Chapter 4: States of Consciousness: Laura a. King

stream of consciousness

Term used by William James to describe the mind as a continuous flow of changing sensations

consciousness

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

awareness

includes awareness of the self and thoughts about one's experience.

Arousal

the physiological state of being engaged with the environment.

reticular activation system:

A network of structures including the brain stem

theory of mind

Individuals' understanding that they and others think

autism spectrum disorder

A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction across a variety of settings as well as restrictive repetitive behaviors

Five Levels of Awareness

higher-level consciousness

Higher level Consciousness

involves controlled processes and executive function. example would be doing a math or science problem

controlled processes

individuals actively focus their efforts toward attaining a goal.

executive function

Higher-order

Lower-Level Consciousness

includes automatic processing that requires little attention

automatic processes:

States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities

Altered States of Consciousness:

mental states that are noticeably different from normal awareness. can be produced by drugs

Subconscious Awareness:

Can occur when people are awake

No Awareness

generally

Unconscious thought

is Freud's belief that some unconscious thoughts are too laden with anxiety and other negative emotions for consciousness to admit them. examples would be having unconscious thoughts

sleep

A natural state of rest for the body and mind that involves the reversible loss of consciousness.

biological rhythms

Periodic physiological fluctuations in the body

circadian rhythms

Daily behavioral or physiological cycles that involve the sleep/wake cycle

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN):

A small brain structure that uses input from the retina to synchronize its own rhythm with the daily cycle of light and dark; the body's way of monitoring the change from day to night.

beta waves

reflect concentration and alertness.

alpha waves

associated with relaxation and drowsiness.

Stage W

stands for wake. when people are awake their patterns exhibit two waves

Stage N1 Sleep

when people are just falling asleep

Stage N2 Sleep:

muscle activity decreases

Stage N3 Sleep:

delta sleep is our deepest sleep. also called slow-wave sleep. bedwetting

Stage R Sleep

comes after the first 3 stages. REM sleep is a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement when most vivid dreams occur. people awaked during this stage are more likely to report having dreamed than any other stage.

insomnia

the inability to sleep

narcolepsy

the sudden overpowering urge to sleep. so uncontrollable that the person may fall asleep while standing up.

sleep apnea

individuals stop breathing because the windpipe fails to open or because brain processes involved in respiration fail to work properly.

manifest content

According to Freud

latent content

According to Freud

cognitive theory of dreaming

Theory proposing that one can understand dreaming by applying the same cognitive concepts used in studying the waking mind.

activation-synthesis theory

Theory that dreaming occurs when the cerebral cortex synthesizes neural signals generated from activity in the lower part of the brain and that dreams result from the brain's attempts to find logic in random brain activity that occurs during sleep.

psychoactive drugs

Drugs that act on the nervous system to alter consciousness

tolerance

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

physical dependence

The physiological need for a drug that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as physical pain and a craving for the drug when it is discontinued.

psychological dependence

The strong desire to repeat the use of a drug for emotional reasons

addiction

A physical or a psychological dependence

substance use disorder

A psychological disorder in which a person's use of psychoactive drugs (such as alcohol or opiates) affects their health

depressants

Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity.

alcoholism

Disorder that involves long-term

barbiturates

Depressant drugs

opioids

A class of drugs that act on the brain's endorphin receptors. These include opium and its natural derivatives (sometimes called opiates) as well as chemicals that do not occur naturally but that have been created to mimic the activity of opium. These drugs (also called narcotics) depress activity in the central nervous system and eliminate pain.

tranquilizers

Depressant drugs

stimulants

Psychoactive drugs

hallucinogens

Psychoactive drugs that modify a person's perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real.

hypnosis

An altered state of consciousness or a psychological state of altered attention and expectation in which the individual is unusually receptive to suggestions.

divided consciousness view of hypnosis

Hilgard's view that hypnosis involves a splitting of consciousness into two separate components

social cognitive behavior view of hypnosis:

The perspective that hypnosis is a normal state in which the hypnotized person behaves the way they believe that a hypnotized person should behave.

meditation

The attainment of a peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied by worry; the meditator is mindfully present to their thoughts and feelings but is not consumed by them.