Download CONSCIOUSNESS

Definitions
 “Internal
mental processes of
which a person is aware”
 Process behind mental model
○ Created by ourselves
○ Involves awareness
Tools
 Imaging
devices
 PET, fMRI, EEG
 Show
areas that “light up”
 Don’t show how it works
Extremes
 Wide
range of mental processes
 Information
 What’s 9
readily available
· 5?
 Operations deep in
 Biological functions
the brain
What is it?
 Anima – spirit or life force
 Not terribly scientific
 Structuralists – tried to get
subjects to report on their own
conscious experience
 How do you prove you have
consciousness?
– you can’t, so
leave it alone
 Behaviorists
Try again in the 60’s
 Behaviorism
couldn’t
explain drug-induced
states
 New
technologies let
scientific inquiry back
into the picture
Cognitive
Neuroscience
 Psychology
 Neurology
 Biology
 Computer
 Linguistics
science
Big Picture
 Consciousness
 Doesn’t multitask
 Processes info serially
 Nonconscious
process
 Can multitask
 Processes in parallel
Mental Rotation
 Do
we “turn things over” in our
minds?
 If so, bigger differences
should take more time to
figure out
 Shepard and Metzler
Zooming In
 Imagine
object
 Ask about details
 Smaller details require more
time
 Why?
 Stephen Kosslyn
The Conscious and
Nonconscious Minds
 William
James
 Stream of consciousness
 Sigmund
Freud
 Consciousness is just tip of
mental iceberg
Functions
 1.
Restriction
 2. Combination
 3. Manipulation
Two kinds of nonconscious
 Preconscious
 Can easily return to consciousness
 Unconscious
 Absence of consciousness (medical)
 Cognition without awareness
CYCLES IN
CONSCIOUSNESS
 Daydreaming
 Sleep
 Dreaming
 Disorders
Daydreaming
 Mildly
altered state
 Often with vivid imagery
 Very common (“normal”)
 “White bear” experiment
 To
stop obsessing, must allow
mind to roam freely, don’t try to
suppress thoughts
 Different from sleeping dreams
 Not as vivid
 More under control
 Not part of biological cycle
Sleep
 How
do we view sleep?
 Waste of time?
 Welcome rest?
 Mystery?
 Now understood as part of
biological cycle
Circadian Rhythms
 Means
“approximately a day”
 Hypothalamus regulates
 Sensitive to light and dark
 Without cues, cycle will be
about 25 hours for most
 Work
schedules
 All-nighters
 Jet lag
Events of Sleep
 Eugene Aserinsky
– Rapid Eye Movement
 every 90 minutes
 Sleep paralysis
 NREM (non-REM)
 REM
Three Main Ideas
 1.
90-minute cycles
 2. deepest sleep, early in
cycle
 3. REM duration increases,
the longer we sleep
REM Rebound
 REM
deprivation - tired,
irritable
 Then get more REM next time
 Suggests need for REM sleep
Function of Sleep
 Conserve
energy, stay safe?
 Helps mental functioning
 Problem solving
 Memory
 Restorative
function
 Replenish energy
 Purge toxins
 Fix damaged brain cells
 Sleep
to dream to forget
 Neural networks formed can be
chaotic
 Need to “take out mental trash”
 Don’t
really know how it makes us
feel restored
Need for sleep
 Short
vs long sleepers
 Developmental changes
Dreams
 …as
meaningful
events
 …as random brain
activity
 …as a source of
creativity
Meaningful Events:
Freud
 Dream
interpretation is the
cornerstone of psychoanalysis
 “royal road to the unconscious”
 Dreams guard the self
 Disguise thoughts with symbols
 Wish fulfillment
 Manifest
content
 1. narrow passage, diving
 2. bed too small
 3. thirsty, drink from urn
 Latent
(symbolic) content
 1. birth
 2. wish fulfillment to be grown up
 3. made him get up and drink
Problems with Freud
 No
scientific support
 Trobriand Island boys dream about
uncles more than fathers
 Kids dream of big scary animals
 College age – tame critters
 People who don’t wear clothes, don’t
dream about public nakedness
 So, dreams are culturally variable
So…
 Rosalind
Cartwright
 Dreams just reflect life events
 Especially first dream
 Later dreams harder to link to
day’s events
Dreams and Cognition
 NREM
vs REM deprived
 REM deprived did worse on
memory tasks
 So REM sleep may be
necessary for optimum
memory
Dreams as Random
Flashes
 Activation-synthesis
theory
 Dreams are result of trying to
make sense of spontaneous
bursts
 REM gives source of
stimulation
 Story line of dream is
accidental
Dreams as source of
Creative Insight
 Frankenstein
 Otto
Loewi - chemical
transmission of the nervous
impulse
 Elias Howe
 Robert Louis Stevenson
Sleep Disorders
 Insomnia
 Sleep
apnea
 Infants – “Back To Sleep”
 Night terrors
 Narcolepsy
Altered States
 Modification
of ordinary
consciousness
 Mental, behavioral, or
chemical means
Hypnosis
 State
of awareness characterized by:
 deep relaxation
 heightened suggestibility
 and focused attention
Hypnotizability
 Most
important factor
 “recovered memories”
 unreliable
 Hypnotic
analgesia
Mechanisms
 Distinct
state of consciousness?
 Heightened motivation?
 Hypnotized because they expect or
want to be
role playing – seeking to
please
 “Hidden observer” theory
 Just
Practical Uses
 Research
 Treatment
 Anesthetic
Meditation
 State
of consciousness
 Often induced by:
 Repetitive behavior
 Body position
 Reducing outside stimuli
 East
vs West
Effects
 Brain
waves
 Frontal lobe activity – positive
 Lower blood pressure
 Lower stress hormones
 Meaning of life?
Drugs
 Psychoactive
drugs
 Chemicals that affect mental
processes and behavior by their
effects on the brain
 Why?
 Euphoria, stupor, hallucinations,
 Relaxation, “social lubricant”
 Impairs
brain mechanisms
 judgement
 Stimulates
reward center of brain
 Cultural trends
 General decline since early 1990’s
 Increase among young teens
Categories
 Hallucinogens
 Opiates
 Depressants
 Stimulants