Download 4 Psychology of consciousness

Consciousness
What is Consciousness?
• Consciousness has been defined
by psychologists as our
awareness of ourselves and our
environment.
• The awareness varies
depending on our attention to
the task at hand. Ex: driving.
Consciousness and Information
Processing
• Consciousness describes what we are
aware of but many things are
processed outside of our
“consciousness.”
• Difficult or novel tasks require more
conscious attention than well learned
tasks.
• Consciousness has a limited capacity
SIGMUND FREUD
• Sigmund Freud had earlier developed the three
levels of consciousness. These are the
conscious, pre-conscious and the unconscious.
He used this levels to better explain a person’s
psyche or that which influences the way a
person thinks, behaves and personality.
• The conscious deals with everyday functions
like our feelings, memories or fantasies at any
particular moment. The conscious is what we
use when we are fully alert and aware of
everything that is around us.
• The pre-conscious exists as a middle ground
between the unconscious and the conscious.
We have here our stored knowledge, past
memories and other data that we can readily
access and brought to our consciousness.
• The unconscious is a place in our mind that we
store shameful experiences, sexual desires,
fears, violent motives, repressed memories and
other dark thoughts. According to Freud,
access to the unconscious can be manifested
through our dreams or slip of the tongue and
other unintended impulsive behavior.
• Sigmund Freud states that only 10% of our
psyche is visible, that being the conscious,
while the remaining 90%, the pre-conscious
and unconscious hidden or submerged. This is
why, according to him, the mind disguises our
hidden wants and desires as dreams because
we are not fully aware of the levels of our
consciousness.
The id operates on pleasure. He states that the id is
childlike and demands instant satisfaction for its
urges and desires.
The id operates on the unconscious. It only knows
one thing and it is “want”.
During our infancy the id is the most active part
of our mind.
The id is primitive, selfish and contains all our basic
needs and feelings.
The id is the “child” within us.
The ego is rational. It can slip in between our
pre-conscious and unconscious. Unlike the id, it
operates on reality. The ego takes care of the id’s
desires as long as circumstances or situations permit it
Inappropriate urges or desires are repressed.
The ego constantly negotiates between the
id and the super-ego.
It gratifies the id while dealing with the long term
consequences of
storing repressed urges in the super-ego. The ego
is the “adult”.
The super-ego is the moral part of the mind.
It imposes the rules.
It controls the id through guilt and anxiety.
The super-ego struggles
with right and wrong. Freud calls the super-ego as
the conscience.
There are two divisions of the super-ego the Ego Ideal
and the conscience.
The ego-ideal are those behaviors or modes of
conduct that our parents approve of, or the goals
which society has deemed ideal.
The conscience is what forces the id to become inhibit
It represses the urges of the id by punishing it.
Personality Structure according to Freud
ID-a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy constantly striving to satisfy basic drives
to survive, reproduce, and aggress.
The id operates on the pleasure principle: If not constrained by reality, it seeks
immediate gratification.
Ego-the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud,
mediates the demands of the id, superego, and reality.
The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways
that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.
Superego-represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the
conscious) and for future aspirations.
More Specifically: Id, Ego,
Superego
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the following:
• Id: The inherited instinctive impulses of the individual,
forming part of the unconscious.
• Ego: That part of the mind which is most conscious of
self; in the work of Freud that part which, acted upon by
both the id and the super-ego, mediates with the
environment.
• Superego: A Freudian term for that aspect of the psyche
which has internalized parental and social prohibitions
or ideals early in life and imposes them as a censor on
the wishes of the ego; the agent of self-criticism or selfobservation.
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What It Means
or
Freud in Layman’s terms
• Id is where the innermost desires live. Those dark places
where passions and the basest of instincts and wants
reside.
• Ego is our conscious mind that tells us what is good and
bad. Our conscience. It mediates between the id and
superego.
• Superego is what everyone else and society want for us.
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Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
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Age
•0-2
Name
Pleasure source
Conflict/
Effect of Fixation
Weaning from mother's breast/
Passive dependence or excessive
smoking or eating
Oral
sucking, biting,
swallowing
2-4
Anal
defecating or
retaining faeces
Toilet training; self control/
Retentive: obsessive neatness
Expulsive: reckless; disorganized
4-5
Phallic
Genitals
Oedipus (boys), Electra (girls)
Latency
Sexual urges sublimated
into sports and hobbies.
Same-sex friends help
avoid sexual feelings.
(Usually no fixation at this
stage; but if so, sexual
immaturity and dissatisfaction)
Genital
Physical changes
reawaken repressed
needs. Direct sexual
feelings towards others
lead to sexual
gratification.
