Download General Psychology

General Psychology
Chapter 4
Varieties of Consciousness
Consciousness
 Perceptual – awareness of the external
environment
 Introspective – awareness of one’s own
mental processes
Normal Waking Consciousness
According to William James, it is
 Always changing
 A very personal experience
 Sensibly continuous
 Selective
Freud’s View of Levels of
Consciousness
 Conscious – ideas, memories, feelings, or
motives of which we are actively aware
 Preconscious – aspects of our experience
that are not conscious, but can easily be
brought to awareness
 Unconscious – cognitions, feelings, or
motives of which we are not aware
Figure 4.1: Freud’s Theory.
Contemporary Investigations
of the Unconscious
 Subliminal perception – perceiving stimuli
at intensity levels just below the absolute
threshold
 Little evidence for the power of these messages
 More simple stimuli can be processed; complex
messages cannot
Contemporary Investigations
of the Unconscious
 Blindsight – individuals with damaged
visual areas who can still see simple stimuli
 Person without direct vision can be aware of
stimuli
 There may be intact lower brain centers
responsible
Sleep & Dreams
 We spend nearly 200,000 hours of our lives
sleeping!
 EEG – measures brain activity
 EMG – measures muscle tone
Sleep Cycle
 Stage 1 is a very light sleep
 Stage 2, you can still be easily awakened
 Stage 3, internal functions are lowering and
slowing
 Stage 4 is a deep sleep – muscles are totally
relaxed, and about 15% of sleep is in this
stage
Figure 4.2: EEG records showing the general electrical activity of the brain for a person at
various stages of sleep and wakefulness.
Sleep Stages, Con’t.
 There are also periods of sleep where eyes
dart around under closed eyelids
 This is called rapid eye movement, or REM
sleep
 People awakened during REM often (about
85% of the time) report clear, vivid dreams
Dreaming
 Freud– Interpretation of Dreams
 Wish-fulfillment purpose
 Manifest content – content of which the
dreamer is consciously aware
 Latent content – true, underlying meaning
of the dream that resides in a person’s
unconscious mind
Jung vs. Freud
 Carl Jung – dreams are transparent or
obvious, and symbolism inherent in dreams
is related to universal human concerns
 Sigmund Freud – dreams preserve our
sanity by allowing us to gratify forbidden or
unrealistic wishes
Dreams
 Activation-Synthesis Theory – dreams are
activated via physiological mechanisms in
the brainstem
 Brainstem generates neural activity
 Cerebral cortex synthesizes the activity into
meaningful “stories”
Sleep Disorders
 Insomnia – inability to fall asleep or stay
asleep
 Pseudoinsomnia – person believes he or
she is not getting enough sleep, but is
sleeping more than he or she realizes
 Medications seldom work in treatment
Table 4.1: Techniques recommended for getting a good night’s sleep.
Sleep Disorders
 Narcolepsy – involves going to sleep
without any intention to do so
 Associated with the loss of specific types of
neurons in hypothalamus
 Long treated with prescribed stimulants, but
this approach has serious side effects
Sleep Disorders
 Sleep Apnea – involves patterns of sleep,
usually short, during which breathing stops
entirely
 Occurs most among men over age 40 who
are overweight
Hypnosis
1.
2.
3.
4.
Marked increase in suggestibility
Focusing of attention
Exaggerated use of imagination
Unwillingness or inability to act on one’s
own
5. Unquestioning acceptance of distortions of
reality
Common Issues Concerning
Hypnosis
1. Susceptibility to hypnosis varies from person to
person
2. It’s unlikely a person will do anything under
hypnosis that he or she would not do otherwise
3. The issue of it being a unique state of
consciousness is debatable
4. Hypnosis can be used to alleviate pain
Common Issues Concerning
Hypnosis, Cont’d.
5. Where one can remember things under hypnosis
and could not otherwise is debated
6. Age-regression hypnotic sessions have not
proved valid
7. Using hypnosis to refresh the memory of a
witness may lead to false memories
Meditation
 Self-induced state of altered consciousness
characterized by focused attention and
relaxation
 Physical changes do take place
 David Holmes says there is no difference
between relaxation and meditation
Altering Consciousness with Drugs
 Psychoactive drugs – chemicals that alter
psychological processes




Dependence
Tolerance
Withdrawal
Addiction
Altering Consciousness with Drugs

Drug Abuse –
1. Lack of control
2. Disruption of interpersonal relationships or
work difficulties
3. Drug has been used for at least a month
Stimulants
 Activate an organism, producing heightened
sense of arousal and elevated mood

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

Caffeine
Nicotine
Cocaine/Crack
Amphetamines
Depressants
 Alcohol –
 Most commonly used depressant
 Pregnant mothers should avoid
 Blood alcohol level affected by amount one
drinks and how fast it is absorbed in
bloodstream
 Use and abuse is associated with socio-cultural
factors
Depressants
 Opiates – can be used to reduce or
eliminate pain
 Heroin
 Barbiturates – synthetic sedatives
Hallucinogens
 Chemicals that lead to the formation of
hallucinations (usually visual)
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LSD
Acts on serotonin receptor sites
Small doses can have great effect
Changes in mood tend to be exaggerated
Hallucinations tend to be exaggerations of
perception
Marijuana
 Consciousness-altering drug from the
cannabis, or hemp plant
 In small doses, it is a depressant
 In large doses, it is a hallucinogenic
 Active ingredient is THC
 Can reduce nausea, but can cause cancer,
lung disease, and impairment in judgment
Ecstasy (MDMA)



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A psychedelic amphetamine
Popular
Tolerance can develop
Unpleasant physical problem can develop
Table 4.2: A few examples of common psychoactive drugs.
Ethnic and Gender Difference in
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
 Illicit drugs – drugs whose use, possession,
or sale is illegal
 More men than women admit to using
 American Indians and Native Hawaiians
more likely to use
 Asians least likely to use
 Caucasians are most likely to use alcohol
Figure S.2: Current, binge, and heavy alcohol use among persons aged 12 or older, by
race/ethnicity: 2003 (with permission, from SAMSHA, 2003).