AP Psychology - Consciousness: Sleep, Dreams, Hypnosis, and Drugs

Conciousness

a person's awareness of everything that is going around him or her at any given moment

waking conciousness

state in which thoughts, feelings and sensations are clear, organized and the person feels alert

Altered State of Conciousness

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

concious

brain processes of which we are aware

preconcious

information that is not currently in conciousness, but can be brought to conciousness if attention is called to it

unconcious

many levels of processing that occur without awareness (freud and psychodynamic approach)

nonconcious

brain processes that does not involve concious processing (heart rate, breathing, control of internal organs)

inattentional blindness

failure to see visible objects when our attention is directed somewhere else

change blindness

failure to notice a change when there is a change in our visual field

cocktail party effect

only able to focus on so much nose; auditory figure-ground

circadian rhythm

a cycle of bodily rhytham that occurs over a 24 hour period (25 hour cycle)

hypothalamus

tiny section of the brain that influences the glandular system

Suprachaismatic Nucleus

deep within the hypothalamus; the internal clock that tells people when to wake up and when to fall asleep (tells pineal gland to secrete melatonin)

microsleeps

a common effect of sleep deprivation, a breif sidestep into lasting only a few seconds (can happen anywhere; driving, school, HARD TO CONTROL)

sleep deprivation

any significant loss of sleep, resulting in problems concentrating and irratability

adaptive theory

theory of sleep proposing that humans and animals evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active

restorative theory

proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health or the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

memory consolidation theory

restores and rebuilds our memories of the day; discards those we don't need

creative thinking

making connections during sleep (sleeping on it)

roles in Growth

pituitary gland --> HGH is released by the brain into the bloodstream during sleep and its release is part of the repair and resotration function of sleep

electroencephalograph (EEG)

allows scientists to see the brain wave activity as a person passes through the various stages of sleep and to determine what type of sleep the person entered

Beta Waves

are produced when you're awake

Alpha Waves

brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep

Theta Waves

early stages of sleep, majority of sleep

Delta Waves

long, slow waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep

Rapid Eye Movement (REM)

stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream

NREM (non REM) sleep

any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM

Non- REM stage 1

light sleep; theta waves
experience:
- hypnagogic images - vivid visual events
- hypnic jerk - knees, legs or whole body jerks

Non - REM stage 2

sleep spindles (breif boosts of activity lasting 1-2 seconds); largest percent of total sleep

Non-REM stage 3 and 4

Delta Waves pronounced - slow waves; deep sleep - whenn 50% if waves are delta waves

REM Sleep

is paradoxical sleep; high level of brain activity (beta waves) and sympathetic NS activity
- voluntary muscles are "paralyzed" so you can't act out your vivid dreams
- if awoken during REM sleep, most always report a dream

REM rebound

increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on earlier nights

REM behavior disorder

a rare disorder that blocks movement of voluntary muscles, thrash around and even get up and act our nightmares (REM sleep... bad dreams...these we can recall)

sleepwalking (somnambulism)

occurs during deep sleep, and episode of moving around or walking around in one's sleep

somniloquy

talking in ones sleep

Night Terrors

relatively rare disorder in which the person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep without waking fully (stage 4, deep sleep, delta wave sleep)

What stage do we spend the most stage in?

Stage 2 and REM sleep

Why do you need 7-8 hours of sleep?

The time period of all your REM sleep which is why you need that much sleep

What stage to Children usually spend the most time in?

children spend the most time in deep sleep and elderly spend the most time in light sleep

Insomnia

the inability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get a good quality of sleep

hypersomnia

getting or needing too much sleep

sleep apnea

disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more
- continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices

narcolepsy

sleep disorder in which a person falls immediatly into REM sleep during the day without warning

Freud's Beliefs

dreams as wish fulfillent
- manifest content: actual dream itself
- latent content: the true, hidden meaning of a dream

physiological hypothesis

dreams provide the brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways

activation - synthesis hypothesis

dreams are created by the higher centers of the cortex to explain the activation by the brain stem of costical cells during REM
- by product of REM sleep
- make sense of random neural stimulation (weird dreams)

Information Processing

sift, sort, and fix the days experiences (memory consolidation)

cognative development theory

reflects brain maturation and cognative development

Lucid Dreaming

knowing you are dreaming and also able to control the dream

Psychoactive Drugs

drugs that alter behavior; thinking, perception and memory
(break the blood-brain barrier)

physical dependence

physiological need

Tolerence

mire and more of the drug is needed to achieve the same effect

withdrawl

physical sympotoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors and high bp resulting from lack of an addictive drug

psychological dependence

the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well being

stimulants

drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system; increasing alertness and arousal

amphetamines

drugs that are sythesized (in labs) rather than found in nature (adderall)
- triggers dopamine and norepinephrine

methamphetamine

triggers the release of dopamine

cocaine

nautral drugs; produces euphoria, energy, power and pleasure
- triggers dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine
- blocks the receptor sites of reuptake creating the "crash"

nicotine

active ingredient in tobacco
- compulsive, mood altering, and reinforcing
- triggers epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine

caffeine

the stimlant found in coffe, tea, sodas, chocolate, and over the counter drugs

ecstacy/mdma

stimulant and mild hallucinogens
- euphoria and feeling of intimacy
- dehydrating effect that can lead to death
- triggers the release of serotonin then blocks reuptake

depressants

drugs that decrease the functioning of the central nervous system

barbiturates

depressant drugs that have a sedative effect (tranquilizers)
- induce sleep or reduce anxiety
- imparied life sustaining functions of brainstem, impaired memory or death

benzodiazepines

drugs that lower aniety and reduce stress
- xanax, valium
- act on GABA pathways in the limbic system

alcohol

the chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter, stimulates GABA

What does alcohol do to the brain

lowers inhibition, slows neural processing, disrupts memory formation and reduces self awarness also diminshes nerve cells, impairs growth of synaptic connections and can shrink the brain leading to liver damage

narcotics

a class of opium related drugs that suppress the sensation of pain by binding to and stimulating (agonists) the NS's natural receptor sites for endorphins

opium

substance derived from the opium poppy from which all narcotic drugs are derived

morphine

narcotic drug derived from opium, used to treat severe pain

heorin

narcotic drug derived from opium that is extremely addictive

hallucinogen

a psychogenic drug that produce hallucinations or increased feeling sof relaxation and intoxication

hallucinognes

drugs that cause false sensory messages, altering the perception of reality

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)

powerful synthetic drug that can lead to death
- antagonist for serotonin

PCP

synthesized drug now used as an animal tranquilzer that can cause stimulant, depressant, narcotic, or hallucinogenic effect

stimulatory hallucinogens

drugs that produce a mixture of psychomotor stimulat and hallucenogic effects

mescaline

natural hallucingen derived from the peyte cactus
- serotonin and dopamine

psilocybin

natural hallucinogen found in mushrooms
- serotonin

reverse tolerance

the phenomenon in which a lesser dose of the drug produces the same effect

marijuana

mild hallucinogen derived from leaves and flowers of the hemp plant

What does marijuana do?

- relaxes and produces a high
- individual expierences difference in taste and other senses
- reduced concentration and coordination
- more use = greater risk of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia

what does marijuana do to the brain?

shrinkage of brian areas that deal with memory (hippocampus)

Anandamide

neurotransmitter that will affect levels of norepinephrine
and dopamine