Psychology exam 2 review study guide (CONCIOUSNESS)

What is conciousness?

an individual's awareness of external events and internal sensations under a condition of arousal

Parallel processing

Processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem at once.

- Unconscious

- Ex: Vision (color, motion, form, and depth)

Sequential processing

Processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; new info or difficult problem solving

- concious memory

What is selective attention?

Conciousness awareness focused on a particular stimulus.

What is the cocktail party effect?

The ability to focus on one specific conversation or sound source while filtering out other background noise.

What does the cocktail party effect illustrate about attention?

Our attention is selective.

Inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.

Change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment (form of attentional blindness).

What is the circadian rhythm? What are the two types of clocks that our body goes by?

Internal biological clock; sleep /wake cycle and blood sugar level

24-hour clock:

hunger and release of hormones. The 24-hour clock is influenced by external cues like light and darkness, which help keep the body in sync with the external environment. This clock drives the sleep-wake cycle and helps determine when we feel sleepy and when we are most alert.

90 minute clock:

. The 90-minute cycle is linked to the various phases of sleep, including light sleep, deep sleep, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. During sleep, we experience these 90-minute cycles multiple times throughout the night.

How do things like jet lab, shift work, and irregular sleep schedules affect the circadian rhythm.

Desynchronizes the clock

REM sleep

rapid eye movement, saw-toothed brain waves; heart rate rises and irregular breathing; darting eyes.

non-REM sleep

characterized by lack of rapid eye movement and little dreaming.

Understand why we sleep:

Protection

Recuperation

Memory consolidation

Creative thinking

Growth

What are the effects of sleep deprivation?

Decreased alertness and cognitive performance, instability to sustain attention, less complex brain activity, adverse effects on decision-making, lead to memory impairment.

Insomnia

the inability to sleep

Narcolepsy

involves sudden, overpowering urges to sleep. (immediately enter REM sleep)

Sleep Apnea

individuals stop breathing because the windpipe fails to open or because brain processes involved in respiration fail to work properly. (people with sleep apnea wake up in the middle of the night to breathe better)

Sleepwalking & Sleep Talking

Sleepwalking takes place in stage N3.

Sleep Talking is most likely to occur when drinking alcohol or sleep deprived.

Night Terrors

a sudden arousal from sleep and intense fear. Include rapid heart rates and breathing, loud screams, heavy perspiration and movement. These peak at ages 5-7 and occur during non-REM sleep.

Cognitive Theory

proposes that we can understand dreaming by applying the same cognitive concepts we use in studying the waking mind. Strongly argues that dreams should be viewed as kind of mental stimulation that is very similar in content to our everyday thoughts.

Activation-synthesis Theory

dreaming occurs when the cerebral cortex synthesizes neural signals generated from activity in the lower part of the brain. the brain makes "sense" out of random brain activity.

What defines a psychoactive drug?

Act on the nervous system to alter consciousness, modify perceptions, and change moods.

Tolerance

the need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect.

Withdrawal

physical pain and a craving for the drug when it discontinued.

Substance Use Disorder

a psychological disorder in which person's use of a psychoactive drug affects their health and abilities to work and engage in social relationships.

Depressants

General effect: are psychoactive drugs that slow mental and physical activity.

Examples: alcohol, barbiturates, tranqualities, and opiates.

Risks: brain, liver, heart accidents, birth defects)

Opioids

General effect: are a class of drugs that act on the brain's endorphin receptors. Act as painkillers, increase sexual activity, increase appetite, and create a euphoric feeling.

Examples: Morphin and heroine

Risks: Highly addictive and users experience cravings and painful withdrawals when the drug becomes unavailable. Overdose is high. and HIV.

Stimulants

General effect: increase the central nervous system's activity.

Examples: caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine.

Risks: Caffeine can result in mood changes, anxiety, sleep disruption, irritability, headaches, dry mouth, increased blood pressure, and digestive problems. Nicotine withdrawal produces irritability, craving, inability to focus, sleep disruption, and increased appetite.

Hallucinogens (Psychedelic)

General effect: modify a person's perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real.

Examples: Marijuana and LSD.

Risks: Distortion.

Marijuana

General effect: increased pulse rate and blood pressure, reddening of the eyes, and dry mouth. Mixture of excitatory, depressive, and mildly hallucinatory characteristics. Place and time distortion, and increased sensitivity of sounds, taste, smell, and colors.

Risks: Accidents, respiratory disease, anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, negative birth outcomes, and birth defects.