
exposed to cocaine during mother's pregnancy
c. It includes derivatives such as crack, which is a purified, fast-acting, potent,
smokeable form
d. A high potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
Stimulants
3. Caffeine reduces drowsiness, improves problem-solving ability, increases capacity for
physical work, raises urine production, induces anxiety, and causes tremors
a. Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, chocolate, some soft drinks, and may be the world's
most popular drug
b. Withdrawal symptoms include headaches, fatigue, anxiety, shakiness, and craving
c. A moderate potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
4. Nicotine causes elevated moods, improved memory, and an increase in attention
a. It works as an acetylcholine agonist and increases the release of glutamate
b. It is a major ingredient in tobacco
c. Withdrawal symptoms include craving, anxiety, irritability, and lowered heart rate
d. Its use constitutes a major risk for cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disorders
5. MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), or "Ecstasy", causes visual hallucinations,
dry mouth, hyperactivity, muscle aches, fatigue, depression and poor concentration
a. It increases activity of dopamine-releasing neurons, and is a serotonin agonist
b. Its negative effects include permanent brain damage and development of panic
disorder
c. A low potential for physical and psychological dependence
Opiates
Opiates relieve pain and cause euphoria and relaxation
1. Opium relieves pain and causes relaxation and feelings of well-being
a. It is derived from the poppy plant
b. It carries a high potential for physical and psychological dependence
2. Morphine relieves pain and causes euphoria
a. It is derived from opium
b. A high potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
3. Heroin relieves pain and causes euphoria
a. It is derived from morphine, but 3 times as powerful
b. A high potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
Psychedelics
Psychedelics cause loss of contact with reality; alter emotions, perception, and thought; and can cause
hallucinations
1. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), or "acid", causes hallucinations, short-term memory loss, paranoia, violent
outbursts, nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks
a. It is a serotonin agonist
b. It was developed by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman in 1938
c. Users develop a tolerance for it
d. A low potential exists for physical and psychological dependence
2. Marijuana causes euphoria, relaxation, food craving, time distortion, and an increase in vivid sensations
a. Its active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which accumulates in fatty deposits in organs and the brain,
affecting receptors sensitive to anandamide
b. It originates from the hemp plant (Cannabis sative)
c. Negative effects include disruption of memory formation and muscle coordination, motor skills impairment,
lowered academic achievement, confused reasoning skills, and harm to a developing fetus
d. A low potential exists for physical dependence, moderate potential for psychological dependence
3. PCP (Phencyclidine piperidine), also known as "Angel Dust," causes euphoria, halluci- nations, distorted sensations,
violent tendencies, and a masking of pain
a. Negative effects include respiratory depression, generalized seizure activity, pulmonary edema, and selfinflicted injury due to the complete masking of pain and tendency to violent activity
b. A high potential for physical and psychological dependence