Download Altered States of Consciousness

WHS AP Psychology
Unit 4: Sensation, Perception and
States of Consciousness
Essential Task 4-7: Describe various states of
consciousness and their impact on behavior.
Gestalt
Principles
Perceptual
Constancies
Basic
Principles
Visual
Illusions
Depth
Perception
Perception
Sensation
Vision
Theories
The Eye
Pain
Other
Senses
Taste
Hearing
The Ear
Smell
Theories
Stages/REM
Meditation
Circadian
Rhythm
Sleep
Drug-Altered
Consciousnes
s
Stimulants
We are
here
Waking
Consciousness
Substance
Abuse
Depressants
Hallucinogens
Actor
Hypnosis
Dreams
Altered States
of
Consciousness
Daydreaming
and Fantasy
Hidden
Observer
Disorders
Essential
Task
4-7:
Outline
• Consciousness
– Waking Consciousness
•
Theories of Consciousness
–
–
–
–
Evolutionary Explanation
Tripartite Theory
Stream of Consciousness
Chord of subconscious brain events
– Subconscious Processing
– Altered States of Consciousness
•
•
•
•
•
Meditation
Sleep
Dreams
Hypnosis
Daydreaming / Fantasy
Consciousness
• Waking consciousness
– Our awareness of ourselves and our
environment
– Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that
occur when we are awake and alert
– Allows us to reflect and plan
• Altered States of Consciousness
– A mental state that differs noticeably
from normal waking consciousness
Subconscious processing
• Well-learned tasks become automatic
– Driving
– Typing
• When you meet people you unconsciously
react to their gender, age and appearance
• Subconscious processing
– Bird (color, form, movement, distance)
• Unconscious processing is parallel while
conscious is linear but good at novel
problems
Forms of Altered-Consciousness
Sleep
History of Consciousness
1. Psychology began as a science of
consciousness. (Titchner and
Structuralism)
2. Behaviorists argued about alienating
consciousness from psychology.
3. However, after 1960, mental concepts
(consciousness) started reentering
psychology.
What is waking consciousness?
• Picture this: It is a beautiful spring day and
you are walking down a country lane,
absorbed in thought. Birds are chirping,
roses are in bloom and the sun feels warm
on your face. Suddenly, you hear a dog bark
and you switch your attention to seeing if
the animal means to bite.
•
Adapted from How the Brain Might Work: A New Theory of Consciousness By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
What is waking consciousness?
How do you – read how does the
brain - bind these fragmented
sensory signals and perceptions into
a single coherent image?
I am at the park about to get eaten
by Cujo.
Evolutionary Reason for
Consciousness
• Consciousness as an adaptation
allowing us to get along with others in
our group (humans)
• Allows us to ‘see’ ourselves and
therefore moderate our behavior.
Tripartite Theory - Freud
The Stream of Consciousness
– Consciousness results from the activity of the
thalamus which analyzes and interprets
information in the cerebral cortex.
– “sweeping or scanning” total a rate of 40 times
per second
– Each sweep results in a single image or
“moment of consciousness”
– Intralaminar nucleus, a kind of doughnut of cells
within the thalamus, has nerve cells that send
out long axons that reach to every part of the
cerebral cortex. Significantly, there are also
returning axons that come down from all areas
of the cortex back to the intralaminar nucleus.
Consciousness as a Chord of
Subconscious brain events.
Neuroscientists believe that consciousness emerges
from the interaction of individual subconscious
brain events much like a chord that is created from
different musical notes.
Move wrist - 0.2 seconds prior to moving your
wrist, you must decide to move the wrist since it
takes that long to travel to the wrist.
But it isn’t until 0.35 seconds after that your brain
waves jump
If told to hit a button after a tone you can respond
in 1/10th of a second, but won’t show the jump in
brain waves until .35 seconds.
You live in the past – but only by a bit
Daydreaming and Fantasy
• Spontaneous shifts attention away
from the here and now into a makebelieve world
• Urge to daydream peaks about every
90 minutes and is highest between
12:00 and 2:00pm
• Almost half of your waking hours?
• Daydreams may provide stress relief
and encourage creativity