States of Consciousness (not always of top interest in psychology; see behaviorism)

Levels of Consciousness Conscious Level Nonconscious Level Preconscious Level Unconscious Level

Conscious Preconscious Unconscious

Biological Rhythms Annual Cycles: seasonal variations (bear’s hibernation, or Seasonal Affective Disorder).Seasonal Affective Disorder 28 day cycle: menstrual cycle. 24 hour cycle: our circadian rhythm. 90 minute cycle: sleep cycles.

Circadian Rhythms All living things go through these 24 hour biological cycles. But the human body will adjust itself to a 25 hour cycle if we don’t see the light of day.

Circadian Rhythms Biological Cycle - influenced by light and dark illumination. - body’s clock resets each day at daylight. Disrupting Circadian Rhythms - flying west = longer period of daylight. - flying east = less time adapting to jet lag. - effects of shift work: easier to rotate from night to day.

It takes longer to adjust to local sleep schedules and get over jet lag when traveling west to east Average number of days to adjust to local sleep schedule

DAYDREAMSDAYDREAMS FANTASIESFANTASIES

Daydreaming Shifting attention from external stimuli to self-generated thoughts and images. Young adults daydream more than older adults and have more sexual fantasies too!

Why do we daydream? Help us prepare for future events. Stay mentally aroused (when bored). Solve problems.

Dream Theories

Freud’s Theory of Dreams Dreams are a form of wish fulfillment; a symbolic expressions of our unconscious conflicts (the “royal road” to the unconscious). Manifest Content (actual storyline). Latent Content (underlying meaning).

Activation-Synthesis Theory Our cerebral cortex is trying to make sense out of random electrical activity we have while sleeping. The brain’s attempt to create a story. That is why dreams often don’t make any sense.

Information-Processing Theory Dreams are a way to deal with the stresses of everyday life. A way to work out unsolved problems.

Sleep Sleep is a state of consciousness. We are less aware of our surroundings.

Sleep Cycle When wide awake you experience beta waves. When you are at the onset of sleep you experience alpha waves. Drowsy, relaxed state (called a “Twilight State”). Feel like your falling (hypnagogic myoclonic twitch or “Hypnic jerk“).