LSU PSYC 2000: Exam 2

Consciousness

The awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings being experienced at a given moment.

Our subjective experience of the world and ourselves.

Altered State of Consciousness

State in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness.

High Level of Awareness

Controlled Processes:

focused attention

(high level of concentration)

Some Level of Awareness

Automatic Processes:

some awareness, but minimal attention required

(daydreaming, "autopilot")

No Awareness

Unconscious:

due to head injury, anesthesia, coma

Attention

The internal process people use to set priorities for mental functioning.

Dichotic Listening and Shadowing

Circadian Rhythms

Cyclical changes that occur on roughly a 24-hour basis and include sleep and wakefulness

Biological processes like hormone release, body temperature

Regulated by neurons in the hypothalamus

Triggers our sense of fatigue via increasing melatonin

Newborns require ______ hours of sleep.

16

College students require _____ hours of sleep.

9

Most people require __________ hours of sleep.

7-10

People (

6 or less

Repair/Restoration Theory

Sleep serves an important recuperative function

Physical fatigue

Emotional and intellectual demands

Brain organizes information and consolidates memories

Adaptive/Evolutionary Theory

Sleep keeps animals still when predators are active

Evolved so humans and animals could conserve energy after daytime foraging

Effects of Sleep Loss

fatigue

impaired concentration

immune suppression

irritability

slowed performance

accidents

How to Improve Sleep

Medications:

- Falling & staying asleep easier

- Can increase sleep problems over time

Therapy:

- Researchers find decreased problems with sleep after brief psychotherapy

- Decreases reliance on medication

Combination

Stage 1 of Sleep

lasts few minutes, brain slows, breathing more regular, HR slows, easily awakened

Stage 2 of Sleep

lasts about 20 mins., sleep spindles, definitely asleep, relatively easily awakened

Stage 3 of Sleep

lasts a few minutes, transitional stage between light and deep sleep

Stage 4 of Sleep

Deep Sleep - lasts 30-40 minutes, brain waves change to large, slow waves

Children spend 40% of the time in deep sleep - "Sleeping like a baby" compared to 25% for adults

Alcohol suppresses deep sleep!

Stage 5 of Sleep

REM Sleep - Time interval increases as night goes on

HR increases

Slight paralysis to prevent injuries

If awakened during REM, 78-90% remember dreams, as compared to 10-14% who remember dreams in non-REM sleep

Insomnia

persistent problems in falling or staying asleep

Narcolepsy

uncontrollable sleep "seizure"

may lapse directly into REM sleep

Sleep Apnea

temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and momentary reawakenings

Night Terrors

high arousal- appearance of being terrified

usually in Stage 4, within 2-3 hours of falling asleep

Difficulties falling and staying asleep are common comorbidities for many psychological disorders such as

Depression

Anxiety

Autism spectrum disorder

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Psychosis

Dreams

- Reflect real-life worries, hopes, & desires

- Involve people & places you know

- Aren't overwhelmingly positive (e.g., falling in love, winning the lottery)

- As many as 90% are straightforward descriptions of everyday activities and problems, like talking to friends

- Being nude, falling or floating probably derive from our body's lack of motor & sensory feedback during this

Wish Fulfillment Theory

created by Freud

Unconscious material is too severe, too threatening to confront, must be disguised in our dreams

Manifest Content

Latent Content

Activation Synthesis Hypothesis

Dreaming as an unimportant by-product of random stimulation of brain cells.

Cerebral cortex tries to make sense of this random stimulation.

Results in a fragmented story.

Dreams reflect the brain's attempt to make sense of random and internally generated neural signals during REM.

Information Processing Theory

Dreams help us sift through, sort, and fix in memory our everyday experiences and

thoughts- a form of thinking during sleep.

Like thinking during sleep.

Mental house cleaning.

Dreams are a meaningful product of our cognitive capacities, which shape what we dream about.

This is why adults' dreams are more complex than those of children.

Franz Mesmer (Paris, 1783)

Goal: To restore the balance of universal fluids within his patients

Used large magnets and iron rods

Hypnosis

A trance-like state

Great concentration

High suggestibility

Reduced response to outside stimuli

its power resides in the subject's openness to suggestion.

anyone can experience it

it can NOT enhance recall of forgotten events

it can NOT force people to act against their will

Self-suggestion can heal and it can be therapeutic

it can NOT be used as a lie-detector

Divided Consciousness

Hypnosis works on the immediate, conscious mind

A "hidden observer" remains aware

Social Influence Theory

Individual's attitudes, beliefs, motivations, and expectations shape their responses to

hypnosis

People may not be aware that they are pretending

Psychoactive Drugs

Chemical substances that alter thinking, perception, and memory

Not a purely biological process, cognitive aspects as well

Three categories:

