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Vocabulary flashcards covering the major terms and concepts from Week 8 lecture on Consciousness.
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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 of perceiving the consciousness of others.
Philosophical Zombie
A hypothetical being that behaves like a human but lacks conscious experience.
Agency (mind perception)
Judged ability for self-control, planning, and thought in another mind.
Experience (mind perception)
Judged capacity to feel sensations and emotions in another mind.
Mind-Body Problem
The issue of how mental states are related to physical brain activity.
Intentionality
Property of consciousness whereby it is directed toward an object or stimulus.
Unity (of consciousness)
Ability to integrate sensory information into a coherent whole.
Selectivity
Capacity to include some objects and exclude others from awareness.
Transience
The tendency of conscious focus to keep changing over time.
Dichotic Listening
Task with different messages in each ear used to study selective attention.
Cocktail Party Phenomenon
Ability to focus on one conversation yet notice personally relevant stimuli (e.g., your name) elsewhere.
Minimal Consciousness
Low-level sensory awareness and responsiveness that can occur during sleep.
Full Consciousness
State in which you are aware of and can report your mental experiences.
Self-Consciousness
Attention is directed toward the self as an object (e.g., embarrassment, self-reflection).
Mirror Self-Recognition (Rouge) Task
Test for self-consciousness where individuals recognize a mark on their face in a mirror.
Coma
State of complete unawareness with closed eyes and no purposeful response to stimuli.
Vegetative State
Condition with sleep-wake cycles and reflexive behaviours but no evidence of awareness.
Locked-In Syndrome
Paralysis of nearly all muscles while full consciousness is preserved.
Experience Sampling / EMA
Method in which participants report their conscious experiences in real time.
Daydreaming
Purposeless flow of thoughts when attention drifts from immediate tasks.
Default Network
Brain regions active during rest and self-referential thought, prominent in daydreaming.
Mental Control
The attempt to change or regulate the conscious mind.
Thought Suppression
Conscious attempt to avoid a specific thought.
Rebound Effect (of suppression)
Suppressed thoughts return to consciousness more frequently afterward.
Ironic Processes of Mental Control
Monitoring for errors can itself cause the unwanted thought or action.
Dynamic Unconscious (Freud)
Active system of hidden memories, instincts, and inner conflict outside awareness.
Repression
Mental process that keeps unacceptable thoughts in the unconscious.
Freudian Slip
Verbal or behavioural mistake believed to reveal unconscious thoughts.
Cognitive Unconscious
All mental processes not experienced yet influencing thoughts and behaviour.
Dual Process Theories
Models proposing fast, automatic System 1 and slow, effortful System 2 processing.
System 1
Fast, automatic, unconscious mental processing system.
System 2
Slow, deliberate, conscious mental processing system.
Altered State of Consciousness
Experience that departs significantly from normal subjective awareness.
Hypnagogic State
Pre-sleep transitional consciousness with wandering, dreamlike thoughts.
Hypnic Jerk
Sudden muscular twitch or falling sensation during early sleep onset.
Circadian Rhythm
Natural ~24-hour cycle governing sleep–wake and other bodily functions.
Stage 1 Sleep
Light sleep with theta waves; easy to awaken.
Stage 2 Sleep
Sleep stage with theta waves and sleep spindles; harder to awaken.
Stage 3 Sleep
Deep sleep characterized by delta waves.
Stage 4 Sleep
Deepest non-REM sleep dominated by delta waves.
REM Sleep
Stage with rapid eye movements, dreaming, and brain activity similar to wakefulness.
Sleep Deprivation
Insufficient sleep leading to cognitive deficits, mood problems, and health risks.
Insomnia
Chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops, causing nocturnal awakenings.
Sleepwalking
Walking during non-REM sleep without conscious awareness.
Narcolepsy
Disorder involving sudden REM sleep attacks during wakefulness.
Sleep Paralysis
Temporary inability to move when awakening from REM sleep.
Night Terrors
Abrupt awakening with intense fear, usually early in the sleep cycle.
Dream Characteristics
Intense emotion, illogical thought, vivid sensation, uncritical acceptance, and poor recall.
Manifest Content
The surface storyline of a dream, according to Freud.
Latent Content
The hidden, true meaning of a dream, per Freudian theory.
Activation-Synthesis Model
Theory that dreams result from the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity.
Lucid Dreaming
Dreaming while aware that one is dreaming, often with some control.
Psychoactive Drug
Substance that alters consciousness or behaviour by affecting neurotransmission.
Drug Tolerance
Needing larger doses over time to achieve the same effect.
Depressants
Drugs that reduce central nervous system activity and have calming effects.
Expectancy Theory (alcohol)
Belief that alcohol effects are shaped by users’ expectations of those effects.
Alcohol Myopia
Impaired attention under alcohol leading to simplistic responses to complex situations.
Stimulants
Drugs that increase CNS activity, arousal, and energy (e.g., cocaine).
Narcotics (Opiates)
Highly addictive pain-relieving drugs derived from opium.
Hallucinogens
Drugs that profoundly alter sensation and perception, producing hallucinations.
Hypnosis
Social interaction where suggestions alter a participant’s subjective experience.
Posthypnotic Amnesia
Inability to recall information following a hypnotic suggestion to forget.
Hypnotic Analgesia
Pain reduction achieved through hypnotic suggestion in susceptible individuals.