1. Introduction to Psychology
Brain States and Consciousness
(p49-56)

2. Consciousness
Where is the mind? Let’s examine this to consider the “placement” of the mind.
If the brain and mind were not unified, there should be no reason why changes in brain chemistry would affect mental states
In cognitive neuroscience, researchers study connections between brain activity and mental processes
Consciousness: Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.(p49)
It arises not from any one brain area, but from the coordinated activity of the whole brain
Consciousness allows us to reflect on the past, plan for the future, and focus on the present

3. Selective Attention
Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Through this, our awareness focuses on a very limited aspect of all that we experience
We don’t pay attention to the feel of the chair against our bottom
We don’t pay attention to the people sitting next to us, unless we choose to focus in on them
Example in the book – you focus on the words in front of you and block other parts of your environment from your awareness

4. Selective Attention
What determines whether we will attend to a certain stimulus?
The stimulus has to be important, changing, shifting, or novel (new)
Why not use a cell phone while driving?
What happens to our attention when we are on the phone?
It delays our ability to cope
In driving experiments, students talking on cell phones (both hand-held and hands-free) have been slower to detect and respond to traffic signals, billboards, and other cars
Multi-tasking comes at a cost
We pay a price for switching attentional gears
We can only pay cognitive attention to one task at a time

5. Inattentional Blindness
Failure to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
An example would be walking into a room, looking around for a place to sit and not seeing your mother or girlfriend standing right in front of you.

6. Sleep and Dreams Circadian Rhythm
Our bodies are kept in tune with the 24-hour cycle of day and night
Our internal biological clock is called the circadian rhythm
Age and experience can alter our circadian rhythm
Most college students experience performance improvement across the day (don’t do so well at the beginning of the day, but get better as the day moves into evening)
Most older adults experience performance declining as the day wears on (do well during the day and fade out into the evening)

7. Sleep Stages
Every 90 minutes we cycle through five distinct sleep stages
In stage 1 we experience images that resemble hallucinations. you may feel like you’re falling or floating, and we suddenly jerk awake.
Stage 2 (20 mins) sleep spindles – bursts of rapid rhythmic brain-wave activity
Stage 3 transitional sleep – going from short waves, to longer waves
Stage 4 (total of approx. 30 mins) deep sleep – large, slow waves; hard to awaken
REM sleep: Deepest level of sleep, enter about an hour after falling asleep

8. Sleep Stages
Even when you are in deep sleep your perceptual window is not completely shut.
For example, you move around on the bed, but manage not to fall out.
The roar of a passing truck may not wake you up, but a crying baby can, and so will the sound of your name.
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep – about an hour after you fall asleep, you enter the REM sleep stage. This is where we are ‘dead to the world;” it is extremely difficult to wake us when we are in this stage; eyes dart around in brief bursts of activity signaling the beginning of a dream.
Does everyone dream?
37% of people report never having dreams they can remember the next morning
However, over 80% of the time, people who are awakened during REM sleep will recall a dream

9. Patterns of Sleep (p52)

10. Why Do We sleep? Psychologists believe sleep evolved for 4 reasons:
1. Sleep protects – a species’ sleep patterns suit its place in nature. In our early existence, (prior to light bulbs), it was safer to hunt and gather during the day and rest at night
2. Sleep helps us recover – helps restore and repair brain tissue and neurons
3. Sleep helps us remember and think creatively – we restore and rebuild our memories of the day’s experiences. After working on a task then sleeping on it, people solve problems more insightfully than those who stay awake.
4. Sleep plays a role in growth – during sleep the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone.

11. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is associated with a decline in the ability to perform physical and cognitive tasks
The longer we stay awake, the more we crave sleep
Peter Tripp – DJ
Randy Gardner – 17 yr-old high school student who stayed awake for 11 days as part of a sleep-deprivation experiment for a science fair

12. Major Sleep Disorders Insomnia – 1 in 10 adults complain of insomnia
They have ongoing problems in falling or staying asleep
Sleeping pills can make things worse because it reduces REM sleep, and using medication leads to tolerance and higher doses are needed to be effective.
Narcolepsy – affects 1 in 2000 people
attacks of overwhelming sleepiness, lasting less than 5 mins
The individual falls asleep suddenly, and in severe cases, they drop directly into REM sleep – with loss of muscle control
Sleep apnea
1 in 20 affected
Apnea means “with no breath” (common in preemies)
Stop breathing during sleep, after getting no air for approx. a min, blood oxygen drops enough to jolt the individual awake
Occurs hundreds of times throughout the night

13. Major Sleep Disorders Sleepwalking and Sleeptalking
Usually childhood disorders
Runs in families
Sleepwalking is usually harmless
After returning to bed on their own or with help, few can recall their trip the next morning
Sleepwalking usually happens during stage 4 sleep
Night Terrors
Happens during stage 4 sleep
They are not nightmares
The child may sit up or walk around, talk nonsense, and appear terrified
Hear and breathing rates may double
Deep sleep decreases with age, these become more rare