Chapter 8 Consciousness - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the notes on consciousness, sleep, dreaming, and altered states.

Consciousness

The subjective awareness of mental events; functions include monitoring the self and environment and controlling thought and behaviour.

Attention

The process of focusing conscious awareness; involves orienting to stimuli, controlling contents of consciousness, and maintaining alertness.

Experience-sampling techniques

Methods (e.g., beeper studies) where participants report contents of consciousness at random times in daily life.

Beepers studies

Experience-sampling method using pagers or devices to prompt reports on thoughts, feelings and activities.

Daydreaming

A major component of the normal flow of consciousness when attention shifts from external stimuli to internal thoughts.

Flow

A mental state of complete absorption in an activity, with energized focus, involvement, and intrinsic enjoyment.

Psychodynamic perspective

Freud’s view distinguishing conscious, preconscious, and unconscious processes, with the unconscious often kept from awareness.

Cognitive perspective

Theories emphasizing information-processing outside awareness, including the cognitive unconscious (procedural knowledge and implicit memory).

Evolutionary perspective

Idea that consciousness evolved to direct behaviour adaptively and aid self/environmental adaptation.

Preconscious

Mental processes not presently conscious but easily brought into awareness.

Unconscious

Mental processes that are not accessible to consciousness because they are threatening or repressed.

Subliminal perception

Perception of stimuli below conscious threshold that can influence thoughts and behaviour.

Synaesthesia

A condition in which two or more senses overlap (e.g., letters evoking colors); roughly 4% of the population.

Grapheme-colour synaesthesia

A common form of synaesthesia in which letters or digits evoke colours.

Blindsight

Ability to process visual information without conscious awareness due to certain brain damage.

Reticular formation

Brainstem network regulating wakefulness and arousal; essential for wake-sleep transitions.

Thalamus

Brain structure involved in relaying sensory information and shaping conscious awareness; part of the consciousness spotlight.

Prefrontal cortex

Brain region involved in working memory, conscious attention and executive control of information.

REM sleep

Rapid Eye Movement sleep; dreaming commonly occurs; brain activity resembles waking; body experiences muscle atonia.

NREM sleep

Non-REM sleep; includes Stages 1–4, with Stage 3–4 (delta sleep) being deep sleep.

Delta sleep

Deep sleep (Stages 3–4) characterized by delta waves; difficult to awaken and physically restorative.

Manifest content

Dream storyline as remembered by the dreamer.

Latent content

Underlying meaning of a dream or its emotional or psychodynamic significance.

Freud (dream theory)

Dreams have meaning; manifest content masks latent content—hidden wishes or motivations.

Cognitive view of dreaming

Dreams reflect waking thoughts and concerns; may involve problem solving and metaphorical thinking.

Biological view of dreaming

Dreams may reflect cortical interpretations of random midbrain signals during REM sleep.

Memory consolidation (sleep)

Sleep processes that stabilise and reorganise memories; hippocampus and cortex interact during sleep.

Altered states of consciousness

States in which normal waking perception, thought or feeling are modified or disrupted (e.g., meditation, hypnosis, drugs, religion).

Meditation

An altered state characterized by focused attention and reduced external distractions; EEG changes vary by practice.

Mindfulness

Focused, nonjudgmental awareness of present moment; used in health and education to improve well-being.

Hypnosis

Altered state of deep relaxation and suggestibility; can include time perception changes and analgesia.

Hypnotic analgesia

Reduction of pain under hypnosis; sometimes used therapeutically.

Psychoactive substances

Drugs that alter mental activity by acting on the nervous system; include depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, cannabis.

Depressants

Substances that slow CNS activity (e.g., alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines); can lead to dependence.

Stimulants

Substances that increase alertness and energy (e.g., nicotine, caffeine, amphetamines, cocaine).

Hallucinogens

Substances producing perceptual distortions and hallucinations (e.g., LSD, psilocybin, PCP).

Cannabis

Marijuana; produces a high with mood changes and cognitive effects; long-term effects debated.

Cocaine

Potent stimulant increasing energy and alertness; can cause paranoia and cognitive impairment with chronic use.

Ecstasy (MDMA)

Hallucinogenic stimulant affecting serotonin; can alter mood and perception and carries health risks.

Circadian rhythm

24-hour biological cycle tied to light-dark cycles; regulated by the hypothalamus and melatonin.

Melatonin

Hormone produced in darkness that helps regulate sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms.

Jet lag

Disruption of circadian rhythms after crossing time zones; sleepiness, headaches, and impaired performance.

SIDS/SUID/SUDI

Sudden infant death syndromes; unexpected infant deaths with various risk factors and prevention campaigns.

Disorders of consciousness

Conditions like unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) involving limited awareness.