1. States of Consciousness Chapter 7

2. States of Consciousness
Consciousness and Information Processing
Sleep and Dreams
Biological Rhythms
The Rhythm of Sleep
Sleep Disorders
Dreams

3. States of Consciousness
Hypnosis
Facts and Falsehoods
Is Hypnosis an Altered State of Consciousness?
Drugs and Consciousness
Dependence and Addiction
Psychoactive Drugs
Influences on Drug Use

4. States of Consciousness
Near-Death Experiences

5. History of Consciousness
Psychology began as a science of consciousness.
Behaviorists argued about alienating consciousness from psychology.
However, after 1960, mental concepts (consciousness) started reentering psychology.
OBJECTIVE 1| Discuss the history of psychology’s study of consciousness and contrast conscious and unconscious information processing.

6. Forms of Consciousness
Consciousness, modern psychologists believe, is an awareness of ourselves and our environment.

7. Consciousness Sensory Awareness Selective Aspect of Attention
Direct Inner Awareness
Waking state

8. Sensory Awareness
Knowledge of the environment through perception of sensory stimulation
Ex: Hearing
-allows us to be conscious of, or to hear, a concert

9. Direct Inner Awareness
Knowledge of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and memories without the use of sensory organs.
Preconscious
vs.
Conscious

10. Preconscious
Descriptive of material that is not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one’s attention
Ex: student examples

11. Unconscious
Descriptive of ideas and feelings that are not available to awareness
Ex: painful memories, unacceptable sexual and aggressive impulses
(Repress, suppression, nonconscious )

12. Repress
To eject anxiety-provoking ideas, impulses, or images from awareness, without knowing that one is doing so.
Escape from feelings of guilt and shame

13. Supression
The deliberate, or conscious, placing of certain ideas, impulses, or images out of awareness

14. Nonconscious
Descriptive of bodily processes such as the growing of hair, of which we cannot become conscious (recognize but cant directly experience the biological process)

15. Altered States of Consciousness
states other than the normal waking state
Ex: sleep, meditation, hypnotic trance, distorted perceptions produced by use of some drugs

16. States of Consciousness
Iceberg drawing
Conscious level: perception and thoughts
Preconscious level: memories, and stored knowledge
Unconscious level: immoral urges, selfish needs, fears, violent motives, sexual desires

17. Consciousness & Information Processing
The unconscious mind processes information simultaneously on multiple tracks, while the conscious mind processes information sequentially.
Conscious mind-perceptions, thoughts
Preconscious-memories, stored knowledge
Unconscious mind-fears,violent motive,
sexual desires

18. Sleep & Dreams
Sleep – the irresistible tempter to whom we inevitably succumb.
Mysteries about sleep and dreams have just started
unraveling in sleep laboratories around the world.

19. Biological Rhythms
Biological rhythms are controlled by
internal “biological clocks.”
1. Annual cycles: On an annual cycle, geese migrate, grizzly bears hibernate, and humans experience seasonal variations in appetite, sleep, and mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder people experience during dark winter months.
OBJECTIVE 2| Distinguish four types of biological rhythms, and give and example of each.

20. Biological Rhythms
2. 28-day cycles: The female menstrual cycle averages 28 days. Research shows menstruation may not affect moods.

21. Biological Rhythms
3. 24-hour cycles: Humans experience 24-hour cycles of varying alertness (sleep), body temperature, and growth hormone secretion.
4. 90-minute cycles: We go through various stages of sleep in 90-minute cycles.

22. Rhythm of Sleep
Circadian Rhythms occur on a 24-hour cycle and include sleep and wakefulness, which are disrupted during transcontinental flights.
OBJECTIVE 3| Describe the cycle of our circadian rhythm, and identify some events that can disrupt this biological clock.
Illustration © Cynthia Turner 2003
Light triggers the suprachiasmatic nucleus to decrease
(morning) melatonin from the pineal gland
and increase (evening) it at night fall.

