1. PSYCHOLOGY: CONSCIOUSNESS
Subconscious

2. Consciousness is the awareness of or the possibility of knowing what is happening inside or outside the organism.
Consciousness is a Construct – a concept that requires a belief in something
Consciousness arises as the brain forms a model of the world that combines external stimulation with internal experience.
A construct is something we can’t see or touch, but evidence says it exits. Love is a construct.
We will discuss how Consciousness seems to vanish (during sleep) only to reappear in dreams.
Consciousness contains everything we will remember about ourselves and our world

3. It is believed to come from our making a map of where we are in space and then seeing ourselves in the map
Consciousness: It is believed that consciousness results from a series of stored images.
Did you ever notice when you thought about something that you did in the past that you actually seem to be watching yourself or that you can see things the way that you did when you were there.
What can consciousness do for you?
Control what you notice and think about (It restricts our attention) (EX. Part of morning routine, you restrict attention to showering, dressing, eating)
Provide you with interpretation of the world (combines sensation with learning and memory) (EX. Tells you when to carry an umbrella because you learned to when it rains)
Helps us store meaningful stimuli in memory (EX. Helps you store information from weather forecast to decide what to wear in the morning)
Close your eyes and listen? What do you hear? Did you hear _______________? Why do you hear some things more than others and why didn’t you hear it before I told you to listen? Consciousness controls what we are aware of.

4. Subconscious Subconscious Subconscious Subconscious Subconscious
Subconscious is the level of consciousness just below our present awareness.
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious
We are not always conscious of everything that we do. Sometimes our brain circuits will start doing something before we are actually aware that we are doing it. At this level we are said to be at our subconscious level.
Have you ever walked or driven home and not remembered passing intersections, stopping at red lights, turning, and so on. This could be an example of subconscious thought.
The subconscious is accessible through special attention and recall.
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious
Subconscious

5. Unconscious contains thoughts, information, or desires that we have no direct knowledge of.
Subconscious
Freud used the iceberg to explain his view of consciousness. In this case, it can help us understand the difference between the three levels. Freud’s view was slightly different and we will cover it in more detail later in the year.
Unconscious thought can be seen in a young child: a jealous brother keeps undoing the bolts on his brother’s bycicle, but when caught, he really cant explain why he does it.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS would be feeling depressed but not knowing exactly why
Freud believed that the unconscious thought can control our behavior even though we have no awareness of their existence. He believed the unconscious is where we hide memories, emotions, and desires that cause us anxiety.
Freud said that we might repress (hide) something bad that happened to us (like being sexual abused) and that might manifest itself and cause problems later in life without us being aware.
Newer views of the unconscious say it may simply work on background tasks, like screening incoming sights, sounds, smells, etc.

6. The most obvious of these is the day/night cycle
All creatures are controlled by forces that none of us can see, or feel. This is called Chronobiology which is the study of forces that control the body at different times of the day, month, or year.
The most obvious of these is the day/night cycle
There also appears to be a monthly cycle in both men and women.
Our Consciousness changes numerous times throughout a day. From daydreaming, sleeping, dreaming, etc.

7. There also appears to be a yearly cycle where people tend to slow down and lose energy toward summer. Ex. Migration of birds
Birds fly south in the winter because of Chronobiology.

8. Circadian rhythm is a sequence of behavioral changes that occur about every 24 hours. Ex. plants that open up and close during a day

9. Within our cycle we have a high point and a low point
Within our cycle we have a high point and a low point. For most people the lowest point (low blood pressure, low temperature, etc.) is between 3:00 and 5:00 AM. That is why you wake up on a hot summer’s night, you will still feel cold.
Shortly after awakening, people go through a high point, then in the early afternoon, a low point, and most people have another high point in the late afternoon to evening. This is why people in Latin countries have a siesta (nap in the middle of the day). For those who workout, it is said the best times are first thing after you wake up or right after work/school, because these are our high points.

