1. Chapter 6 States of Consciousness

2. Quiz What are altered states of consciousness?
How do they affect our lives on a daily basis?

3. Some Early Definitions
Consciousness: All the sensations, perceptions, memories, and feelings you are aware of at any instant
Waking consciousness: Normal, clear alert awareness
Altered state of consciousness (ASC): Changes that occur in quality and pattern of mental activity; different from waking consciousness

4. Sleep Innate, biological rhythm
Sleep deprivation: Sleep loss; being deprived of needed amounts of sleep
Hypersomnia: Excessive daytime sleepiness
Microsleep: Brief shift in brain activity to pattern normally recorded during sleep

5. More on Sleep
Sleep-deprivation psychosis: Confusion, disorientation, delusions, and hallucinations that occur because of sleep loss
Sleep patterns: Daily rhythms of sleep and waking

6. Figure 6.1
Not all animals sleep, but like humans, those that do have powerful sleep needs. For example, dolphins must voluntarily breathe air, which means they face the choice of staying awake or drowning. The dolphin solves this problem by sleeping on just one side of its brain at a time! The other half of the brain, which remains awake, controls breathing (Jouvet, 1999).
Not all animals sleep, but like humans, those that do have powerful sleep needs. For example, dolphins must voluntarily breathe air, which means they face the choice of staying awake or drowning. The dolphin solves this problem by sleeping on just one side of its brain at a time! The other half of the brain, which remains awake, controls breathing
Fig. 6-1, p. 183

7. Measuring Sleep Changes
Electroencephalograph (EEG): Brain-wave machine; amplifies and records electrical activity in the brain
Beta waves: Small, fast waves associated with alertness and wakefulness
Alpha waves: Large, slow waves associated with relaxation and falling asleep

8. Figure 6.5
(b) Changes in brain-wave patterns associated with various stages of sleep. Actually, most wave types are present at all times, but they occur more or less frequently in various sleep stages.
Fig. 6-5b, p. 186

9. Stages of Sleep

10. Stages of Sleep
Stage 1 Small, irregular waves produced in light sleep (people may or may not say they were asleep)
Hypnic jerk: Reflex muscle twitch
Stage 2: Deeper sleep; sleep spindles (short bursts of distinctive brain-wave activity) appear
Stage 3 Deeper sleep; delta waves appear; very large and slow
Stage 4 Deepest level of normal sleep; almost purely delta waves

11. During unscheduled periods, the subject was allowed to select times of sleep and lighting. The result was a sleep rhythm of about 25 hours. Notice how this free-running rhythm began to advance around the clock as they fell asleep later each day. When periods of darkness (shaded area) were imposed during the fifth week, the rhythm quickly resynchronized with 24-hour days.
Figure 6.2
Sleep rhythms. Bars show periods of sleep during the fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks of an experiment with a human subject. (Adapted from Czeisler et al., 1981.)
Fig. 6-2, p. 185

12. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
Associated with dreaming; sleep is very light
Return to Stage 1 sleep EEG patterns
Body is very still during REM sleep

13. Non-REM (NREM) Sleep
Occurs during stages 1, 2, 3, and 4; no rapid eye movement occurs
90 percent of non-REM sleep is dream-free
Seems to help us recover from daily fatigue

14. Sleep Disturbances
Insomnia: Difficulty in getting to sleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, or waking too early
Sleeping pills exacerbate insomnia; cause decrease in REM and Stage 4 sleep and may cause dependency
Drug-dependency insomnia: Sleeplessness that follows withdrawal from sleeping pills
Lack of muscle paralysis during REM sleep is called REM behavioral disorder
Night Terrors

15. Temporary Insomnia
Brief period of sleeplessness caused by worry, stress, and excitement
Avoid fighting it and read a book, for example, until you’re struggling to stay awake
What contributes to this in your lives?

