1. Consciousness

2. What is Consciousness?
It is the awareness of things inside and outside ourselves
It cannot be seen, touched, or looked at directly
There are different ways of looking at consciousness
There are different levels of consciousness

3. Meanings of Consciousness
Sensory awareness – you are aware of the sights, sounds, noises, and smells around you
Selective attention – being able to screen out some stimuli to focus on a particular stimulus (paying attention in class)
Direct inner awareness – you are aware of thoughts, emotions, images, and memories without using your senses – they are inside of you
Sense of self – you are aware of yourself and your existence as a unique individual

4. Levels of Consciousness
Preconscious
Unconscious
Non-conscious

5. Conscious
People are aware of themselves, their thoughts, and perceptions
You are conscious when you are aware of your awareness

6. Preconscious
Your preconscious is where all of the information goes that you can recall if necessary
This is where you store memories, experiences, random bits of information, etc.
They are not always in your awareness, but you can become aware of them by focusing your attention on them

7. Unconscious Sometimes called the subconscious
This is where information gets stored that you are not able to become aware of
You may repress painful memories here, or socially unacceptable urges and impulses
Freud believed your actions were heavily influenced by the information you store in your unconscious

8. Non-Conscious
Most of your biological functions happen at this level – you do not have to think about them for your body to continue doing them
You may not even be aware they are happening
Heartbeat, pupils dilating, your fingernails growing, breathing

9. Altered States of Consciousness
Occurs when a person’s sense of self or sense of the world changes
You may no longer be aware of what is going on around you
Sleep, hypnosis, drug-induced state

10. Sleep and Dreams

11. Some Background Information
Humans spend about 1/3 of their lives asleep
The amount of time we spend asleep depends on our circadian rhythms, or biological clocks
Body temperature, brain activity, and blood pressure change significantly when we are sleeping

14. The Stages of Sleep
Every stage of sleep has a different brain wave pattern
When we are alert, the brain emits beta waves (short and quick)
When we are relaxed, the brain emits alpha waves (a little longer and slower)
Stage 1 (light sleep) – brain waves slow down more to theta waves
People might see vivid images that they can recall if they are awakened
Lasts about minutes

15. The Stages of Sleep (cont.)
Stage 2 (moderate sleep) – brain waves continue to slow more, becomes harder to wake people up
Stage 3 (deep sleep) – brain waves slow down to delta waves, pretty hard to wake someone up
Stage 4 (deepest sleep) – brain waves are at their slowest, it is very hard to wake someone up at this level
After about 30 minutes at stage 4, people begin to move back up the stages to 3, then 2 and 1
People will return to stage 1 about 90 minutes after they fall asleep

16. REM Sleep REM – Rapid Eye Movement
Occurs after people complete a sleep stage cycle, brain produces waves similar to those made in stage 1
Blood pressure goes up, breathing becomes irregular, heart beats faster, and eyes move quickly from side to side
People complete about 5 sleep cycles when they sleep for 8 hours – REM sleep becomes longer with each cycle

17. Why Do We Sleep?
Sleep helps the body recover physically by reviving tired muscles and organs as well as boosting resistance to infection
Sleep also helps people deal with psychological health, like stress
People sleep more when they are under more stress

18. Randy Gardner
17 year old who stayed up for almost 11 days without any sleep
Became very irritable
Could not focus his eyes and had difficulty speaking
Had memory lapses, hallucinations, and delusions
Took Gardner several days to return to normal circadian rhythm

19. Dreams
EVERYONE dreams, but some people have more difficulty remembering their dreams than others
We have the most vivid dreams during REM sleep
People can dream in black & white or in color
Many dreams have plots and vivid images and often involve people we know
Scientists and psychologists are not sure why we dream and they disagree about the meaning of dreams

20. What Do Dreams Mean?
Freud thought that dreams reflected your unconscious urges and desires – because some of the things in our unconscious are painful or undesirable, we symbolize them in our dreams
Biological psychologists believe we dream because our neurons fire at random during sleep and our brain tries to make sense of this jumble of messages
There is no agreed-upon set of rules for interpreting dreams