10. Internal control of these circadian rhythm’s reside in biological clocks, or internal chemical units that control parts of the body all by themselves and are programmed and are regulated by nature
All creatures have biological clocks. Fetuses inside their mother have biological clocks
Biological clocks are a coordinated set of physiological operations. The clocks run of a day-night cycle.
Your circadian rhythms can be disrupted by air travel (jet lag), mixed-shift work (police officer)
Anything that throws off your biological clock affects how you feel and behave

11. Your body temperature, kidneys, etc
Your body temperature, kidneys, etc. all run on clocks that ignore the outside world. These types of clocks are called free-running. Free-running cycles are cycles that run under their own control.
FREE +
Free-running cycles ignore the environment on the outside and are necessary for survival.

12. Some clock systems can be changed
Some clock systems can be changed. An example of this would be the sleep-wake cycle.
Babies drive parents nuts for the first few months because they are operating on their free-running cycle.
Humans naturally would follow a 25-hour sleep-wake cycle. We are entrained to the earth’s light and dark cycle that occurs over a 24-hour period.
This (25-hour cycle) may be why our body can adjust better to longer days than shorter days. Traveling eastbound creates greater Jet Lag that traveling westbound.
If you lived in a cave (psychologists have done it) you would follow a 25-hour cycle.
Try it. It will be easier for you to go to bed an hour later than the day before rather than an hour earlier because of the 25-hour cycle.
Humans are free-running at birth, but after a few weeks will be trained to follow their parents sleep cycle. This process of training a cycle is called entrainment.

13. Entrainment is the process of altering the free-running cycle to fit a different rhythm.

14. Sleep: there are different stages of sleep that we go through
Sleep: there are different stages of sleep that we go through. Each are represented by the amount of brain waves that are occurring at that particular time.
Only the first hour of sleep is considered a time of peacefulness and relaxation. After that many things occur.

15. During stage 1 sleep, which usually lasts about ten minutes, we lose perception of time. If you awaken someone in stage 1, you can fool them into believing they have been sleeping for hours.
You will go through the stages of sleep 4-6 times in a normal nights sleep.

16. When we first lie down our brain’s electrical activity begins to slow
When we first lie down our brain’s electrical activity begins to slow. This is called the twilight state. During this time images and thoughts drift in front of us and we can totally relax and let our mind wander.
Functions of sleep
sleep helps to restore the body.
The making of new cells is at its maximum
Chemicals used up by the brain are restored

17. There are two (2) major types of sleep
REM sleep, which stands for rapid eye movement is one type of sleep. During this time our eyes move very rapidly in all directions inside the eye sockets.
This is the time when we will dream.
This occurs every 90 minutes or so.
Have students partner up. One should close there eyes and move them around rapidly while the other watches. Switch.
When your body is paralyzed, it is called sleep paralysis and keeps us from acting out our dreams.
If you are keeping a dream journal and have been having trouble remembering dreams. Set your alarm for about an hour and forty minutes after you will fall asleep. You will be in a REM period and most likely dreaming when your alarm goes off.
This will occur from the time that you fall asleep until you wake up.
Your body is literally paralyzed.

18. Very vivid dreams can occur.
The actual dream will last as long as it seems to take.
Each REM will last longer than the previous one, and each period will increase in length as the night progresses.
Dreams that you remember are those that occurred closest to the morning because they are the longest and come at a time when you are almost awake.

19. Dreams that occur early in the sleep cycle tend to reflect those events of the preceding day. Later dreams are usually more surreal.
REM sleep is important if you want to score well on tests. Studies show that people who spent more time in REM sleep scored better on tests because they could remember material from the previous day better.

20. Do not have the organization of stories during REM.
NREM sleep. This stands for non-rapid eye movement and is the other type of sleep.
During this time the brain is still active, providing partial thoughts, images or stories.
Do not have the organization of stories during REM.
The brain seems to go into idle.
Decreases in length as nights’ sleep progresses.
Bed-wetting, sleepwalking, and talking in one’s sleep all occur during NREM.
Incubus attacks which are night terrors occur
Sleepwalking and talking occur.