Social rules/
Frigidity, impotence,
unsatisfactory relationships
6-puberty
puberty
onward
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
•
Age
•0-2
Name
Pleasure source
Conflict/
Effect of Fixation
Weaning from mother's breast/
Passive dependence or excessive
smoking or eating
Oral
sucking, biting,
swallowing
2-4
Anal
defecating or
retaining faeces
Toilet training; self control/
Retentive: obsessive neatness
Expulsive: reckless; disorganized
4-5
Phallic
Genitals
Oedipus (boys), Electra (girls)
Latency
Sexual urges sublimated
into sports and hobbies.
Same-sex friends help
avoid sexual feelings.
(Usually no fixation at this
stage; but if so, sexual
immaturity and dissatisfaction)
Genital
Physical changes
reawaken repressed
needs. Direct sexual
feelings towards others
lead to sexual
gratification.
Social rules/
Frigidity, impotence,
unsatisfactory relationships
6-puberty
puberty
onward
•Sublimation: redirecting 'wrong' urges into socially
acceptable actions.
•Repression: pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the
subconscious.
•Denial: Blindness to uncomfortable facts; clinging to
false beliefs to avoid fear/shame/arousal.
•Displacement: redirecting emotions to a substitute
target.
•Intellectualization: taking an overly rationalistic
viewpoint to deny/avoid emotions.
•Projection: attributing one’s own unconscious
uncomfortable feelings to others.
•Rationalization: creating false but credible
justifications to avoid guilt/shame.
•Reaction Formation: overacting in the opposite way
to an emotion in order to control it.
•Regression: reverting to prior developmental states.
Sleep
• Sleep is a behavior AND
an altered state of
consciousness
• We spend about a third
of our lives in sleep.
Sleep
• Sleep: refers to the
periodic, natural,
reversible loss of
consciousness.
• Using an EEG, sleep
researchers have shown
the mind is “awake”
during various stages of
sleep.
Sleep Stages: Stage 1
• As we lay with our eyes closed we are in an
awake but highly relaxed state
characterized by alpha waves (slow waves)
being emitted from our brain.
• As we fall asleep, we have a 50% decrease
in alpha wave activity…sometimes referred
to as “drowsy sleep.”
• During Stage 1 sleep, we often experience
hallucinations: false sensory experiences.
We may feel a sensation of falling or
floating.
Second Stage: Sleep Spindles
• After about 5 minutes in stage 1 sleep, you
sleep into Stage 2 sleep which is
characterized by Sleep Spindles: bursts of
rapid, rhythmic, brain wave activity.
• Stage where you are clearly asleep, sleep
talking can occur in this stage or any other
later stage.
• 20 minutes
Stage Three: Transition Stage
• Stage Three begins your descent into
“slow wave sleep.”
• Delta Waves: (large, slow brain waves
associated with deep sleep) begin
appearing in stage 3 but are increasingly
apparent in Stage 4.
Stage Four: Delta Waves
• Stage of deep sleep
characterized by Delta
Waves.
• Stage when you are hard to
awaken…but still aware of
stimuli around you.
• Stage at which children
may wet the bed or sleep
walk.
• Also experience night
terrors.
Night Terrors
• Occur during late
stage 4 sleep and
are characterized
by high arousal
and an
appearance of
terror but are
seldom
remembered.
R.E.M. Sleep (Paradoxical Sleep)
• After stage 4, your
bodies cycles back
to stage 3, stage 2,
and into REM
sleep.
• A Normal Sleep
cycle lasts about 90
minutes.
R.E.M. Sleep (Paradoxical Sleep)
• R.E.M.: rapid eye movement sleep, stage where
vivid dreams occur. Known as Paradoxical
because muscles are relaxed yet body is highly
active.
• Heart rate increases, Breathing more rapid, eyes
dart behind lids.
• Genitals become aroused during R.E.M. sleep
even when dreams are not sexual in nature.
• As sleep cycle continues, R.E.M. sleep gets longer
and longer.
Brain Waves and Stages of Sleep
So Why Do We Sleep?
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Most ppl will sleep for 9 hours if they could
Sleep debt
Decrease in work productivity
Increase in auto accidents
Suppressed immune system
Alter metabolic and hormonal functioning
Decrease in performance and creativity
Sleep Function
• Theories:
• 1. Sleep protects
• 2. Helps us recuperate
• 3. Might help us grow
Tips for Sleeping
1. Relax before bed
2. Avoid caffeine
3. A glass of milk
4. Regular cycle
5. Exercise regularly,but not in
the late evening
Dreams
SLEEP AND
DREAMS…
Chapter 5 Huffman/Ch 6 Nairne
What’s the Meaning Of Dreams? Depends
Who You Ask!
• Psychoanalytic Theorists like Freud will argue
that dreams represent the royal road to the
“unconscious.” Dreams represent unresolved
wishes/desires and discharge feelings that would
be unacceptable if consciously voiced.