1. Depressants

2. Stimulants

3. Hallucinogens

Tolerance

diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug

Withdrawal

discomfort and distress that follow discontinued use of an addictive drug

Physical Dependence

A physiological need

Tolerance

Unpleasant withdrawal symptoms

Psychological Dependence

A psychological need

Continued use because they think they need it

May relieve negative emotions

Mental Sets

Beliefs and expectancies about the effects of drugs

Settings in which individuals engage in substance use

Cultural and genetic influences

Adjustive Value

Drugs can enhance positive emotional reactions and minimize negative emotional reactions

Stimulants

Drugs that increase functioning of the nervous system, excite neural activity

1. Caffeine

2. Nicotine

3. Cocaine

4. Amphetamines

Depressants

Drugs that decrease the functioning of the nervous system:

Alcohol

Barbiturates

Depressant drugs that have a sedative effect:

Benzodiazepines

Drugs that lower anxiety and reduce stress:

Opiates/Narcotics

Hallucinogens

Alter sensations and perceptions

Can damage serotonin-producing neurons resulting in permanent deflation of mood and impairment of memory.

Marijuana

Plant based drug

Visions,delusions,paranoia

Strong Psychological Dependence

Mixed evidence for physical dependence

Chronic use linked to depression and suicide, recreational use = no relationship

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience.

Learned associations and contingencies.

The ability to modify future behavior as a result of past experience is adaptive.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist

Studied Digestion

Classical Conditioning

The process by which a neutral stimulus is associated with a stimulus that produces a reflexive behavior.

Example: Pavlov's dogs & Watson's Little Albert

Extinction

A decrease in the conditioned response

Only CS (No UCS) - > weaker and weaker response, finally no response.

John B Watson's famous little Albert study

Development of fear/anxiety through Classical Conditioning

Conditioned fear response to white rats by pairing with a loud aversive stimulus

Generalization: the fear response was evoked when little Albert was presented with items similar to "white rats"

What can be learned through classical conditioning?

Fear

Anxiety

Nausea

Disgust

Sexual Activity

Systematic Desensitization

- Relaxation Techniques

- Fear Hierarchy (least feared to most feared)

- Low Stress! Moderate Stress! High Stress

- Specialized One-Session Phobia Treatments

Why does classical conditioning work?

Stimulus Substitution & Cognitive Perspective

Stimulus Substitution

Conditioned Stimulus is an OK substitute for the

Unconditioned Stimulus

Cognitive Perspective

Conditioned stimulus provides expectancy information about the coming of the unconditioned stimulus

B. F. Skinner

Described operant conditioning.

Radical behaviorist.

Why Classical Conditioning isn't Perfect

Basic type of learning

Often requires maintenance of exposure

In general, most human behavior results from other types of learning

Reinforcement

Increases probability of behavior

Positive: providing a stimulus (+)

Negative: withholding a stimulus (-)

Punishment

Decreases probability of behavior

Positive: providing a stimulus (+)

Negative: withholding a stimulus (-)

Basics of Operant Conditioning

Probability of future behavior determined by the consequences, or response, to the individual's behavior

Antecedent --> Behavior --> Consequence

Positive Reinforcement

Providing stimulus increases behavior

Highly effective

Used in many therapies to increase appropriate or adaptive behaviors

Negative Reinforcement

Removing stimulus increases behavior

Continuous reinforcement

Given with each desired response

Partial reinforcement

Given with only some of the desired responses

Interval

Time based, e.g. receive reinforcement every X minutes

Ratio

Based on number of responses, e.g. receive reinforcement every 5 trials

Positive Punishment

Providing stimulus decreases behavior

Negative Punishment

Removing stimulus decreases behavior

Limitations of Punishment

Demonstrates what behavior is wrong, but doesn't help organism to determine what to do instead

Shaping

Rewarding successively closer approximations of a desired behavior

Useful for teaching new behaviors

Imitation

Learning new behavior by watching someone else perform that behavior

Behavior Modification:

- Using a combination of learning techniques

to alter behavior

- Removing the reward for undesirable behaviors & rewarding desired ones

- Includes token economies & time-outs

Consequences

More effective when meaningful to the individual.

Typically want to choose preferred reinforcers to increase behavior.

Whether a consequence is reinforcing or punishing largely depends on the function of the behavior.

Behaviors can be maintained by functions of attention, escape, access to tangibles, or non-social/physical.

Several contingencies can be involved in an individual's behavior.

Who do people imitate?

- People they see as more like them

- People who are rewarded

- Prestigious people

Four Elements of Observational Learning

Attention - You have to pay attention in order to learn

Memory - You have to be able to remember what you saw

Imitation - You must be capable of imitating

Motivation - You must have the desire to perform the behavior. You aren't a mindless robot

Bandura's Study with Bobo doll

Children watched films of adults kicking, punching, and hammering on a big rubber doll.

Later, the children imitated the adult's behavior- some of them almost exactly.

Social/observational learning

Important that we don't need to encounter reinforcement/punishment directly to learn certain behaviors

Can work both ways - to learn adaptive or maladaptive behaviors

Environmental context still important