Psych 101 – Chapter 6 & Sleep/Consciousness

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Psych 101 related to consciousness, sleep, attention, learning, memory, and emotions.

Split-brain Patient

A person who has had the corpus callosum surgically severed, preventing communication between the two hemispheres.

Attention

The process of selecting information from internal and external environments for prioritized processing.

Active Attention

Attention guided by top-down goals of the individual.

Passive Attention

Attention automatically captured by bottom-up stimuli.

Selective Attention

Focusing on one information source while ignoring others.

Divided Attention

Paying attention to multiple tasks at once.

Attentional Capture

When a salient stimulus automatically draws attention.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to focus on one conversation while filtering out others, yet still noticing personally relevant information.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to notice a visible stimulus because attention is elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in a visual scene when attention is distracted.

Circadian Rhythms

Daily biological clocks regulating sleep, wakefulness, and other body functions.

Sleep Cycles

Repeating patterns of sleep stages through the night, typically 90–110 minutes each.

Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS)

Deep restorative sleep characterized by delta waves.

Sleep Hygiene

Behavioral practices promoting good sleep.

Insomnia

Difficulty falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

Sudden sleep attacks; may include cataplexy.

Sleep Apnea

Breathing interruptions causing poor sleep.

Somnambulism

Sleepwalking during slow-wave sleep.

Altered State of Consciousness

A mental state that differs from normal waking consciousness.

Psychoactive Drugs

Substances that influence mood, thought, or behavior.

Classical Conditioning

Learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Reinforcement

Consequence that strengthens a behavior.

Punishment

Consequence that weakens a behavior.

Observational Learning

Learning by watching and imitating others’ behaviors.

Transience

Forgetting over time.

Absent-mindedness

Inattention to details.

Blocking

Temporary retrieval failure.

Misattribution

Confusing the source of a memory.

Suggestibility

Incorporating misleading info into memory.

Bias

Distortion of memory by current beliefs.

Persistence

Unwanted recollection of memories.

Hippocampus

Critical for forming long-term memories and navigation.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new long-term memories after brain injury.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memories prior to trauma.

Hyperthymesia

Rare condition allowing near-perfect autobiographical memory.