AP Psych Unit 5 States of Consciousness

Awareness

everything going on outside of your body and if you’re aware of it

Waking (Full) Consciousness

having the potential to be aware of everything within/without yourself, voluntary control over yourself, time lag when entering/exiting this state

Subconscious

just below waking conscious, similar to the feeling of subliminal stimulation

Unconscious

being completely unaware, having thoughts and feelings you’re not aware of

Biological Rhythms

internal clocks that control when your body needs to do different things

Circadian Rhythm

the body’s 24-hour clock

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

controls circadian rhythm

Pineal Gland

produces sleep hormones

Melatonin

pushes you into the sleep cycle

Adenosine

builds up during the day while you’re awake, makes you feel the need to sleep

90 Minutes

amount of time it takes to complete a sleep cycle, gets longer as the night goes on

Alpha Waves

very rapid, regular waves, medium strength

Stage 1

lightest sleep

Low Brain Waves

irregular, further apart waves, brain slows down, causes random images/sounds in your mind

Hypnagogic Sensations

the brain incorporating sensory stimuli into the random images/sounds procuded by low brain waves

Stage 2

bigger, slower and more erratic brain waves

Sleep Spindles

moments of rapid brain activity

Sleep Walking/Talking

acting out random images/sounds produced by low brain waves

Stage 3

transition stage from light to deep sleep, brain activity is slower and more erratic, the pons activates

Stage 4

deepest and most restful sleep, increase more as it gets closer to the end of the sleep cycle

Delta Waves

large, far apart waves

REM Sleep

dream state, brain erases the memories of dreams

Reasons for Sleep

recuperation (body heals itself while asleep), growth, protection (more dangers at night)

Insomnia

inability to sleep

Hypersomnia

inability to stay awake

Narcolepsy

inability to control when you sleep, caused by an imbalance of hypocretin

Sleep Apnea

temporarily stopping breathing during sleep

Night Terrors

incredibly vivid nightmares, little kids are prone to them

Lucid Dreaming

very vivid-realistic seeming dreaming

Manifest Content

surface-level meaning of a dream

Latent Content

deeper, symbolic meaning of a dream

Activation Synthesis

when the brain is starved of stimuli while asleep, it takes random static and creates a plot around it (aka a dream)

Altered States

non-typical states of consciousness that are temporary

Hypnosis

being put in a trance

Trance

being incredibly focused on something specific, all other stimuli are excluded

Susceptibility

how open you are to suggestion

Social Influence Theory

people will tend to do what authority figures in society want them to do

Gullibility

if you believe in something, you’ll go along with it

Divided Consciousness Theory

when hypnotized, you create a separate, alternate consciousness that does everything, no proof/evidence of this