Intro to Psych Chapters 4 & 5

stream of consciousness

Term used by William James to describe the mind as a continuous flow of changing sensations, images, thoughts, and feelings.

consciousness

An individual’s awareness of external events and internal sensations under a condition of arousal, including awareness of the self and thoughts about one’s experiences.

reticular activation system

A network of structures including the brain stem, medulla, and thalamus that determine arousal, one aspect of consciousness.

Higher-Level Consciousness

involves controlled processing, in which individuals actively focus on attaining a goal

Lower-Level Consciousness

Includes automatic processing that requires little attention as well as daydreaming

Altered States of Consciousness

can be produced by drugs, trauma, fatigue, possibly hypnosis, and sensory deprivation

Subconscious Awareness

can occur when people are awake, as well as when they are sleeping and dreaming

No Awareness

Freud’s belief that some unconscious thoughts are too laden with anxiety and other negative emotions for consciousness to admit them

controlled processes

The most alert states of human consciousness, during which individuals actively focus their efforts toward a goal.

automatic processes

States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities.

sleep

A natural state of rest for the body and mind that involves the reversible loss of consciousness.

biological rhythms

Periodic physiological fluctuations in the body

circadian rhythms

Daily behavioral or physiological cycles that involve the sleep/wake cycle, body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar level.

suprachiasmatic nucleus

A small brain structure that uses input from the retina to synchronize its own rhythm with the daily cycle of light and dark

Stage N1

no REM, characterized by drowsy sleep, include myoclonic jerks, have theta waves

Stage N2

no REM, less muscle activity, unconscious of environment, characterized by sleep spindles with bursts of neurons

Stage N3

no Rem, characterized by delta waves, deep sleep, sleepwalking and sleep talking can occur

REM Sleep

after going through all 3 stages, rapid eye movement, this is when dreaming occurs

Insomnia

can involve troubles with falling asleep, waking up during the night, or too early, more common in women, older adults, and thin people

Narcolepsy

overpowering urge to sleep, very uncontrollable

Sleep apnea

individuals stop breathing when sleeping due to this condition

manifest content

According to Freud, the surface content of a dream, containing dream symbols that disguise the dream’s true meaning.

latent content

According to Freud, a dream’s hidden content; its unconscious and true meaning.

cognitive theory of dreaming

Theory proposing that one can understand dreaming by applying the same cognitive concepts used in studying the waking mind.

activation-synthesis theory

Dreaming happens when the thinking part of your brain (the cerebral cortex) tries to make sense of random signals coming from the lower part of your brain during sleep. Your brain turns this random activity into stories — that's what dreams are.

tolerance

the need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same affect with lesser amount

physical dependence

physiological need for a drug that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms like physical pain

psychological dependence

the strong desire to repeat the use of a drug for emotional reasons like reducing stress

addiction

refers to a physical or psychological dependence or both on a drug

substance use disorder

psychological disorder in which a person’s use of a psychoactive drug affects abilities to engage in social relationships

psychoactive drugs

depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, increase dopamine levels

depressants

psychoactive drug that slows mental and physical activity, includes alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates

stimulants

psychoactive drug that increases central nervous system’s activity, includes caffeine, nicotine, cocaine

hallucinogens

Psychoactive drugs that modify a person’s perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real.

opioids

class of drug that act on the brain’s endorphin receptors and are powerful painkillers

meditation

The attainment of a peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied by worry

Carl L. Hart, Ph.D.

studied the effects of psychoactive drugs on people and created effective treatments for addiction