• Sigmund Freud- The Interpretation of Dreams
(1900)
– wish fulfillment
– discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
• Manifest Content: represents remembered story line of a
dream.
• Latent Content: represents underlying meaning of dreams
dealing with wishes and drives.
What’s The Meaning of
Dreams? Depends Who You
Ask?
As Information Processing
– helps consolidate the day’s
memories
– Stimulates neural development
What’s The Meaning of Dreams?
Depends Who You Ask?
• Physiological Function of Dreams: periodic
brain activity associated with R.E.M. sleep
gives the brain needed activity to make neural
connections. Also helps facilitate memory.
• Activation-Synthesis Theory: dreams are
result of brain’s attempt to make sense of
random neural activity. Visual cortex among
other areas like the Limbic System are active
during R.E.M. sleep. Mind always tries to
make sense of stimuli.
What’s The Meaning Of Dreams?
Depends Who You Ask!
• Dreams As Part of Cognitive
Development: all mammals
experience R.E.M. sleep and many
researchers believe it helps facilitate
cognitive development.
• R.E.M. Rebound: tendency for
R.E.M. sleep to increase following
deprivation. May illustrate a biological
need for it.
Lucid Dreams
• Lucid Dreams: are
dreams in which you
become aware that you
are dreaming and you
can control aspects of
your environment in
the dream.
What do we dream about?
• Sex- 1 in 30 for women;1 in 10 for men
• Women dream about men and women;
65% of men's dreams are about men
• Most dreams are about events in our daily
lives
• Previous day’s experiences
• Forget things that happen 5 minute before
we fall asleep
• Do not remember taped info
Have you ever dreamed of…..?
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Falling 83%
Being attacked 77%
School,teacher, studying 71%
Sexual experiences 66%
Arriving late 64%
Eating 62%
A loved person dying 57%
Being locked up 56%
Have you ever dreamed of…..?
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Finding money 56%
Swimming 52%
Snakes 49%
Being inappropriately dressed 46%
Unable to breathe 44%
Being nude 43%
Fire 41%
Failing an Exam 39%
Killing Someone 26%
Hypnosis
Hypnosis
• Hypnosis- a social•
interaction in which one
person ( the hypnotist)
suggests to another ( the
subject) that certain
perceptions, feelings,
thoughts or behaviors
will occur
Hypnosis
Can anyone Experience
Hypnosis?
• It depends on the subject’s
openness to suggestion
Hypnosis
Can Hypnosis Enhance Recall of
Forgotten Events?
• Hypnosis does not help us recover
“accurate memories as far back as
birth”
• Highly hypnotizable ppl are especially
venerable to false memory suggestions
Hypnosis
Can hypnosis force ppl to act
against their will?
• An authoritative person in a
legitimate context can induce
ppl- hypnotized or not- to
perform some unlikely acts
Can Hypnosis Alleviate Pain
• YES
• 10% of us can become so deeply
hypnotized that even major surgery can
be performed without anesthesia
• Dissociation- a split between levels of
consciousness.
• Dissociate the sensation of the pain from
the emotional suffering
• Selective Attention
Is Hypnosis an Altered State of
Consciousness
Hypnosis as a social phenomenon
• Behaviors produced through hypnotic
procedures can also be produced
without them
• PPl. do what is expected of them
• Unhypnotized
persons can
also do this
Is Hypnosis an Altered State of
Consciousness
Hypnosis As A Divided Consciousness
• Explains hypnosis not as a unique
“trance state” where the
“subconscious” is under control by the
hypnotist but rather as a split in
awareness caused by the “subjective
experience of hypnosis.”
• Hilgard’s Experiment
Perspectives On Dissociation
Hilgard’s Hidden Observer
• Hidden Observer:
describes hypnotized
subject’s awareness of
experiences, such as pain,
that go unreported during
hypnosis.
– Is a part of the person
that has the experience.
Hypnosis Concepts: Can Hypnosis
Have an Effect After The Session?
• Posthypnotic Amnesia: supposed
inability to recall what one experienced
during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotist’s
suggestion. “You will no longer remember
anything you experienced today.”
• Posthypnotic Suggestion: a suggestion
made during a hypnosis session that will be
carried out after hypnosis session is over.
“You will no longer feel the need to smoke
after this session is over.”
Near Death Experiences
Near Death Experiences
• Near Death Experiences:
an altered state of
consciousness reported
after a close brush with
death.
Dualism
• Dualism: argues that the
mind and body are two
distinct entities that interact.
The “mind” is nonphysical
and can exist apart from the
physical body.
• Was put forth by many
philosophers including Renee
Descartes and Socrates.
Monism (Materialism)
• Monism argues that the mind
and body are different aspects of
the same thing.
• Mind and body cannot be
separated without bodies we are
nobodies.
• Thomas Hobbes along with many
philosophers and scientists
support this viewpoint.