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Chapter 5: States of
Consciousness
Some Early Definitions
• Consciousness: All the sensations,
perceptions, memories, and feelings you are
aware of in any instant
– Waking Consciousness: Normal, clear,
organized, alert awareness
• Altered State of Consciousness (ASC):
Awareness that is distinctly different in quality
or pattern from waking consciousness
Sleep
• Innate, biological rhythm
• Microsleep: Brief shift in brain-wave patterns
similar to those of sleep
• Sleep Deprivation: Sleep loss; being deprived
of needed amounts of sleep
• Sleep-Deprivation Psychosis: Major
disruption of mental and emotional
functioning that occurs because of sleep loss
• Hypersomnia: Excessive daytime sleepiness
Measuring Sleep Changes
• Electroencephalograph (EEG): Brain-wave
machine; amplifies and records electrical
activity in the brain
• Beta Waves: Small fast waves associated
with alertness and awakeness
• Alpha Waves: Large, slow waves associated
with relaxation and falling asleep
Stages of Sleep
• Stage 1: Small, irregular waves produced in
light sleep (people may or may not say they
were asleep)
– Hypnic Jerk: Reflex muscle twitch
throughout body that may occur in Stage 1
Stage 2
• Deeper sleep; sleep spindles (bursts of
distinctive brain-wave activity) appear
Stage 3
• Deeper sleep; Delta waves appear; very large
and slow
Stage 4
• Deepest level of normal sleep; almost purely
Delta waves
Kinds of Sleep
• Rapid Eye Movements (REM): Associated
with dreaming; sleep is very light
– Body is very still during REM sleep
– Lack of muscle paralysis during REM sleep
is called “REM Behavioral Disorder”
• Non-REM (NREM) Sleep: Occurs during
stages 1, 2, 3, and 4; no rapid eye movement
occurs
– Seems to help us recover from daily
fatigue
Sleep Disturbances
• Insomnia: Difficulty in getting to sleep or
staying asleep, or waking early
– Sleeping pills exacerbate insomnia; cause
decrease in REM and Stage 4 sleep and
may cause dependency
• Drug-Dependency Insomnia: Sleeplessness
that follows withdrawal from sleeping pills
Types and Causes of Insomnia
• Temporary Insomnia: Brief period of
sleeplessness caused by worry, stress, and
excitement.
– Avoid fighting it and read a book, for
example, until you’re struggling to stay
awake.
• Chronic Insomnia: Exists if sleeping troubles
last for more than three weeks.
– Adopt regular schedule; go to bed at the
same time each night, for example.
Sleep Disturbances
• Sleepwalking (Somnambulism): Occurs in
NREM sleep during Stages 3 and 4
• Sleeptalking: Speaking while asleep; occurs
in NREM sleep
Nightmares
• Bad dreams that occur during REM sleep
• Imagery Rehearsal: Mentally rehearse the
changed dream before you go to sleep again;
may help to eliminate nightmares
Night Terrors
• Total panic and hallucinations may occur
– Occurs during Stage 4 sleep
– Most common in childhood; may occur in
adults
Sleep Apnea
• Interrupted breathing during sleep; cause of
very loud snoring
– Hypersomnia: Extreme daytime sleepiness
– Apnea can be treated by
• Surgery
• Weight loss
• Breathing mask
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Also known as SIDS or Crib Death; Sudden,
unexplained death of healthy infant (infants
should sleep on back or on side to try to
prevent)
• SIDS babies have a weak arousal reflex;
prevents them from changing positions and
resuming breathing after an apnea episode
REM Rebound
• Extra rapid eye movement sleep following
REM sleep deprivation
Psychodynamic (Freudian) Theory of
Dreaming
• Emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and
unconscious forces
• Wish Fulfillment: Freudian belief that many
dreams are expressions of unconscious
desires
– Much evidence to refute this
• Dream Symbols: Images that have a deeper
symbolic meaning
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
• Dream content may be affected by motor
commands in the brain (that occur during
sleep) that are not carried out
Hypnosis
• Altered state of consciousness characterized
by intensely narrowed attention and
increased openness to suggestion
– Mesmer: Believed he could cure diseases
by passing magnets over body; true
“animal magnetism” (“mesmerize” means
to hypnotize)
– Must cooperate to become hypnotized
Hidden Observer
• Detached part of hypnotized person’s
awareness that silently observes events
Hypnosis Can
• Help people relax
• Reduce pain
• Get people to make better progress in
therapy
Hypnosis Cannot
• Produce acts of superhuman strength
• Produce age regression
• Force you to do things against your will
Stage Hypnosis
• Simulation of hypnotic effects
Tricks of the Trade
• Waking Suggestibility: People on stage do not
want to spoil the act, so they will follow any
instruction.
• Selection of Responsive Subjects: Any
“volunteer” who does not get hypnotized in
the stage group and does not follow
instructions is “voted off.”
• The Hypnosis Label Disinhibits: On stage,
once you are “in a hypnotic trance,” your
responsibility for actions is removed; you can
do whatever you want!
