PSYC 100: Chapter 6 Consciousness

What is consciousness?

Consciousness is the ongoing awareness of internal mental processes (ex. thoughts, feelings) and external surroundings, often described as a continuous ‘stream of consciousness’ (which is the continuing flow of changing thoughts and ideas in our mind)

• overall consciousness is your awareness of yourself and the world around you.

What is a ‘stream of consciousness’

stream of consciousness is is the continuous flow of changing thoughts, feelings, and experiences in your mind.

Who came up with ‘stream of consciousness’ and when?

William James, 1890

Does consciousness have levels

Yes

What are the different levels of consciousness? (spectrum)

There are different levels of consciousness that vary in awareness

• Awake

  • Its usually what we think of when we think of consciousness, its where you are awake and fully aware of yourself and your surroundings but your degree of awareness varies alot (bc awareness depends on brain activity and attention)

• Asleep

  • we have reduced awareness as we are not consciously aware of the world like when we are awake (we dont know whats happening around us) but we are still responsive to stimuli

    • ex. a loud noise wakes us up or when the room becomes cold we pull blanket closer, you weren’t “aware,” but your brain still processed the stimulus

• Altered states

  • changes in awareness caused by factors such as drugs or hypnosis

What is altered states of consciousness mean and what are they?

Altered states of consciousness is a change in a persons ability to be fully aware of their external surroundings and internal states

• Normally when you are awake you know whats happening around you, can think clearly, and are aware of yourself and you surroundings

• But when in that altered state this changes, meaning your awareness is different or reduced or shifted.

  • Examples include being asleep, hypnosis, meditation, drugs

Name the levels of consciousness while we are awake?

1. Conscious Awareness

2. Preconsciousness

3. Unconscious state (not same as when someone is unconscious as passed out)

Define the 3 levels of consciousness while we are awake.

1. Conscious Awareness

   • The thoughts, perceptions, and experiences you are actively aware of at the present moment.

2. Preconsciousness

   • Information not currently in awareness but that can be easily brought into conscious awareness (e.g., memories, facts).

3. Unconscious state

   • Mental processes, thoughts, or memories that are outside of awareness but still influence behaviour.

     • (Not the same as being physically unconscious like in a coma, or passing out).

What are the 2 components of the consciousness level while we are awake.

1. States of consciousness

   • this is the level of awareness for our external surroundings and internal states that we have

     • this level change change by the amount and type of attention we’re able to pay to stimuli

2. Contents of consciousness

   • are specific thoughts that we are aware of about our internal states or external surroundings

The difference is 1. is HOW aware are you (state), 2. is WHAT are you aware of (content)

What controls what enters our consciousness?

Attention decides what becomes the CONTENT of your consciousness, - meaning if you’re not paying attention to something, you may not be aware of it, even if it’s right in front of you which is inattention blindness

What is inattention blindness, follow with an example.

Inattention blindness is when if you aren’t paying attention to something visual, you are unable to report on the details of what the visual stimuli contain.

• OVERALL YOU FAIL TO NOTICE SOMETHING BECAUSE YOUR ATTENTION IS FOCUSED ELSEWHERE

An example is the Daniel Simon gorilla example where a gorilla walks through kids playing catch and most people don’t notice the gorilla walking across because we are asked to pay attention to the ball passing.

• It shows how things we dont pay attention to we aren’t conscious of even if its in our visual field

When we are awake are most of our neurons active?

Yes

Does brain activity = consciousness?

yes because you are conscious because your brain is active and processing information

What are the different areas of the brain involved in consciousness?

1. Reticular formation

2. Thalamus and hypothalamus

3. Cerebral Cortex

How is the reticular formation involved in consciousness? Whats the result of damage to this area?

• Its the part of the brain that helps you be awake and therefore consciousness

• Damage to this area results in an inability to stay awake (ex. potential comas)

OVERALL THINK OF IT AS TURNING CONSCIOUSNESS ON

How is the Thalamus and hypothalamus involved in consciousness? Whats the result of damage to this area?

• This is where information/stimuli/signal go from the reticular formation

  • OVERALL IT PROCESSES AND RELAYS INFORMATION

• Damage or dysfunction to these areas results in things like narcolepsy or comas

How is the Cerebral Cortex involved in consciousness? Whats the result of damage to this area?

• This is the part of the brain responsible for awareness aspect of consciousness (ex. thinking perception and decision making. OVERALL THINKING IN COMPLEX WAYS)

• Damage depends on what area of the cerebral cortex was damaged, generally it can affect conscious awareness, thinking, and perception, but certain areas could lead to blindness changes in personality etc.

True or false our brain can process information even if we aren’t conciously aware of it. Defend your answer with an example.

True

• The case of ‘blindsight’ shows the separate roles of different parts of the brain in ‘sensing’ stimuli and being ‘aware’ of stimuli

  • Blindsight is a neurological phenomenon where blind indiviuals (damage to primary visual cortex) could still respond to visual stimuli like pointing to a spot of light or dodging obstacles. This suggests that parts of the brain are still registering external visual stimuli but the individual is not aware of it, in other words our brain can detect information but we arent consciously experiencing it.

Are babies conscious?

Yes if you think consciousness is about being human or being awake

No if you think consciousness is higher order thinking and self awareness.