Intro to Psych Final Exam

• how did the proponents of structuralism approach consciousness? 


  relied on introspection to study the contents of the conscious mind
• how did the proponents of functionalism approach consciousness? 


  viewed consciousness as a constantly moving stream of thoughts, feelings, and emotions i.e. “stream of conciousness”
• consciousness includes:

  Your awareness of what you are doing and the fact that you are doing it = subjective sense of self
• Where is consciousness located in the brain? 


  It is distributed thoughout the brain:

  • hindbrain and midbrain are important for arousal and sleep
  • damage to the reticular formation can lead to coma
  • prefrontal cortex is key for conscious control of information processing
• What are examples of experience-sampling techniques?

  • think-aloud protocols: participants speak aloud - their reports are used to identify their mental strategy, how they represent knowledge, and any discrepancies between task performance and awareness of processes used
  • beeper studies: device prompts the wearer to report thoughts, feelings, etc
• how can we measure consciousness?

  • self report questionnaires / scales
  • experience-sampling techniques (e.g. beeper studies)
  • brain imaging techniques (EEG, fMRI, PET)
  • direct observation and recording of behaviour
• According to Singer (1975), there are 3 types of daydreaming:

  • positive-constructive daydreaming: described as happy daydreamers who enjoy fantasy and use their daydreaming for future planning - tend to possess high interpersonal curiosity
  • guilty-dysphoric daydreaming: features unpleasant emotions e.g. anxiety, guilt, fear of failure - can have obsessive, hostile, and aggressive fantasies about others
  • poor attentional control: might reflect low mood, cognitive failure
• what are the 3 mental systems on consciousness according to Freud / the psychodynamic perspective?

  • conscious: mental events of which you are aware
  • preconscious: mental events that can be brought into awareness
  • unconscious: mental events that are inaccessible to awareness and events that are actively kept out of awareness

  
• What does the cognitive view of consciousness involve?

  information-processing mechanisms that operate

  • outside of awareness: e.g. priming, implicit memory, procedural knowledge
  • requires awareness: working memory
• What does consciousness do?

  • monitor mental events of the self and environment
  • regulate thought and behaviour
• what is the purpose of consciousness?

  it may have evolved to direct or control behaviour in an adaptive way
• Altered states in consciousness are defined as:

  states in which the usual conscious ways of perceiving, thinking, and feeling are modified or disrupted
• What are some examples of altered states of consciousness?

  • sleep
  • meditation
  • hypnosis
  • religious experiences
  • drug ingestion
• What does ‘circadian rhythms’ refer to?

  a cyclical biological process that evolved around the daily cycle of light and dark e.g. sleep
• What is an example of ‘circadian rhythms’ in foetuses?

  By six months gestational age, foetuses begin to show rhythms of sleep and activity
• What accounts for difficulties people experience when crossing time zones (jet lag) and working night shifts?

  circadian rhythms
• What are people referring to when they say they’re a “morning person” or a “night owl”


  their chronotype (the timing of daily rhythms differ from person to person, different chronotypes will have different preferred patterns of sleep and wakefulness)
• What are the functions of sleep?

  • memory consolidation
  • energy conservation
  • restoring bodily functions
• What are the effects of sleep deprivation?

  • it can alter immune function and lead to early death
  • it can lead to hallucinations and perceptual disorders
• What instruments are used for sleep research?

  • EEG - brain electrical activity
  • EMG - muscle activity
  • EOG - eye movements
• What is the psychodynamic view of dreaming?


  dreams represent a window into the unconscious where latent content (meaning) can be inferred from manifest content (the actual dream)
• What is the cognitive view of dreaming?

  Dreams are constructed from the daily issues of the dreamer
• What is the biological view of dreaming?

  Dreams represent the attempt of the cortex to interpret the random neural firing of the brain during sleep or the consolidation of newly learnt material
• How much do newborn babies sleep?


  16 hours per day - 50% NREM and 50% REM
• How much do young adults sleep?


  7-8 hours per day - 75% NREM and 25% REM
• How much do adults sleep by age 50? 


  6 hours per day - 75% NREM and 25% REM
• what does the ‘conservation hypothesis‘ refer to?


  NREM sleep evolved to conserve organisms energy when not searching for food etc
• what does the ‘restorative hypothesis’ refer to? 


  brains work hard during waking states and subsequently sustain cell damage - NREM repairs that damage
• What is REM sleep said to be necessary for?

  normal development of visual (other sensory and motor systems in infancy) as well as learning and memory in adults
• What is insomnia? 


  the chronic inability to sleep characterised by trouble falling asleep, trouble remaining asleep, and persistent early morning awakening
• What is ‘subjective insomnia’? 


  the belief that you have insomnia when you actually don’t
• What is ‘narcolepsy’? 


  A sleep disorder characterised by an irresistible compulsion to sleep during the day (sufferers enter REM sleep immediately) - affects 1 in 2000 people and may be genetic
• What is ‘cataplexy’?


  muscle weakness or loss of muscle control which often accompanies narcolepsy
• What is ‘sleep apnea’?


  An upper respiratory disorder that causes individuals to stop breathing while asleep (it can occur hundreds of times a night) - it occurs in 2% of adults and is frequent amongst premature babies
• What is somnambulism? 


  Sleepwalking
• somnambulism (sleepwalking) affects 7% of children and 2% of adults
• In what stage of sleep is somnambulism (sleepwalking) most common?


  stage 3 and 4 of NREM sleep during the first third of the night
• in what faze of sleep do people generally experience nightmares?


  during REM sleep towards the morning
• in what faze of sleep do night terrors generally occur?

  during NREM sleep 2-3 hours into sleep, during stage 4
• How are night terrors characterised? 


  intense autonomic arousal and feelings of panic