PSYC 1100 Week 8 – Consciousness

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms from the lecture on consciousness, sleep, dreams, psychoactive drugs, and hypnosis.

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 in perceiving the consciousness of others.

Philosophical Zombie

A hypothetical being that behaves like a conscious person but lacks subjective experience.

Agency (in mind perception)

Judged capacity for self-control, planning, thought, and memory.

Capacity for Experience

Judged ability to feel sensations such as pain, pleasure, or hunger.

Mind-Body Problem

The issue of how the mind and the physical brain interact.

Dualism

The philosophical view that mind and body are distinct entities (Descartes).

Intentionality

Property of consciousness being directed toward an object or focus.

Unity

Ability of consciousness to integrate information into a coherent whole.

Selectivity

Capacity to include some objects and exclude others from awareness.

Transience

The tendency of consciousness to change or drift over time.

Minimal Consciousness

Low-level sensory awareness and responsiveness that can occur during sleep.

Full Consciousness

Awareness in which one can report on one’s mental state.

Self-Consciousness

Attention drawn to the self as an object (e.g., embarrassment, self-reflection).

Mirror Self-Recognition (Rouge) Task

Experimental test for self-consciousness using a mark on the face and a mirror.

Coma

State in which a patient is unresponsive, eyes closed, and shows no wakefulness.

Vegetative State

Condition with wake-sleep cycles but no reliable awareness of self or surroundings.

Locked-In Syndrome

Full awareness but near-total paralysis; not a disorder of consciousness.

Experience Sampling / EMA

Method of prompting people to report their conscious experiences in real time.

Daydreaming

Seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts while awake; linked to default network.

Default Network

Brain regions active when thinking about self, past, or future and during rest.

Mental Control

Attempt to change or regulate one’s conscious state of mind.

Thought Suppression

Conscious effort to avoid a particular thought.

Rebound Effect (of Thought Suppression)

Suppressed thoughts return with greater frequency once suppression ends.

Ironic Processes of Mental Control

Monitoring for errors can itself cause the unwanted thought or action.

Dynamic Unconscious

Freud’s concept of hidden memories and instincts kept from awareness.

Repression

Mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts from consciousness.

Freudian Slip

Speech or action error thought to reveal the unconscious.

Cognitive Unconscious

Modern term for mental processes that occur without conscious awareness.

Dual Process Theories

Models proposing fast, automatic System 1 and slow, effortful System 2 processing.

System 1

Fast, automatic, unconscious information processing system.

System 2

Slow, effortful, conscious information processing system.

Altered State of Consciousness

Experience that markedly differs from normal wakeful awareness.

Hypnagogic State

Drifting, pre-sleep consciousness with wandering images and thoughts.

Hypnic Jerk

Sudden body twitch or falling sensation when drifting into sleep.

Circadian Rhythm

Naturally occurring roughly 24-hour sleep–wake cycle.

Stage 1 Sleep

Light sleep with theta waves; easy to wake.

Stage 2 Sleep

Sleep stage with sleep spindles and K-complexes; harder to wake.

Stage 3 Sleep

Beginning of slow-wave sleep marked by delta waves.

Stage 4 Sleep

Deep slow-wave sleep dominated by delta waves.

REM Sleep

Rapid eye-movement stage with vivid dreams, high brain activity, and muscle atonia.

Insomnia

Chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep disorder in which breathing stops briefly and repeatedly.

Sleepwalking

Motor activity during non-REM sleep, most common in children.

Narcolepsy

Disorder with sudden REM sleep attacks during wakefulness.

Sleep Paralysis

Temporary inability to move when waking from REM sleep.

Night Terrors

Abrupt awakening with panic, usually early in the night and without dream recall.

Manifest Content

The apparent storyline of a dream (Freud).

Latent Content

The hidden, true meaning of a dream (Freud).

Action-Synthesis Model

Theory that dreams result from the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity.

Lucid Dreaming

Dream state in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming and may exert control.

Psychoactive Drug

Substance that alters brain function and affects consciousness or behavior.

Drug Tolerance

Need for larger doses to achieve the same effect over time.

Physical Dependence

Use of a drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Psychological Dependence

Compulsive drug use driven by emotional or mental need.

Depressants

Drugs that reduce CNS activity, producing calming effects (e.g., alcohol).

Expectancy Theory

Idea that alcohol effects are partly produced by people’s expectations.

Alcohol Myopia

Alcohol-induced narrowing of attention leading to simplified responses.

Stimulants

Substances that excite the CNS and increase arousal (e.g., cocaine, ecstasy).

Narcotics (Opiates)

Highly addictive pain-relieving drugs derived from opium (e.g., heroin).

Hallucinogens

Drugs that alter perception and can cause sensory distortions (e.g., LSD).

Hypnosis

Social interaction involving suggestions that alter a person’s subjective experience.

Posthypnotic Amnesia

Inability to recall information following a hypnotic suggestion to forget.

Hypnotic Analgesia

Pain reduction achieved through hypnosis in susceptible individuals.