21. NREM
NREM
NREM
NREM
The stages of sleep are not locked in permanetely. If you are deprived of sleep you may spend more time in deep sleep when you finally do sleep. If you are deprived of REM for a few ngihts (alcohol abuse can do this) you may fall into REM sleep more quickly and spend a high percentage of the night in REM sleep.

22. What happens if humans decide to give up sleep?
People will begin to hallucinate
It is not the lack of rest that will bring this out of people, but rather the lack of dreaming. Dreaming is an integral part of all animals.
Freud believed that dreams were the “royal road to the unconscious” and that interpreting dreams can help us understand ourselves better.
Research today shows that content in dreams varies by age, gender and culture.
Women more commonly dream of children
Men more commonly dream of agression, weapons, and tools
Children are more likely to dream about animals

23. There are 3 major hypotheses about why we dream.
Dreams are used to get the brain reorganized. Brain chemicals are used up during the day, while the brain replenishes these chemicals, dreams organize the past day or week or more. Dreams keep the brain busy while it is being replenished because the brain cannot be inactive.

24. Dreams are designed to help work out unsolved problems left over from the day. Sometimes when we have a problem that we can’t seem to solve, when we wakeup the next day the problem seems to be solved. It is also proven that when we are depressed or under stress, we will sleep longer and that the amount of time we spend in REM is longer.

25. While we sleep the brain will get rid of the information that we don’t need from our day. The brain is trying to make sense of the bits and pieces of information that are appearing wile we are cleaning out the material, so it makes up a story to fit them.
Dream: one’s teeth have fallen out.
Ask students to use the following dream to make sense of the three reasons why we dream.
Reorganize brain theory: the person may have a loose tooth or an impending dentist’s visit. While he dream he is organizing his thoughts of the day.
Solve Problems Theory: during the day the person has been worrying about his appearance. Now that his teeth have fallen out (in his dream) the problem is solved. There is no need to worry about appearance anymore.
Random Stimulation Theory: the person’s brain is randomly stimulated during REM sleep. The brain creates a story about teeth, another night it will be a different story.

26. Insert the following definitions in the appropriate box on the Consciousness Independent Practice Worksheet

27. Internal chemical units that control parts of the body and are regulated by nature
Consciousness just below our present awareness
sequences of behavioral changes that occur every 24 hours
Awareness of, or the possibility of knowing, what is happening inside or outside the organism
The process of altering the free-running cycles to fit a different rhythm
Thoughts or desires about which we can have no direct knowledge

28. Insert the following examples in the appropriate box on the Consciousness Independent Practice Worksheet

29. Watching and listening (completely aware of) a PowerPoint presentation
changing an infant’s sleep-wake cycle
you have one for your sleep-wake cycle, kidney function, and temperature control
Flowers that open and close during the day
a jealous brother keeps loosening the bolts on his brothers bike but cant explain why – even to himself
driving a car on a familiar route and not remembering going through an intersection when you get there

30. Thoughts or desires about which we can have no direct knowledge
CONSCIOUSNESS
SUBCONSCIOUS
UNCONSCIOUS
DEFINE
Awareness of, or possibility of knowing, what is happening inside or outside the organism
Consciousness just below our present awareness
Thoughts or desires about which we can have no direct knowledge
EXAMPLES
Watching and listening to a PowerPoint presentation (full awareness)
Driving a car on a familiar route but not remembering going through an intersection
A jealous brother keeps loosening the bolts on his brothers bike but cant explain why – even to himself

31. Sequences of behavioral changes that occur every 24 hours
Biological Clocks
Entrainment
Circadian Rhythms
DEFINE
Internal chemical unites that control parts of the body and are regulated by nature
The process of altering the free-running cycle to fit a different rhythm
Sequences of behavioral changes that occur every 24 hours
EXAMPLES
You have one for your sleep-wake cycle, kidney function and temperature control
Changing an infant’s sleep-wake cycle
Flowers that open and close every day

32. What actually causes dreams since there is no external stimulation?
All memories, thoughts, and actions are controlled by electrical impulses within the brain.
Electrical impulses occur in cycles throughout the night from deep within the brain about approx. every 90 minutes, with special cells that turn them on and off.
The impulses move upward through the brain firing many different memory circuits.

