Psych chap 4.1-4.3

Consciousness

Describes our awareness of internal and external stimuli.

Awareness of internal stimuli includes feeling pain, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and being aware of our throughs and emotions.

Sleep

A state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness that is distinct from periods of rest that occur during wakefulness.

Wakefulness

Characterized by high levels of sensory awareness, thoughts, and behavior.

Biological rhythms

Internal rhythms of biological activity

example: women’s menstrual cycle is an example - it recurs, cyclical pattern of bodily changes.

Circadian rhythm

a biological rhythm that takes place over a period of about 24 hours

example: sleep wake cycle, temperature fluctuation

Homeostasis

tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

The brain’s clock mechanism is located in an area of the hypothalamus

melatonin

regulator of sleep wake cycle

Sleep regulation

the brains control of switching between sleep and wakefulness as well as coordinating this cycle with the outside world.

Jet lag

collection of symptoms that results from the mismatch between our internal circadian cycles and our environment

symptoms fatigue, sluggishness, insomnia

Rotating shift work

work schedule that changes from early to late on a daily or weekly basis

Sleep debt

A person does not get sufficient sleep on a chronic basis

decrease levels of alertness and mental efficiency

Sleep rebound

the fact that a sleep-deprived individual will fall asleep more quickly during subsequent opportunities for sleep

Evolutionary psychology

discipline that studies how universal patterns of behavior an cognitive processes have evolved over time as result of natural selection.

Beta waves

fast electrical brain rhythms with a frequency of 13 to 30 Hz

Rapid eye movement (REM)

sleep is characterized by darting movements of the eyes under closed eyelids

Non rapid eye movement (NREM)

sleep subdivided into stages of distinguished from each other and from wakefulness

NREM stage 1

transitional phase that occurs between wakefulness and sleep, the period during which we drift off to sleep. During this are heartbeat and respiration slow down.

alpha waves

early stages of 1 sleep produces this.

median waves frequency 8-12Hz

Theta waves

even lower frequency 4-7

its relatively easy to wake someone up in this stage

NREM stage 2

the body goes into a state of deep relaxation and they are interrupted by brief burst of sleep spindles

Sleep spindles

rapid burst of higher frequency brain waves that may be important for learning and memory

K-complex

a very high amplitude pattern of brain activity that may win some cases occur in response to environmental stimuli.

NREM Stage 3

often referred to as deep sleep or slow-wave sleep because this stage is characterized by low frequency, high amplitude delta waves. This time an individuals heart rate and respiration slow dramatically, and it is much more difficult to awake someone up.

Manifest content

actual content, or storyline, of a dream

latent content

hidden meaning of a dream

Collective unconscious

by Jung a theoretical repository of info he believed to be shared by everyone/

Lucid dreaming

dreams in which certain aspects of wakefulness are maintained during a dream state