16. Chronic Insomnia
Exists if sleeping troubles last for more than three weeks
Adopt regular schedule; go to bed at the same time each night, for example

17. Tryptophan
Amino acid (chemical) that increases serotonin levels and therefore leads to sleepiness
What common thanksgiving food includes this?

18. Sleep Disturbances
Sleepwalking (somnambulism): Occurs in NREM sleep during Stages 3 and 4
Sleeptalking: Speaking while asleep; occurs in NREM sleep

19. Some Other Sleep Disturbances
Nightmares: Bad dreams that occur during REM sleep
May occur once or twice a month; brief and easily (unfortunately) remembered
Imagery rehearsal: Mentally rehearse the changed dream before you go to sleep again; may help to eliminate nightmares

20. Night Terrors
Night terrors: Total panic occurs; hallucinations may occur during Stage 4 NREM sleep
Most common in childhood; may occur in adults
Not remembered

21. Sleep Apnea Repeated interruption during sleep
Produces loud snoring with short silences and gasps for breath
Apnea can be treated by
Surgery
Weight loss
Breathing mask

22. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS; Crib Death)
Sudden, unexplained death of healthy infant (infants should sleep on back to try to prevent it)
May be related to sleep apnea
May have weak arousal reflex
May be related to secondhand smoke
Remember “back to sleep”

23. Narcolepsy Sudden, irresistible sleep attacks
May suffer from catalepsy: Sudden, temporary muscle paralysis leading to complete body collapse
Fall directly into REM sleep

24. REM Rebound
Occurrence of extra REM sleep following REM sleep deprivation
Alcoholism
Also, why after sleep deprivation, you can “catch up” with less sleep than you missed

25. Dreams
Psychodynamic (Freudian) theory: Emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and unconscious forces
Wish fulfillment: Freudian belief that many dreams are expressions of unconscious desires
Much evidence to refute this
Dream symbols: Images in dreams that have a deeper symbolic meaning
Manifest: Obvious, visible meaning of dream
Latent: Hidden symbolic meaning of dream

26. Why do we dream?
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis Random activity in lower brain centers results in the manufacture of relatively bizarre dreams by higher brain centers
Neurocognitive Dream Theory Dreams reflect everyday working thoughts and emotions

27. Dream Interpretation
Freud: Four dream processes (mental filters) that hide true purposes of dreams
Condensation Combining several people, objects, or events into a single dream image
Displacement Directing emotions or actions toward safe or unimportant dream images
Symbolization Nonliteral expression of dream content
Secondary Elaboration Making a dream more logical and complete while remembering it

28. Dream Interpretation: A Different View
Perls: Most dreams are a special message about what is missing in our lives, what we avoid doing, or feelings that we need to re-own
Lucid Dreaming Person feels fully awake within the dream and feels capable of normal thought and action

29. Other States on Consciousness
Overall, conscious means awake and alert without any substances in our system, altered states of consciousness ACS includes:
Sleeping
Hypnosis
Meditation
Drugs

30. Hypnosis
Altered state of consciousness characterized by intensely narrowed attention and increased openness to suggestion
Mesmer: Believed he could cure diseases by passing magnets over body; true “animal magnetism” (“mesmerize” means to hypnotize)
Mesmer was, in effect, a fraud and a quack
Must cooperate to become hypnotized

31. Hypnotic Susceptibility
How easily a person can be hypnotized
Basic suggestion effect: Tendency of hypnotized people to carry out suggested actions as though they were involuntary
Hidden observer: Detached part of hypnotized person’s awareness that silently observes events

32. Hypnosis Can… Help people relax Reduce pain
Get people to make better progress in therapy
Hypnosis cannot…
Produce acts of superhuman strength
Produce age regression
Force you to do things against your will

33. Relax…
Altered states such as hypnosis and meditation require the subject to relax. Relaxation is not always easy to achieve, and most people need to work at it to do it successfully. Biofeedback techniques can help people learn to relax and gain control of their bodies. Students can discover how easy it is to relax, even in the classroom, by a simple exercise.

