States of Consciousness + Learning

States of Consciousness

Conscious vs. Non-Conscious Processing

• Conscious: Active awareness of thoughts/environment.

• Non-conscious: Mental processes not in awareness (e.g., breathing, memory storage).

Levels of the Non-Conscious Mind

• Preconscious: Can be made conscious (e.g., memories).

• Unconscious (Freud): Hidden desires, fears, conflicts.

• Subconscious: Processing below awareness that affects behavior.

Sleep & Circadian Rhythms

• Circadian Rhythm: 24-hour biological clock (sleep/wake cycle).

• REM Sleep: Rapid eye movement; dreams; body is paralyzed.

• N-REM Sleep: Non-dream stages (N1 = light, N2 = spindles, N3 = deep sleep).

• Sleep Paralysis: REM-related; mind awake, body immobile.

Dream Theories

• Freud:
  

  • Manifest Content: Storyline of the dream.

  • Latent Content: Hidden, unconscious meaning.

• Modern Theories:
  

  • Activation-Synthesis: Random neural activity interpreted by brain.

  • Information Processing: Dreams help sort and store memories.

Hypnosis

• Altered state of focused attention and suggestibility.

• Useful for pain relief, habit change. Not reliable for memory recovery.

Psychoactive Drugs

• Depressants: Slow activity (alcohol, barbiturates, opiates).

• Stimulants: Speed up body (caffeine, nicotine, cocaine).

• Hallucinogens: Alter perception (LSD, marijuana).

• Addiction: Physical/psychological dependence; tolerance and withdrawal.

Learning

Learning vs. Instinct

• Learning: Acquired behavior through experience.

• Instinct: Inborn, automatic behavior.

Simple Learning

• Habituation: Decreased response to repeated stimulus.

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

• Neutral Stimulus (NS): No response before conditioning.

• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Naturally causes a response.

• Unconditioned Response (UCR): Automatic reaction to UCS.

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Was NS, now triggers learned response.

• Conditioned Response (CR): Learned reaction to CS.

Key Terms

• Acquisition: Initial learning of CS–CR link.

• Extinction: CR fades when CS is no longer paired with UCS.

• Spontaneous Recovery: CR returns after extinction.

• Discrimination: Only specific CS triggers response.

• Generalization: Similar stimuli also trigger response.

Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

• Law of Effect (Thorndike): Behaviors followed by good outcomes are more likely repeated.

• Reinforcement: Increases behavior.
  

  • Positive Reinforcement: Add pleasant stimulus.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Remove unpleasant stimulus.

• Punishment: Decreases behavior.
  

  • Positive Punishment: Add something unpleasant.

  • Negative Punishment: Take away something pleasant.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous: Every response is reinforced.

• Intermittent: Not every time.
  

  • Fixed Ratio: After set number of responses.

  • Variable Ratio: Random number of responses.

  • Fixed Interval: After set time.

  • Variable Interval: Random time intervals.

Other Concepts

• Shaping: Reinforcing closer steps to desired behavior.

• Primary Reinforcers: Satisfy biological needs (food, water).

• Secondary Reinforcers: Learned value (money, praise).

• Token Economy: Use tokens (secondary) to exchange for rewards.

Cognitive Learning

• Wolfgang Köhler: Chimps used insight to solve problems.

• Cognitive Maps: Mental layouts (Tolman’s rats in a maze).

• Latent Learning: Learning occurs but is hidden until needed.

• Observational Learning (Bandura):
  

  • Bobo Doll Experiment: Kids imitate aggressive adults.

  • Modeling: Learning by observing others.