chapter 4 psychology smc

consciousness

your awareness of everything that is going on around you and inside your own head at any given moment

waking consciousness

thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear and organized, and they feel alert.

altered state of consciousness

shift in the quality or pattern of your mental activity. in comparison to waking consciousness.

controlled processes

those that require our conscious attention to a fairly high degree, such as driving, carrying on a conversation, or taking notes in your psychology class

automatic processes

require far less of a conscious level of attention—we are aware of these actions at a low level of conscious awareness

Consciousness can be defined as a set of action potentials occurring among neurons in which of the following views?

cognitive neuroscience

biological rythms

natural cycles of activity that the body must go through. (menstruation, heartbeat, sleep)

circadian rhythm

a cycle of bodily rhythm that takes occurs over a 24 hour span

what part of the brain controls the sleep/wake cycle aswell as body temp

hypothalamus

melatonin

a hormone normally secreted in the pineal gland

suprachiasmatic nucleus

internal clock that tells people when to wake up and when to fall asleep and also is where melatonin seeps into.

microsleeps

brief sidesteps into sleep lasting only seconds

adaptive theory

proposes that animals and humans evolved different sleep patterns to avoid being present during their predators’ normal hunting times. (typically at night)

restorative theory

sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body

sleep deprivation 

any signifigant loss in sleep resulting in problems in concentration and irritability

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

stage of sleep where a persons eyes are moving rapidly underneath their eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream

non rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep

any stage of sleep that’s not REM

beta waves

smaller and faster brain waves typically indicating mental activity

alpha waves

brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep

theta waves

brain waves indicating the early stages of sleep

delta waves

long, slow brain waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep

N1

light sleep. people will not believe they’ve been asleep, may see vivid hallucinations

N2: sleep spindles

body temp drops, heart rate slows and breathing becomes slow an irregular.

N3 delta waves roll in

during this stage that growth hormones (often abbreviated as GH) are released from the pituitary gland and reach their peak. The body is at its lowest level of functioning.

r: rapid eye movement

After spending some time in N3, the sleeping person will go back up through N2 and then into a stage in which body temperature increases to near-waking levels, the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids, the heart beats much faster, and brain waves resemble beta waves

sleep paralysis

inability to move muscles whilst in REM sleep

night terrors

relatively rare condition which people experience extreme fear and screams and runs around in their dream

enursis

Urinating while asleep in bed

Hypersomnia

Excessive daytime sleepiness

manifest content

the actual content of the dream itself

three parts of the brain that take place in the activation synthesis theory

pons, thalamus, cerebral cortex

what does the pons do in the activation synthesis theory

send random signals to the upper part of the brain during rem

what does the thalamus do in the activation synthesis theory

receives random signals from pons and sends them to proper sensory areas of the cortex

what does the cerebral cortex do in the activation synthesis theory

respond to random activation by making dreams

activation-information model

information that is accessed during waking hours can have an influence on the synthesis of dreams.

who concluded that dreams usually reflect everyday life

calvin hall

what are the four steps of hipnosis

1. The hypnotist tells the person to focus on what is being said.

2. The person is told to relax and feel tired.

3. The hypnotist tells the person to “let go” and accept suggestions easily.

4. The person is told to use vivid imagination.

does hypnosis actually make a persons memory to recollect better?

no it just makes them more confident in their otherwise doubtful answer

what part of the consciousness is still aware during hypnosis

the hidden observer

social cognitive explanation for hypnosis

people who are hypnotized are not in an altered state but are merely playing the role expected of them in the situation

physical dependence

the body becomes unable to function normally without the drug and the person is said to be dependent or addicted