More Stage Hypnosis “Tricks of the
Trade”
• Hypnotist as Director: Once they are in a
trance, the “volunteers” are suddenly the
show’s stars, and they will act like it. The
hypnotists only need to direct them.
• Stage Hypnotists Use Tricks: Stage hypnosis
is 50% deception and 50% taking advantage
of the situation
More Hypnosis Concepts
• Hypnotic Susceptibility: How easily a person
can be hypnotized
• Basic Suggestion Effect: Tendency of
hypnotized people to carry out suggested
actions as though they were involuntary
Meditation
• Mental exercise designed to produce
relaxation or heightened awareness
• Concentrative Meditation: Attention is paid to
a single focal point (i.e., object, thought, etc.)
– Produces relaxation response and thus
works to reduce stress
• Mindfulness Meditation: Based on widening
attention span to become aware of everything
experienced at a given moment
• Mantra: Word(s) or sound(s) repeated during
concentrative meditation
Relaxation Response
• Occurs at time of relaxation; internal
response that prevents activation of adrenal
glands
Drugs and Altered States of
Consciousness
• Psychoactive Drug: Substance capable of
altering attention, judgment, memory, time
sense, self-control, emotion, or perception
• Stimulant: Substance that increases activity in
body and nervous system
• Depressant: Substance that decreases
activity in body and nervous system
Physical Dependence
• Physical Addiction based on drug tolerance
and withdrawal symptoms
– Drug Tolerance: Reduction in body’s
response to a drug
– Withdrawal Symptoms: Physical illness
following withdrawal of the drug
Psychological Dependence
• Drug dependence based on psychological or
emotional needs
– Usually crave drug
– Can be as powerful as physiological
addiction
Stimulants (Uppers)
• Amphetamines: Synthetic stimulants that
excite the nervous system
– Dexedrine and Methamphetamine are two
types of stimulants
• Amphetamine Psychosis: Loss of contact with
reality because of amphetamine use; user
tends to have paranoid delusions
Cocaine
• Central Nervous System stimulant derived
from leaves of coca plant; also used as local
anesthetic
– From 1886-1906, Coca-Cola did indeed
have cocaine in it!
– Highly addictive drug
– Anhedonia (Inability to Feel Pleasure):
Common after cocaine withdrawal
MDMA (Ecstasy)
• Chemically similar to amphetamine; created
by small variations in a drug’s structure
– Risks of using MDMA are unclear
– May cause severe liver damage
– Repeated use damages serotonergic brain
cells
Caffeine
• Most frequently used psychoactive drug in
North America; present in colas, chocolate,
coffee, and tea
• Causes hand tremors, sweating,
talkativeness, tinnitus, suppresses fatigue or
sleepiness, increases alertness
– May be hazardous to pregnant women if
used excessively
Caffeinism
• Physiological dependence on caffeine
– Symptoms: Insomnia, irritability, loss of
appetite, chills, racing heart, elevated body
temperature
Nicotine
• Natural stimulant found mainly in tobacco;
known carcinogen
• May cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea,
confusion, tremors
• Addictive
• Sum: Don’t smoke; smoking kills (so does
chewing tobacco)
Sedatives: Barbiturates
• Sedative drugs that depress brain activity
– Seconal and Amytal are two types
– Easy to overdose
GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate)
• Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant
that relaxes and sedates; combination of
degreasing solvent and drain cleaner
– Sedative effects may result in nausea, loss
of muscle control, and either sleep or a
loss of consciousness
– Inhibits gag reflex, so some choke to death
on their own vomit
– Addictive and deadly
Sedatives: Tranquilizers
• Lower anxiety and reduce tension
– Valium, Xanax, and Librium are three types
– Rohypnol: Related to Valium; lowers
inhibitions and produces relaxation or
intoxication. Larger doses can induce
short-term amnesia and sleep
• Date rape drug because it’s odorless
and tasteless
• Drug Interaction: One drug increases the
effect of another
Alcohol
• Ethyl Alcohol: Intoxicating element in
fermented and distilled liquors
– Not a stimulant but does lower inhibitions
– Depressant
• Binge Drinking: Consuming five or more
drinks in a short time; four or more for women
– Serious sign of alcohol abuse
Detoxification
• Withdrawal of the person from alcohol
• Occurs in a medical setting and is tightly
controlled
• Often necessary before long-term treatment
begins
Some Hallucinogens
• Hallucinogen: Substance that alters or
distorts sensory impressions
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD):
Hallucinogen that can produce hallucinations
and other psychotic symptoms
• Mescaline (Peyote) and Psilocybin (Magic
Mushrooms)
• PCP (Angel Dust): Initially can have
hallucinogenic effects; also an anesthetic and
has stimulant and depressant effects
Marijuana
• Leaves and flowers of the hemp plant
– Active chemical: THC
– Effects: Relaxation, time distortion,
perceptual distortions
Some Health Risks of Using Marijuana
• Increases risk of a variety of cancers,
including prostate and cervical cancer
• Can suppress immune system, perhaps
increasing risk of disease
• Activity levels in the cerebellum are lower
than normal in pot users
• Pot may damage some of the brain’s memory
centers