Consciousness, Sleep Stages, and Dream Theories: A Psychology Overview

Consciousness

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

Sleep Cycle

Pre-sleep, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM— happens 3-5 times a night.

Pre-sleep

Hypnagogic state.

Alpha Brain Waves

Occurs during wakeful relaxation, meditation, and light sleep. This also includes daydreaming, and heightened creativity.

Stage 1

Theta Brain Waves; Related to drowsiness, relaxation, and creativity. 2-5% of total sleep time; muscles relax and eyes may move slowly.

Stage 2

Theta Brain Waves; Related to drowsiness, relaxation, and creativity. 45-55% of total sleep time; heart rate and breathing slows down and body temp. drops.

Stage 3

Delta Brain Waves; associated with deep sleep, unconsciousness, and dreaming. It is important for physical restoration and is mostly comprised of deep and dreamless sleep. Primarily occurs in the first half of the night, constituting 10-20% of total sleep.

Stage 4

Delta Brain Waves; associated with deep sleep, unconsciousness, and dreaming. It is important for physical restoration and is mostly comprised of deep and dreamless sleep.

REM

Beta Brain Waves; Present during alertness, focus, and active thinking. It also includes problem-solving, active thinking, and focus.

REM Sleep

A stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, heightened brain activity, muscle paralysis, and vivid dreaming. 20-25% of total sleep time, and tends to lengthen as the night progresses.

Freud's theory of dreaming

According to Freud, dreams represent wishes— and some of these wishes are so unacceptable, taboo, and anxiety-inducing that the mind can express them only in disguised form.

Dream interpretation example 1

He would interpret a dream of a train going through a tunnel as symbolic of sexual intercourse.

Dream interpretation example 2

A patient's dream of strangling a dog is interpreted as symbolic of his true desire to harm his sister-in-law.

Dream interpretation example 3

A dream of drinking water, fulfilling the physical need to quench thirst in a disguised way.

Dream interpretation example 4

A dream of being naked in public, representing latent fears of exposure and insecurity.

Dream interpretation example 5

Freud dreamed of evaluating his patient, Irma, and interpreted the dream as if it provided a solution to Irma's poor health by revealing a dirty syringe used by another doctor and relieving Freud of his guilt and fulfilling his wish for a different explanation.

Dream interpretation example 6

Dreaming of your teeth being pulled out or falling out indicates a fear of castration as punishment for masturbation.

Tolerance

The tendency for larger doses of a drug to be required over time to achieve the same effect.

Tolerance example 1

Physicians who prescribe morphine to control pain in their patients are faced with tolerance problems because steadily greater amounts of the drug may be needed to dampen the same pain.

Tolerance example 2

Recreational users find they need to use more and more of a drug to produce the same high, which leads to overdosing.

Withdrawal

Physical dependence; pain, convulsions, hallucinations, or other unpleasant symptoms that accompany withdrawal from drug use.

Dependence

People who suffer from physical dependence may seek to continue drug use to avoid becoming physically ill.

Dependence example

Caffeine headache that some people complain about when they don't have their cup of coffee or java.

Psychological dependence

A strong desire to return to the drug even when physical withdrawal symptoms are gone.

Stimulants

Substances that excite the central nervous system, heightening arousal and activity levels.

Example of stimulants

Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, MDMAs are all stimulants.

Depressants

Substances that reduce the activity of the central nervous system.

Example of depressants

Alcohol, sedatives, and toxic inhalants are all depressants.

Narcotics

Highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve pain.

Example of narcotics

Morphine, heroin, and codeine are all narcotics.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that alter sensation and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations.

Example of hallucinogens

LSDs, PCPs, mushrooms, and marijuana are all hallucinogens.

Minimal Consciousness

All the information about yourself and your environment you are NOT currently paying attention to, but are still processing.

Full Consciousness

All the information about yourself and your environment you are currently aware of.

Self-Consciousness

A level of consciousness in which the person's attention is drawn to the self as an object.

Beta brain waves

Brain waves between 13-35 Hz, experienced when a person is awake and alert.

Phenomenology

The study of how things seem to the conscious person.

Problem of other minds

The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others.

Mind-body problem

The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body.

Cocktail-Party Phenomenon

A phenomenon in which people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby.

Mental Control

The attempt to change conscious states of mind.

Thought Suppression

The conscious avoidance of a thought.

Properties of consciousness

Consciousness has four basic properties: intentionality, unity, selectivity, and transience.

Levels of consciousness

Consciousness can also be understood in terms of three levels: minimal consciousness, full consciousness, and self-consciousness.

Contents of consciousness

Conscious contents can include current concerns, daydreams, and unwanted thoughts.

Psychoactive Drugs

Chemicals that influence consciousness or behavior by altering the brain's chemical message system.

Drug tolerance

The tendency for larger doses of a drug to be required over time to achieve the same effect.

Expectancy Theory

The idea that alcohol effects can be produced by people's expectations of how alcohol will influence them in particular situations.

Alcohol myopia

The theory that alcohol hampers attention, leading people to respond in simple ways to complex situations.

Gateway Drug

A drug whose use increases the risk of the subsequent use of more harmful drugs.

Hypnosis

An altered state of consciousness characterized by suggestibility.

Cognitive Functioning

Attention & decision-making.

Memory

Especially in the establishing long-term memories.

Emotional Health

Mood regulation & recognition.

Physical Health

Energy conservation, growth, neurons & neurochemicals, immunity, Alzheimer's prevention, & stress recovery.

Insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep; particularly prevalent in older adults and women.

Narcolepsy

A disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the middle of waking activities; particularly prevalent symptoms in children.

Sleep Apnea

A disorder in which the person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep; prevalent in older adults.

Sleep walking/talking (Somnabulism)

Occurs when a person arises and walks around while asleep; common in children, rarer in adults.

Night Terrors

Abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional arousal; common in young children, rare in adults.

Sleep Paralysis

The experience of waking up, unable to move; prevalent mostly in minority groups like African and Asian descent, and could come from age, lifestyle and health, and genetics in general.

Recurring dreams

Common forms of dreams that people experience.

Freudian Dream Theory

Dreams are 'Signs of repressed desires or feelings that made themselves known in the theater of the dreaming mind.'

Manifest content

Superficial surface meaning.

Latent content

Hidden or true meaning.

Dream Work

The process by which the unconscious mind alters the true meaning of a dream into something less disturbing.

Activation synthesis

The theory that dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of random neural activity that occurs during sleep.