33. The result of this is what we call dreams.
These impulses also cause eye movements.

34. There are two frightening experiences that can occur during sleep.
The first occurs during REM and is called a nightmare. These are very infrequent in nature, but remember that dreams are caused by memories, and we all carry around ad memories with us all of the time.
Nightmares will often happen after you are deprived of REM sleep for awhile. Nightmares and Incubus attacks are infrequent. Only about 5 percent of the population has a nightmare as often as once a week.

35. The second frightening attack is called an incubus attack
The second frightening attack is called an incubus attack. These are horrible and realistic dreams.
These occur during NREM sleep and as a result are extremely frightening because these occur at a time when your body is not prepared for dreams.
NREM is so much closer to reality than REM, it seems that it is not a dream but reality.
These are more common in very young children and seem to be associated with maturing brains.

36. Sleep patterns will change as people age
Sleep patterns will change as people age. Infants need a great deal of sleep because of the need to replace brain chemicals. As people get older there is less of a need for deep.
The amount of sleep will vary from individual to individual. This will range anywhere from 5 to 8 hours in length. The brain will have difficulty functioning with too much sleep as well as too little sleep

37. Sleepwalking or talking occurs because on a side of the brain where these functions are controlled, electrical impulses during sleep trigger movement. It is impossible to communicate with people during this time, but it is not dangerous to wake them unless they are not sitting or lying down.
There are 3 forms of sleep disturbance that people may encounter.

38. Insomnia which is the ability to not get enough sleep
Insomnia which is the ability to not get enough sleep. The most common reasons for this are getting out of the normal cycle or drugs and alcohol. These drugs will tend to block REM sleep and therefore we will tend to feel more depressed and the more depressed we feel the more we need REM sleep and etc. If this occurs over a long enough period, REM rebound will occur during the time that a person is awake. This could lead to hallucinations (drug addiction).

39. Narcolepsy is an infrequent disorder in which a person will be able to fall into an “instant” REM anywhere, anytime, even while driving or in the middle of talking to someone.

41. Another problem is sleep apnea
Another problem is sleep apnea. In this disorder the person will literally stop breathing hundreds of time during sleep and will keep waking up.
Sleep Apnea Video

43. There are various states of consciousness other than the normal biological rhythms that we all go through. These are states that do not occur naturally, but rather they require effort or training to attain.
Hypnosis is a state of consciousness that involves being in a relaxed state with a heightened ability to focus on specific things, while ignoring usual distractions.
Demonstrate Hypnosis: Have students put out their hands straight in front of them, palms down. Tell them to look at their hands and then close their eyes. Then suggest, over and over, that their hands are sinking down, lower and lower, like a great weight is pushing them lower and lower and that no matter how hard they try, their hands are sinking lower and lower and lower. Recite these instructions very slowly and rhythmically. After a minute or so, several hands will sink down. Demonstrates the power of suggestion.

44. Suggestion is a basic part of hypnosis
Suggestion is a basic part of hypnosis. Hypnosis is a state that helps a person focus attention on certain objects, acts, or feelings.
Hypnosis is an intense form of relaxation with the person fully conscious.
Approximately 8 out of 10 can be hypnotized.

46. Meditation is a form of self-control in which a person can cut off the outside world. They will then focus on some steady rhythm or sound trying to put the brain into neutral in order to feel peaceful and at ease.