Unit 1.5-1.6 States of Consciousness

Consciousness

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Mere exposure effect

When we prefer stimuli we have seen before over novel stimuli even if we don’t consciously remember seeing the old stimuli

Seasonal Affective Disorder

A mood disorder oriole experience during dark winter months

Circadian rhythms

Occur on a 24-hour cycle and includes sleep and wakefulness

Suprachiasmatic nucleus

Hypothalamus, above the optic chiasm. Generates circadian rhythms.

Beta waves

Stage 5. Rem sleep. 15-30 cps. Low amplitude and fast regular waves. Awake-aroused state.

Alpha waves

9-14 cps. Large amplitude and slow regular waves. Meditating.

Theta waves

Sleep stages 1-2. High amplitude and slow regular waves. Daydreaming.

Delta waves

Sleep stages 3-4. Brain activity slows down. Large amplitude slow waves.

Insomnia

The recurring problem in falling asleep and it’s the most common sleep disorder

Narcolepsy

Characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks for the individual lapses directly into sleep and is usually triggered by high emotion

Sleep Apnea

Characterized by temporary sensation of breathing and consequent momentary reawakenings

Somnambulism

Better known as sleep walking

Activation synthesis theory

A neurobiological theory that explains why people dream

Consolidation theory

The process of preserving key memories and discarding excessive information

Absolute threshold

The minimum level of stimulus intensity needed to detect a stimulus half the time

Signal detection theory

Whether or not we detect a stimulus, especially amidst background noise

Difference threshold

The minimum difference for a person to be able to detect the difference half the time

Webler’s law

The principle that for two stimuli to be perceived as different, they must differ by a minimum percentage

Sensory adaptation

The diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Sensory interaction (integration)

Occurs when the five senses work together to create a complete picture of the environment, allowing people to respond to a stimuli

Synesthesia

A neurological condition where one sense is involuntarily triggered when another sense is stimulated

Blind spot

The optic nerve leaves the eye and there are no receptor cells

Lens

Transparent structure behind the iris that focuses and bends light to project image onto retina

Accommodation

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Retina

The light sensitive back of the eye containing photo receptors that convert light into electrical signs

Rods

Black and white, peripheral

Cones

RGB, detail

Ganglion cells

Specialized neurons that project messages and makes up the optic nerve

Nearsightedness (myopia)

The most common where they can see close objects clearly but distance is blurry

Farsightedness (hyperopia)

Opposite of nearsighted, caused by the eye shortening. Objects are focused behind the retina

Prosopagnosia (face blindness)

A condition in which it is difficult to recognize faces or interpret facial expressions

Blindsight

A psychological phenomenon that occurs when a person with damage to the visual cortex can respond to visual stimuli without being consciously aware of them

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

The theory that there are three types of color receptor cones (RGB)

Opponent process theory

Natural process of perceiving white as the opposite of perceiving black, etc.

Monochromation

A type of color blindness that results in the complete inability to perceive color

Dichromatic

A type of color blindness where the person can only see two of the three colors

Outer ear

Collects sound and funnels it to the eardrum

Middle ear

The sound waves hit the ear drum and move the hammer, anvil, and stirrup in ways that amplify the vibrations. The stirrup then sends these vibrations to the oval window of the cochlea

Inner ear

Waves of fluid move from the oval window over cochlea’s “hair” receptor cells. These cells send signals through the auditory nerves to the temporal lobe of the brain

Amplitude

The height of the sound wave

Frequency

How frequently the sound wave passes a given point

Pitch perception

The subjective experience of a sound’s rise and fall in frequency. It’s a primary auditory sensation that plays a key role in speech, music, and auditory scene analysis

Place theory

States that the pitch of a sound is determined by the location along the basilar membrane of the inner ear where the sound waves stimulate hair cells

Volley theory

When high frequency sounds are experienced too frequently for a single neuron to adequately process and fore for a sound event, the organs of the ear combine the multiple stimuli in a “volley” in order to process the sounds

Frequency theory

Explains that a sound heard is replicated and matched by the same amount of nerve impulses that are then transmitted to the brain. The speed at which this occurs determines the pitch

Sensorineural deafness

Occurs from damage to the inner ear, the origin of the auditory nerve (after image)

Olfactory system

Responsible for sense of smell

Pheromone

A chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially mammals, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of the species

Taste receptors

Clusters of specialized epithelial cells embedded in the tongue. A cluster of about 50 makes a taste bud. (supertasters, medium tasters, nontasters)

Thermoreceptors

Sensory neurons that are specifically sensitive to changes in temperature, heat, or cold

Gate control theory

Theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Endorphins

Hormones released by the body to reduce pain perception

Phantom limb sensation

The brain can produce false sounds, sights, and pain or other perception of amputated/missing arms or legs

Kinesthesis

Sending the movement and positions of individual body parts relative to each other (crossing legs)

Vestibular sense

The ability to sense the position of the head and body relative to gravity, including sense of BALANCE