34. “Tricks of the Trade”
Waking suggestibility: People on stage do not want to spoil the act, so they will follow any instruction
Selection of responsive subjects: Any “volunteer” who does not get hypnotized in the group on stage and does not follow instructions is “thrown off”

35. More “Tricks of the Trade”
Hypnotists as director: Once they are in a trance, the “volunteers” are suddenly the show’s stars, and they will act like it. The hypnotists only need to direct them
The hypnosis label disinhibits: On stage, once you are “in a hypnotic trance,” your responsibility for actions is removed; you can do whatever you want!

36. More “Tricks of the Trade”
Stage hypnotists use tricks: Stage hypnosis is 50% deception and 50% taking advantage of the situation
Conclusion: Stage hypnotists entertain; they rarely hypnotize

37. Figure 6.9
Arrange three chairs as shown. Have someone recline as shown. Ask him to lift slightly while you remove the middle chair. Accept the applause gracefully! (Concerning hypnosis and similar phenomena, the moral, of course, is, “Suspend judgment until you have something solid to stand on.”)
Fig. 6-9a, p. 197

38. Figure 6.9
Arrange three chairs as shown. Have someone recline as shown. Ask him to lift slightly while you remove the middle chair. Accept the applause gracefully! (Concerning hypnosis and similar phenomena, the moral, of course, is, “Suspend judgment until you have something solid to stand on.”)
Fig. 6-9b, p. 197

39. Meditation
Mental exercise for producing relaxation or heightened awareness
Concentrative meditation: You attend to a single focal point, object, or thought
Mindfulness meditation: Based on widening attention to become aware of everything experienced at any given moment

40. Sensory Deprivation (SD)
Any major reduction in amount or variety of sensory stimulation
Benefits
Sensory enhancement
Relaxation
Changing habits
Benefits called REST: Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy

41. Figure 6.10
A sensory isolation chamber. Small flotation tanks like the one pictured have been used by psychologists to study the effects of mild sensory deprivation. Subjects float in darkness and silence. The shallow body-temperature water contains hundreds of pounds of Epsom salts so that subjects float near the surface. Mild sensory deprivation produces deep relaxation.
Fig. 6-10, p. 198

42. Drugs and Altered States of Consciousness
Psychoactive drug: Substance capable of altering attention, judgment, memory, time sense, self-control, emotion, or perception
Stimulant: Substance that increases activity in body and nervous system
Depressant: Substance that decreases activity in body and nervous system

43. Figure 6.11
Spectrum and continuum of drug action. Many drugs can be rated on a stimulation-depression scale according to their effects on the central nervous system. Although LSD, mescaline, and marijuana are listed here, the stimulation-depression scale is less relevant to these drugs. The principal characteristic of such hallucinogens is their mind-altering quality.
Fig. 6-11, p. 200

44. Physical Dependence
Addiction based on drug tolerance and withdrawal symptoms
Drug tolerance: Reduction in body’s response to a drug
Withdrawal symptoms: Physical illness and discomfort following withdrawal of a drug

45. Psychological Dependence
Drug dependence based primarily on psychological or emotional needs
Drug is necessary to maintain comfort and well-being
Crave drug and its rewarding qualities

46. Stimulants
Amphetamines: Synthetic stimulants that excite nervous system
Dexedrine and methamphetamine are two types of stimulants
Amphetamine psychosis: Loss of contact with reality because of amphetamine use; user tends to have paranoid delusions

47. Cocaine
Central nervous system stimulant derived from leaves of coca plant
From , Coca-Cola did indeed have cocaine in it!
Highly addictive drug
Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure): Common after cocaine withdrawal

48. Cocaine was the main ingredient in many nonprescription elixirs before the turn of the twentieth century. Today cocaine is recognized as a powerful and dangerous drug. Its high potential for abuse has damaged the lives of countless users.
p. 204

49. MDMA (Ecstasy)
Chemically similar to amphetamine; created by small variations in the drug’s structure
May cause severe liver damage and fatal heat exhaustion
Repeated use damages serotonergic brain cells

