AP Psych Lesson 5 States of Consciousness

Consciousness

the state of actively being awake and aware of one’s current surroundings

Priming

when research participants respond more quickly and/or more accurately to questions they have seen before, even if they do not remember seeing them(subconsciously)

Blind sight

people who report being blind can nonetheless accurately describe the path of a moving object/accurately grasp objects as they cannot see

Nonconscious Level

level of consciousness devoted to body process completely inaccessible to conscious awareness, ex: heartbeat, respiration, lower-level sensations like recogniing patterns, detecting edges, size and distance, etc.

Preconscious Level

outside of awareness but contains feelings and memories you can easily bring into conscious awareness(recall)

Subconsciousness Level

refers to thoughts and feelings that we are not directly aware of, but can influence behavior and emotions

Unconscious Level

deepest level of consciousness

• Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Theory - unaccepted events, feelings, and desires are repressed into this level

  • some object this concept as difficult and impossible to improve

Unconsciousness

loss of responsiveness to the environment, resulting from disease, trauma, anesthesia (ex: coma)

Dual Processing

processing information on conscious and unconscious levels at the same time

Psychoactive drugs

chemicals that are able to pass through the blood-brain barrier into the brain to alter the brain’s chemistry in perception, thinking, behavior, and mood

• also induce an altered state of consciousness

• impact neurotransmitters at the synapse

Agonists

mimic a neurotransmitter and binds to its receptor site to activate the neurotransmitter’s effect

ex: Heroin(endorphins, euphoric feeling), Nicotine(acetylcholine, stimulates muscle and heart rate)

• Indirect Agonists: block the reuptake of a neurotransmitter, aka reuptake inhibitors

  • ex: Prozac: prevents serotonin from being reabsorbed back into the neuron

  • Cocaine: inhibits reuptake of dopamine

Antagonists

occupy receptors but do not activate them, rather block the receptor site, inhibiting the effect of a neurotransmitter

ex: Botox - blocks acetylcholine from reaching receptors, making affect muscles unable to move

Thorazine - blocks dopamine receptors, early drug for schizophrenia

Psychological Dependence

develops when the person has an intense desire to achieve the drugged state in spite of adverse effects to stimulate its certain feelings

Tolerance

needing increasing amounts of the drug to create the original high/desired effect due to the decreasing responsibility to a drug

Physiological dependence

aka addiction, develops when changes in brain chemistry from taking the drug are necessary to prevent withdrawal symptoms

Withdrawal symptoms

negative reinforcements caused by not taking the drug, creating an intense craving and effects opposite to those the drug usually induces

Blood-Brain Barrier

permeable material that allows or prevents certain chemicals to pass from the blood into the brain; allows psychoactive drugs in

Depressants

• type of psychoactive drug

• slow or inhibit activity of CNS functions, create drowsiness(sedation or sleep) to relieve anxiety and lower inhibition

  ex: sedatives, tranquilizers, alcohol, barbiturates, valium

Alcohol

• depressant that is an agonist for GABA

• impairs/inhibits judgement, self-control, motor coordination

Opiates/Opiods

• type of psychoactive drug derived from the poppy flower, agonist for endorphins, creating drowsiness and euphoria

  • ex: heroin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl

  • relieves pain, elevates mood

Stimulants

a type of psychoactive drug that speeds up/arouses body processes, including autonomic nervous system functions, accompanied by a sense of euphoria

• increase of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine

• ex: caffeine, cocaine, Nicotine, amphetamines

Caffeine

a type of stimulant psychoactive drug, stimulating release of dopamine, promotes

• wakefulness

• mental alertness

• faster thought

  • antagonist for adenosine- blocks sleep inducing effects

Cocaine

• stimulant psychoactive drug

• dopamine agonist(reuptake inhibitor);

• also elevates serotonin and norepinephrine

• intense euphoria, alertness, and heightened self-confidence

Hallucinogens

aka psychedelics, type of psychoactive drugs that alter moods, distort perceptions, and evoke sensory images

• all in all it causes sensory distortions

• ex: LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana

• can remain in the body for a long period of time, causing reverse tolerance(individual becomes more sensitive to the effects of a drug after repeated use)