21. Insomnia
This is the inability to sleep, people tend to experience it when going through periods of anxiety or tension
It can worsen if you try too hard to fall asleep
Occasional insomnia is pretty common and usually goes away on its own

22. Nightmares and Night Terrors
Most people have had nightmares, and certain themes in nightmares are fairly common
People who are anxious or depressed tend to have more nightmares – they occur during REM sleep
Night terrors are more severe than nightmares and occur during stage 3 & 4 sleep – people usually do not fully wake up during night terrors
They usually occur in young children whose nervous system has not developed

23. Sleepwalking
Many children walk during stages 3 and 4 of the sleep cycle
They may hold conversations with people, but if awakened they will not remember what they said or did
Most people outgrow sleepwalking

24. Sleep Apnea
Occurs when people stop breathing temporarily during sleep because their air passages are blocked
Causes the body to jolt out of deep sleep, though people may not wake up
Can lead to tiredness throughout the day, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes

25. Narcolepsy
Is very rare, occurs when people fall asleep any time, anywhere
Can be extremely dangerous and is usually treatable with drug therapy and frequent naps

26. Drugs and Consciousness

28. How Do Drugs Affect the Body?
Different types of drugs affect the body in different ways
All drugs cause the nervous system to function abnormally
Some drugs are addictive, causing the body to crave them just to feel normal
Some drugs are connected to the development and progression of serious diseases

29. Depressants - Alcohol
Depressants slow the activity of the nervous system and generally make people feel relaxed
Alcohol and narcotics are depressants
Alcohol causes intoxication, which can include slurred speech, blurry vision, balance problems, and lack of concentration
Causes a lack of judgment and impaired coordination
Long-term alcohol addiction can lead to liver failure, cancer, and heart problems

30. Depressants - Narcotics
Used to relieve pain and induce sleep – decrease the activity of the CNS while stimulating pleasure receptors, are very addictive
Morphine, heroin, and codeine are narcotics
Withdrawal symptoms from narcotics often include, nausea, chills, vomiting, tremors, rapid heartbeat, and physical pain

31. Stimulants - Nicotine Stimulants speed up nervous system activity
Nicotine is a very common stimulant that reduces appetite and boosts metabolism
Nicotine is as addictive as heroin but its effects and withdrawal symptoms are not as severe
Cigarettes are responsible for more deaths per year in America than suicide, homicide, alcoholism, car accidents, drug overdoses, and AIDS combined

32. Stimulants - Amphetamines
Amphetamines help people stay awake and cause a reduction in appetite by making the body produce more neurotransmitters and slowing their absorption
High doses can have effects that last for several days, after which a person crashes both physically and psychologically
Some people experience terrifying hallucinations and delusions while taking amphetamines

33. Stimulants - Cocaine
Cocaine produces feelings of pleasure and reduces hunger – it deadens pain and makes people feel more self-confident
It also causes insomnia, headaches, body tremors, nausea, hallucinations, convulsions, and delusions
Puts a major strain on the heart

34. Hallucinogens - Marijuana
Hallucinogen is a drug that produces hallucinations
Marijuana produces mild hallucinations and feelings of relaxation by slowing the CNS
It also decreases coordination, impairs judgment and memory, and can cause anxiety and confusion
Often raises blood pressure and heart rate greatly

36. Hallucinogens - LSD
Much stronger than marijuana and produces more intense hallucinations – causes neurons in brain to send messages to the wrong destination, overloads the brain with messages
Hard to predict the effects LSD will have when someone takes it
Side effects include violent outbursts, self injury, panic attacks, and flashbacks that occur sometimes years after use
Can permanently change the chemistry of the brain

37. Drug Abuse Treatments
Detoxification – removal of the drug from the body, helps to wean addicts off of the drug while restoring health to the body
Maintenance programs – people are given a less dangerous substance to substitute the more harmful drug (methadone clinics)
Counseling – can be conducted individually or in a group setting
Support groups – people meet in groups for emotional and moral support (AA, NA, etc.)