50. Caffeine
Most frequently used psychoactive drug in North America; present in colas, chocolate, coffee, tea
Causes tremors, sweating, talkativeness, tinnitus; suppresses fatigue or sleepiness, increases alertness

51. Caffeinism Physiological dependence on caffeine
Symptoms: Insomnia, irritability, loss of appetite, chills, racing heart, elevated body temperature
May be hazardous to pregnant women if used excessively; may cause birth defects

52. Nicotine Natural stimulant found mainly in tobacco
In large doses may cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, tremors
Addictive
Smoking is one cause of lung cancer
Sum: Don’t smoke; smoking kills (so does chewing tobacco)

53. GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate)
Central nervous system (CNS) depressant that relaxes and sedates; combination of degreasing solvent and drain cleaner
Sedative effects may result in nausea, loss of muscle control, and either sleep or a loss of consciousness
Inhibits gag reflex, so some choke to death on their own vomit

54. Tranquilizers Lower anxiety and reduce tension
Valium, Xanax, Halcion, and Librium are four types
Rohypnol: Related to Valium; lowers inhibitions and produces relaxation or intoxication. Larger doses can induce short-term amnesia and sleep
Date rape drug, because it’s odorless and tasteless (“roofies”)

55. Drug Interaction
Combined effect of two drugs that exceeds addition of one drug’s effects to the other

56. Alcohol
Ethyl alcohol: Intoxicating element in fermented and distilled liquors
NOT a stimulant but does lower inhibitions
Depressant
Alcohol myopia: Shortsighted thinking and perception that occurs during alcohol intoxication

57. Binge Drinking
Consuming five or more drinks in a short time, or four or more for women
Serious sign of alcohol abuse
May lead up to 10 percent loss of brain power, especially memory

58. Binge drinking and alcohol abuse have become serious problems among college students. Many alcohol abusers regard themselves as “moderate” drinkers, which suggests that they are in denial about how much they actually drink (Grant & Dawson, 1997).
p. 209

59. Treatment for Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
Detoxification: Withdrawal of the person from alcohol; occurs in a medical setting and is tightly controlled; often necessary before long-term treatment begins

60. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Worldwide self-help organization composed of recovering alcoholics; emphasizes admitting powerlessness over alcohol usage and wanting to recover
Spiritual component
Free; around for over 70 years!
Common complaints about AA: An AA Alternative Rational Recovery, and Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS): Non-spiritual AA Alternative

61. Some Hallucinogens
A substance that alters or distorts sensory impressions
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD): Hallucinogen that can produce hallucinations and other psychotic-like symptoms
Mescaline (peyote) and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) are two other types of hallucinogens

62. PCP (Angel Dust)
Initially can have hallucinogenic effects; also an anesthetic and has stimulant and depressant effects

63. Marijuana (Pot)
Cannabis sativa (marijuana; pot): Leaves and flowers of the hemp plant
Active Chemical: THC
Effects: Relaxation, time distortion, perceptual distortions
Psychologically and physiologically addictive

64. Some Health Risks of Using Marijuana
May increase risk of prostate and cervical cancer
May suppress immune system, perhaps increasing risk of disease
THC may cause a higher rate of miscarriages
Activity levels in the cerebellum are lower than normal in pot users
Pot may damage some of the brain’s memory centers

65. Drug Treatment: each group will be assigned one of these topics
Drug education to discourage experimentation with drugs.
A scientifically-based legal system for classifying psychoactive drugs.
A definition of “responsible use” that takes into account risk factors such as the drug used and the time and place it is used. (For instance, we currently make a distinction between drinking at a party and drinking while driving.)
Limits on pro-drug advertising, including ads for tobacco and alcohol and sponsorship of sporting events.
Taxes to discourage the purchase of legal drugs and to pay for the damage they cause.
Adults willing to set an example by using drugs responsibly, or not at all.