Introduction to Psychology (1)

• Consciousness

  The individual's current awareness of external and internal stimuli of events in the environment and of body sensations, memories and thoughts
• Altered State of Consciousness

  A condition or mental state which differs noticeably from normal waking consciousness
• Two Areas of Consciousness

  • Waking Consciousness
  • Altered State of Consciousness
• Waking Consciousness

  Includes the thoughts, feelings and perceptions that arise when one is awake and reasonably alert
• Waking Consciousness


  • Reading
  • Watching TV
  • Reporting
  • Interaction
• Altered State of Consciousness

  • Sleep
  • Meditation
  • Hallucinations
  • Alcohol/Drugs
• Two aspects of Consciousness

  • Monitoring
  • Controlling
• Monitoring


  We are aware of what is happening with our bodies and the outside world
• Monitoring


  • Awareness
  • Sensation
  • Perception
  • Memory
  • Thought
• Controlling


  Controlling our actions so that they are coordinated with events in the outside world
• Controlling


  • Cognition
  • Emotion
  • Motivation
  • Behavior
• Circadian Cycle


  The Biological Clock
• Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)


  Regulates the body's temperature, metabolism, blood pressure, and hormone levels
• Desynchronization


  Where the body's function is out of sync
• Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep

  Typified by autonomic response of rapid moving eyes, fluctuating heart and respiratory rates, and increased or fluctuating blood pressure
• REM sleep


  A period of vivid, full-color dreaming
• EEG (electroencephalogram)


  Used to measure the electrical activity of the brain to help diagnose conditions including epilepsy, sleep disorders and brain tumors
• Sleep Disorders


  • Insomnia
  • Apnea
  • Narcolepsy
  • Periodic Limb Movement Disorder
  • Night Terrors
  • Sleep Talking
  • Sleepwalking
• Insomnia

  When you have problems falling or staying asleep
• Apnea


  Having difficulties during the night and feeling exhaustion during the day (breathing)
• Narcolepsy


  A sleep disorder characterized by excessive sleepiness, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and in some cases episodes of cataplexy often triggered by emotion
• Periodic Limb Movement Disorder

  Characterized by involuntary movement of the legs and sometimes the arms
• Night Terrors


  Waking up from sleep with behaviors such as screaming, kicking, panic, or mumbling
• Sleep Talking

  A sleep disorder defined as talking during sleep without being aware of it
• Sleepwalking


  Known as somnambulism, happens during deep sleep performing other complex behaviors while asleep
• Freud's theory of dreams

  Symbolic and Disguised Dreams, the "royal road to the unconscious", arising from unfulfilled needs, important for understanding unconscious motivation
• Hobson's Activation/Synthesis Theory


  Dreams don't have any inherent meaning, but rather they reflect the random activation of the brain stem during REM sleep
• Hobson's theory of dreams

  Transparent and Unedited Dreams, dreams are meaningful, undisguised and rich in conflictual impulses
• Crick and Mitchison's theory of dreams

  "We dream to forget", we replay the events of the day so that we can erase the random, hybrid associations that we craft from real memories and strengthen the legitimate memories
• Cartwright's theory of dreams

  Dreams can play an important role in alleviating mood, the dream provides a way to work through and overcome a troubling issue
• Kramer's theory of nightmares


  Dreams involve more than just assimilating information, in dreams we attempt to come to terms with experience
• Sleep Stages by Age

  • Infants
  • Toddlers
  • Preschool Children
  • School-Aged Children
  • Adolescents
  • Young Adults
  • Middle Adults
  • Older Adults
• Just Noticeable Difference / Difference Threshold

  The minimum difference in stimuli required to detect a difference between the two stimuli
• Weber's Law


  The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus
• Signal Detection Theory


  The standard way of understanding how errors are made in many diverse situations
• Sensation


  Determined by the perceptual strength of the stimulus
• Bias


  The criterion set by the observer, for making a particular response
• Signal


  What the observer is trying to detect embedded in noise
• Noise


  Anything in the environment irrelevant to what the observer is trying to detect
• Expectations


  In a signal-detection situation, one of the factors that influence bias is expectation. The greater the observer's expectations that a signal will be present, the greater the observer's bias to respond yes