Download Conciousness 2014 - Doral Academy Preparatory

AP PSYCH REVIEW
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2013-2014
(2 – 4%)
 Overview
o William James  the first to show real interest in consciousness
o Dualism  belief humans consist of two elements: thought and matter
 Matter everything that has substance
 Thought what gives humans free will
o Monism contends that thoughts and matter are aspects of the same
substance
 Thought is a byproduct of the processes of the brain
 Levels of Consciousness
Level
Conscious
Nonconscious
Preconscious
Subconscious
Unconscious
Description
Info about yourself and your
environment that you are currently
aware of.
Body processes controlled by our
mind that we are never usually
aware of. (Heart beat, breathing,
digestion, etc.)
Information about ourselves that we
are not currently aware of, but could
if we were told to do so.
Information we are not consciously
aware of but know must exist due to
behavior. Ex. We know the answer to
some random question, but don’t
know how we know. Known as
priming
Where our unacceptable feelings and
urges reside, according to
psychoanalytic psychologists.
 Sleep
o Sleep Cycle
 Regulated by our circadian rhythm
 Circadian rhythms regulate our bodily functions within a 24 hour
time period
 Sleep stages are recorded using EEG machines
 We cycle through 5 different stages of sleep nightly
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Stage
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
REM
Activity
Presence of high frequency, low
amplitude THETA waves. Not really
sleep. Usually 1-7 minutes
The presence of sleep spindles. High
frequency bursts as we fall deeper into
sleep.
The presence of DELTA waves. High
amplitude; low frequency. Children have
night terrors in this stage.
The deepest stage of sleep. Very difficult
to be woken from. Replenishes the body
and releases GH in children. Fortifies our
immune system. Increasing exercise will
increase the amount of time we spend in
stages 3&4.
Rapid Eye Movement. Known as
paradoxical sleep. Our brain is as active
here as when we are awake. DREAMS
occur in REM. REM deprivation affects
our memory. Those lacking REM suffer
from REM rebound.
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 Sleep Disorders
o Insomnia  trouble FALLING or STAYING asleep
 Affects up to 10% of the population
 Treated with behavior modification
 Reduction of caffeine, exercise at appropriate times, and
maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
o Narcolepsy  periods of intense sleepiness and falling asleep at
inappropriate times
 Affects less than 0.001% of the population
 Usually fall into REM sleep
 Treated with sleep medications and behavior modification
o Sleep Apnea causes a person to stop breathing for short periods of time
through the night
 Robs the person of deep sleep
 Causes daytime tiredness and interference with attention and
memory
 Overweight men are at more risk for developing it
 Treated with a breathing machine
o Night terrors  marked by periods of agitation in children while asleep
 Children do not remember these
 Happens in deep sleep
o Somnambulism (sleepwalking)
 Occurs during deep sleep (4)
 Dreams
Theory
Explanation
Freud’s Theory
Method of uncovering the
unconscious. Dreams contain
manifest content (was is
remembered) and latent content (the
interpretation of the dream). How do
we really know what the symbols
mean?
Activation-Synthesis Model
Dreaming as biological phenomena.
Our brains as active when we are
dreaming as when we are awake.
Dreams are making sense of the brain
activity.
Information Processing Model
Stress during the day explains this
theory. Dreaming seems to occur as a
result of particularly stressful days.
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 Hypnosis (terms)
o Posthypnotic amnesia after being hypnotized, people forget what
happened while being hypnotized
o Posthypnotic suggestion a suggestion that a hypnotized person will
behave a certain way after hypnosis
 Theories of hypnosis
o Role theory
 States hypnosis is not an alternate state of consciousness at all
 Points some are more easily hypnotized than others (hypnotic
suggestibility)
 Those with high suggestibility tend to have richer
fantasies, follow directions well, and can stay engaged
on one task for long periods of time
 Hypnotized people seem to fill expectations of a role while
hypnotized
o State theory
 Argues hypnosis can be an altered state
 State theorists contend those under hypnosis become more or
less aware of their environment
o Ernest Hilgard’s dissociation theory
 Hypnosis causes a division of our consciousness voluntarily
 One part of our consciousness responds to the suggestions of
the hypnotist, while the other retains awareness of reality
 Experiment:
 Hilgard asked hypnotized participants to put their arm
in an ice water bath
 The hypnotized patients reported no pain
 Hilgard asked the participants to lift their finger if any
part of their body felt pain
o Most lifted their finger
o They didn’t feel pain but this points to the fact
one part of our consciousness monitors what is
happening around us, another level obeys the
hypnotists suggestions
 Drugs (terms)
o Psychoactive change in the chemistry of the brain
 Affects the blood-brain barrier thick walls surrounding the
brains blood vessels
 Agonists mimic neurotransmitters; these fit into receptor
sites that would normally excite the neuron
 Antagonists prevent neurotransmitters from using the
receptor sites
o Drugs alter the levels of neurotransmitters across the board
o Tolerance change that produces a need for more of the drug to
achieve the same effect
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o Withdrawal symptoms caused by lack of the substance
o Dependence
 Psychological  when the person feels an intense desire for
the drug
 Physical dependence when the person uses the drug to avoid
painful withdrawal symptoms
Classification
Effect
Stimulants (Caffeine, cocaine,
Speed up the function of body processes.
amphetamines, nicotine)
Includes feelings of euphoria. Disturbed
sleep, reduced appetite, and increased
anxiety are common side effects.
Depressants (Alcohol, barbiturates, and Marked by the inhibition of different
anxiolytics)
brain regions.
Hallucinogens (LSD, peyote, psilocybin, Cause changes in perception of reality,
marijuana)
including sensory hallucinations, loss of
identity, and vivid fantasies. Some
remain in the system for weeks. Effects
are less predictable than the rest.
Opiates (morphine, heroin, methadone, All similar to opium as they are derived
and codeine)
from the poppy plant. Act as agonists for
endorphins; serve as powerful
painkillers. Highly addictive and cause
powerful withdrawal symptoms.
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