PSYC 1100 – Week 8: Consciousness (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture on consciousness, sleep, dreams, drugs, and hypnosis.

Consciousness

A person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind.

Phenomenology

The study of how things seem to the conscious person.

Problem of Other Minds

The fundamental difficulty in perceiving the consciousness of others.

Philosophical Zombie

A hypothetical being that behaves as if conscious but lacks subjective experience.

Agency (in mind perception)

Capacity for self-control, planning, thought, and memory.

Experience (in mind perception)

Capacity to feel sensations such as pain, pleasure, or hunger.

Mind-Body Problem

The issue of how mental states are related to physical brain activity.

Dualism

The view (e.g., Descartes) that mind and body are distinct substances.

Intentionality

The property of consciousness being directed toward an object or stimulus.

Unity

The ability of consciousness to integrate information into a coherent whole.

Selectivity

The capacity of consciousness to include certain stimuli and exclude others.

Dichotic Listening

A task in which different messages are played to each ear and attention is measured.

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

The ability to focus on one conversation yet notice personally relevant cues (e.g., your name) in background noise.

Transience

The tendency of conscious experience to change or drift over time.

Minimal Consciousness

A low-level awareness of stimuli and possible behaviours, often present during sleep.

Full Consciousness

Awareness in which one can report on one’s mental state.

Self-Consciousness

Attention directed toward the self as an object of awareness.

Mirror Self-Recognition (Rouge) Task

An assessment of self-awareness in which recognition of a mark on one’s face is tested using a mirror.

Coma

A state of deep unconsciousness with closed eyes and no purposeful response to stimuli.

Vegetative State

Condition with sleep–wake cycles and reflexive behaviours but no reliable signs of awareness.

Locked-In Syndrome

Full awareness accompanied by near-total paralysis, often limited to eye movements.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)

A method in which participants report their current conscious experiences in real time.

Default Network

A set of brain regions active during mind-wandering and self-related thought.

Mental Control

Efforts to change or regulate one’s conscious state.

Thought Suppression

The conscious attempt to avoid a specific thought.

Rebound Effect

The increased return of a thought following attempts to suppress it.

Ironic Processes of Mental Control

Unconscious monitoring that can cause the very thoughts one tries to avoid.

Dynamic Unconscious (Freud)

A system containing hidden memories, drives, and inner conflicts kept out of awareness.

Repression

The mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts from consciousness.

Freudian Slip

An unintentional error thought to reveal unconscious motives.

Cognitive Unconscious

Modern term for mental processes that influence thoughts and behaviours without awareness.

Dual-Process Theories

Models positing fast, automatic System 1 processing and slow, effortful System 2 processing.

System 1

Fast, automatic, unconscious mental operations.

System 2

Slow, deliberate, conscious mental operations.

Altered State of Consciousness

An experience that departs significantly from normal waking awareness.

Hypnagogic State

The transitional consciousness experienced just before falling asleep.

Hypnic Jerk

A sudden muscle contraction or sensation of falling during sleep onset.

Circadian Rhythm

The roughly 24-hour biological cycle governing sleep and wakefulness.

Stage 1 Sleep

Light sleep characterized by theta-wave activity.

Stage 2 Sleep

Sleep stage marked by theta waves with sleep spindles and K-complexes; harder to awaken.

Stage 3 Sleep

Beginning of deep sleep, featuring delta-wave activity.

Stage 4 Sleep

Deepest non-REM sleep dominated by delta waves.

REM Sleep

Rapid eye-movement stage with vivid dreams and high-frequency brain activity.

Insomnia

Chronic difficulty in falling or staying asleep.

Sleep Apnea

A disorder involving repeated breathing stoppages during sleep.

Sleepwalking

Performing complex behaviours while asleep, common in children.

Narcolepsy

A disorder of sudden REM sleep attacks during wakefulness.

Sleep Paralysis

Temporary inability to move upon waking, often from REM sleep.

Night Terrors

Abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotions, usually in children.

Five Characteristics of Dream Consciousness

Intense emotion, illogical thought, meaningful sensation, uncritical acceptance, and difficulty remembering.

Manifest Content

The surface storyline of a dream (Freud).

Latent Content

The hidden, symbolic meaning of a dream (Freud).

Activation-Synthesis Model

Theory that dreams result from the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity.

Psychoactive Drug

Any substance that alters brain neurotransmission and consciousness.

Drug Tolerance

Need for increasing doses to achieve the same drug effect.

Depressants

Drugs that decrease central nervous system activity (e.g., alcohol).

Expectancy Theory

The idea that alcohol’s effects are influenced by users’ expectations.

Alcohol Myopia

Impaired attention under alcohol, leading to simplistic responses to complex situations.

Stimulants

Substances that excite the CNS and increase arousal (e.g., cocaine, ecstasy).

Narcotics (Opiates)

Highly addictive pain-relieving drugs derived from opium.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that profoundly alter perception and experience (e.g., LSD, PCP).

Hypnosis

A social interaction producing changes in perception, memory, or behaviour via suggestion.

Posthypnotic Amnesia

Inability to recall information after a hypnotic suggestion to forget.

Hypnotic Analgesia

Reduced pain perception achieved through hypnosis in responsive individuals.