Consciousness & States of Mind Flashcards | Quizlet

Stream of Consciousness

William James's concept describing consciousness as a continuous, flowing river.

Consciousness

Subjective awareness of internal and external events.

Attention

Internal processes used to set priorities for mental functioning.

Dichotic Listening Task

An experiment playing different audio to each ear to show attention limits.

Change Blindness

Failure to notice obvious changes in an environment due to selective attention.

Cocktail Party Effect

Ability to focus on one voice while subconsciously screening for self-relevant information.

Automaticity

Fast, effortless processing requiring little to no focused attention.

Subliminal Advertising Myth ($1957$)

James Vicary's theater study claiming behavioral influence was a fabrication.

Visual Neglect

Tendency to ignore one side of space, usually from right parietal damage.

Blindsight

Perceiving visual stimuli without conscious awareness due to visual cortex damage.

Prosopagnosia

An inability to consciously recognize familiar faces.

Hypnosis

A social interaction producing heightened suggestibility in a willing participant.

Circadian Rhythms

Regular daily cycles of sleepiness and wakefulness slightly longer than $24\,\text{hours}$.

Jet Lag Direction Effect

Traveling east is harder because it shortens the day against our natural rhythm.

Restorative Function of Sleep

Hypothesis that sleep repairs normal wear and tear on body and brain.

Adaptive Function of Sleep

Hypothesis that sleep protects organisms by keeping them out of danger.

Sleep Cycle Duration

Four stages repeated $4$ to $5$ times per night, lasting $\sim 90\,\text{minutes}$ each.

REM Sleep Characteristics

Rapid eye movements, dreaming, physiological arousal, and skeletal muscle paralysis.

Activation-Synthesis Theory

Dreams result from the brain's attempt to synthesize random neural activity.

Freudian Dream Theory

Dreams represent unconscious wish-fulfillment containing manifest and latent content.

Nightmares vs. Night Terrors

Nightmares occur during REM sleep; night terrors occur during non-REM sleep.

Sleep Paralysis Cause

Waking up while the body is still in REM muscle paralysis.

Hypnic Myoclonia

A sudden muscle jerk while falling asleep.

Psychoactive Drugs

Chemicals affecting behavior and awareness by altering neuronal communication.

Drug Tolerance

Decreased response to a drug requiring higher doses for the same effect.

Physical Dependency

Addiction characterized by physical withdrawal symptoms upon drug cessation.

Depressants

Drugs that slow central nervous system activity, such as alcohol and barbiturates.

Stimulants

Drugs that increase central nervous system activity, such as caffeine and cocaine.

Opiates

Drugs that depress CNS activity, relieve pain, and produce euphoria.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that distort perception and sensory reality, such as LSD and mescaline.