Consciousness

• consciousness- awareness of both internal and external stimuli.
• consciousness as awareness
• selective attention

  • focus on one's consciousness on a particular stimulus.
  • makes our senses keener
  • cocktail party effect
• direct inner awareness

  • knowledge of one's own thoughts, feelings, and memories without the use of sensory organs.
• consciousness in psychodynamic theory
• preconscious

  • not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one's attention.
  • e.g. "what did you eat for breakfast?"
• unconscious

  • not available to awareness; without consciousness.
  • painful memories and sexual and aggressive impulses - ejected from awareness.
  • repression and suppression.
• nonconscious

  • describes bodily processes which can't become conscious.
  • e.g. firing of neurons, growing of finger nails.
• conscious as personality unit- our sense of being a person or individual with our own impressions, thoughts, and feelings - sense of self in the world.
• endogenous rhythm

  • endogenous meaning "generated from within".
  • biological rhythms that originate from within an organism and are driven by internal mechanisms and are not dependent on external stimuli.
• circannual rhythm

  • Latin, circum= about; annum=year
  • bears preparing for seasonal changes- hibernation.
  • migratory birds fly to their winter home as summer begins to end.
• circadian rhythm

  • Latin, circum= about; dies= day
  • wake-sleep rhythm for humans.
  • eating, urination, hormone secretion, mood, etc.
• zeitgeber

  • zeit= time; gaber= to give
  • environmental variables that are capable of acting as circadian time cues.
  • stimulus that resets circadian rhythm.
  • light is the most important zeitgebers to human.
• secondary zeitgebers- noise , temperature, meals and other activities.
• suprachiasmatic nucleus

  • are of the anterior hypothalamus located above optic chasm.
  • main driver of rhythms of sleep and body temperature.
  • serves as the body's internal master clock.
  • stimulates the pineal gland to regulate the output of hormone melatonin.
• melatonin

  • indoleamine that participates in regulation of circadian rhythms.
  • very low during the day, rises before sleep, peaks at 4am. mostly released at night.
• stages of sleep

  • brain activities- frequencies (number of waves per secs) and amplitudes (heights- index of strength).
  • wakefulness- high frequency brain waves.
  • sleep- decrease in frequency and increase in amplitude.
• REM- eyes dart back and forth beneath our eyelids.
• NREM Stage 1

  • lasts for 5-10 mins on average.
  • heart rate and muscle tension start to slow down.
  • myoclonia- muscle jerk.
  • slow transition from alpha to theta waves.
• hypnagogic state- brief vivid dream- like images.
• NREM Stage 2

  • heart rate and muscle tension continue to drop.
  • brain waves of medium amplitude.
  • sleep spindles- brief burst of activity.
  • may represent brain's attempt to keep us sleeping while keeping eye on the outside world.
• NREM Stage 3 and 4

  • deep sleep
  • delta waves- strong and slow waves.
  • half of stage 4 is made up of delta waves.
  • stage 4, awakening is challenging and confusing.
• REM

  • increased in neuronal activity similar to stage 1 except for eye movements.
  • postural muscles of the body are relaxed.
  • eyes dart back and forth beneath our eyelids.
  • dreams are more intense and emotional.
• paradoxical sleep- deep sleep in some ways and light in other. there's a level of arousal.
• conscious as waking state- altered state of consciousness. sleep, in trance, distorted perceptions, hypnosis, psychoactive drugs.
• energy conservation

  • body saves energy.
  • fewer muscle activities.
• memory improvement

  • retention of information is more effective when after sleeping.
• True or False: younger people are most likely to have dreams in which they know they are dreaming.
• True or False: religious people have more dreams than highly nonreligious people.
• True or False: artists are more likely than other people to have nightmares.
• True or False: children are more likely than adults to dream about animals.
• True or False: 83% dream of being chased.
• True or False: 78% dream of falling
• True or False: 60% dream that they are too late to do something such as catch a train.
• True or False: 77% dream of sex.
• True or False: 49% dream of flying (which Sigmund Frued believed symbolized sexual intercourse).
• True or False: 35% dream of being child again.
• continuity hypothesis- the view the content of dreams tend to be consistent with previous cognitive activit.
• freudian explanation- dreams reflect unconscious wishes and urges.
• activation-synthesis model- dreams represents brain’s effort to make sense of sparse and distorted informatio.