  • THC - interferes w/ muscle coordination, overall cognitive function

Narcotics

analgesics(pain reducers) that work by depressing the CNS(sometimes even the respiratory system)

Sleep

complex combination of states of consciousness, each with its own level of consciousness, awareness, responsiveness, and physiological arousal

• lowered activity to react to stimuli, but more internally active the deeper the stages are

• we sleep in cycles(every 90-120 minutes)

• each sleep cycle involves four different stages of sleep

  • NREM 1, NREM 2, NREM 3, and REM

• NREM 3 gets shorter and REM gets longer throughout the night

Circadian Rhythm

natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle every 24 hours

• influences when you fall asleep/wake up

• responds to light and darkness in the environment

Hypnagogic State

drifting to sleep; you feel relaxed, fail to respond to outside stimuli

• transitions to the first stage of sleep

• emits alpha waves

NREM-1

NREM = Non-Rapid Eye Movement

• first stage, emits theta waves(higher in amplitude and lower in frequency)

Awake

• being awake and aware of surroundings(obvi)

• emits beta waves

NREM 2

• second stage, emits theta waves as well

• includes sleep spindles - high frequency bursts of brain activity and

• K complexes(maintains sleep and processes external stimuli

NREM 3

• deepest, heaviest, thickest, sleep stage

• emission of delta waves(high amplitude low frequency)

• sleepwalking and sleep talking occur

Restoration of Resources/Restoration Theory of Sleep

the idea that sleep helps restore depleted psychological and physical resources that are used during waking hours

REM

• (rapid eye movement), lasts around 90 minutes

• brain waves start to speed up and go back through NREM stages 2 + 3 and then reach intense internally active

• paradoxical - internally active as when awake(but paralyzed body)

• emits beta waves

• dreams + nightmares are more likely to occur

REM Rebound

derives from sleep deprivation/stress, making more and longer periods of REM

Lucid Dreaming

the ability to be aware of direct one’s dreams, has been used to help people make recurrent nightmares less frightening

Memory Consolidation Theory of Sleep

occurring during REM, restores and rebuilds memories of the day’s experiences

• hence why sleep deprived individuals struggle physically and cognitively

Energy Conservation Theory of Sleep

• based on the evolutionary approach

• sleep protects us by preserving energy to protect us during the day when movement and activity are less likely to yield value and more likely to expose us to danger

• sleep helps animals to adapt to their environments for survival

Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud proposed that

• dreams are the road to the unconscious mind of unconscious desires and fears hidden as symbols in dreams

  • Manifest Content: dream’s storyline

  • Latent Content: underlying meaning

Activation Synthesis Theory

proposed by psychiatrists Robert McCarley and J. Alan Hobson

• based on biological and information processing

• dreams sort out the day’s events to consolidate our memories

• REM helps preserve and develop neural connections and the brain makes sense of its random activations into a story line

• Activation: Pons generates bursts of action potentials to the forebrain

Insomnia

the inability to fall and/or stay asleep in a consistent pattern over a long period of time

• Causes - stress, irregular sleep schedule, pain/illness, diet

• Treatment - stress management, medications/melotonin, reducing intake of stimulants

Narcolepsy

uncontrollably falls into sleep, often directly into REM sleep; causes drowsiness, muscle paralysis(cataplexy)

• triggered by strong emotions

• Cause - genetics

• Treatment - Medication, Support

Sleep Apnea

temporary cessations of breathing that awaken the individual repeatedly during the night, snoring, gasping

• 3 types: obstructive(throat blockage of airway) Central(miscommunications w/ CNS) complex(both)

• Causes: weight, smoking, gender, age, thick neck, narrow airway, nasal obstruction

• Treatment: lose weight, surgery, CPAP machine

Night Terror

most frequently childhood sleep disruptions from the deepest part of NREM-3 (formerly referred to as stage 4) sleep characterized by a bloodcurdling scream and intense fear.

Somnambulism

sleepwalking; also most frequently a childhood sleep disruption that occurs during deep NREM-3 sleep characterized by trips out of bed or carrying on complex activities.

Hypothalamus

systematically regulates changes in your body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, blood sugar levels, hormonal levels, and activity levels over the course of about a day.