23. Sleep Stages
Measuring sleep: About every 90 minutes, we pass through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages.
OBJECTIVE 4| List the stages of sleep cycle, and explain how they differ.
Hank Morgan/ Rainbow

24. Awake & Alert
During strong mental engagement, the brain exhibits low amplitude and fast, irregular beta waves (15-30 cps). An awake person involved in a conversation shows beta activity.
Beta Waves

25. Awake but Relaxed
When an individual closes his eyes but remains awake, his brain activity slows down to a large amplitude and slow, regular alpha waves (9-14 cps). A meditating person exhibits an alpha brain activity.

26. Sleep Stages 1-2
During early, light sleep (stages 1-2) the brain enters a high-amplitude, slow, regular wave form called theta waves (5-8 cps). A person who is daydreaming shows theta activity.
Theta Waves

27. Hypnagogic state-dreamlike images that resemble vivid photographs
Stage 1 cont…
Hypnagogic state-dreamlike images that resemble vivid photographs
Lightest stage of sleep

28. Stage 2 Sleep spindles: short bursts of rapid brain waves
K Complex:bursts of brain activity that reflect external stimulation
(book dropping in room, or tightness of leg)

29. Sleep Stages 3-4
During deepest sleep (stages 3-4), brain activity slows down. There are large-amplitude, slow delta waves (1.5-4 cps).

30. Stage 3 and 4 Slower delta waves Stage 4 is the deepest stage of sleep
Most difficult to be awakened
After half hour we rapidly journey upward through stages and enter REM

31. Stage 5: REM Sleep
After reaching the deepest sleep stage (4), the sleep cycle starts moving backward towards stage 1. Although still asleep, the brain engages in low- amplitude, fast and regular beta waves (15-40 cps) much like awake-aroused state.
A person during this sleep exhibits
Rapid Eye Movements (REM)
and reports vivid dreams.

32. 90-Minute Cycles During Sleep
With each 90-minute cycle, stage 4 sleep decreases and the duration of REM sleep increases.

33. REM Rapid eye movement:
Level of arousal similar to waking state but difficult to wake
If awakened we report dreaming 80% of time
5 trips through stages
REM lasts longest towards the end of sleep

34. We spend one-third of our lives sleeping.
Why do we sleep?
We spend one-third of our lives sleeping.
If an individual remains awake for several days, they deteriorate in terms of immune function, concentration, and accidents.
OBJECTIVE 5| Explain why sleep patterns and duration vary from person to person.
Jose Luis Pelaez, Inc./ Corbis

35. The Need for Sleep
Depends on genetics, personal characteristics and habits, exercise
Changes over one’s lifetime:
Newborns—16 hours per day (50% REM)
Young adults—8-9 hours (20% REM)
Old age—5-7 hours (15% REM)

36. Functions of Sleep Sleep Deprivation:
Compared to people who drink heavily
Performance impaired: memory, attention
Sleep can help us recover from stresses of life
REM-dreams occur most frequently

37. Sleep Deprivation Fatigue and subsequent death.
Impaired concentration.
Emotional irritability.
Depressed immune system.
Greater vulnerability.
OBJECTIVE 6| Discuss several risks associated with sleep deprivation.

38. Frequency of accidents increase with loss of sleep

39. Sleep Theories
Sleep Protects: Sleeping in the darkness when predators loomed about kept our ancestors out of harm’s way.
Sleep Recuperates: Sleep helps restore and repair brain tissue.
Sleep Helps Remembering: Sleep restores and rebuilds our fading memories.
Sleep and Growth: During sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth hormone. Older people release less of this hormone and sleep less.
OBJECTIVE 7| Identify four theories of why we sleep.

40. Sleep Disorders
Insomnia
Nightmares
Narcolepsy
Apnea
Sleep terrors

41. Nightmares
Nightmares: Frightening dreams that wake a sleeper from REM.
College students reported 2 nightmares a month
Traumatic events can spawn nightmares
Frequent nightmares more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, or psychological discomfort

42. Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep 2) Difficulty remaining alseep
3) Waking early
-1/3 Americans suffer
-woman more than men
-Cant force sleep

43. Apnea A temporary cessation of breathing while asleep
times a night
4% men, 2% women
Related to obesity, loud snoring, drowsiness during the day

44. Sleep Terrors
Frightening dreamlike experiences that occur during the deepest stage of NREM sleep (stage 4). Nightmares, in contrast, occur during REM sleep
Sudden arousal from sleep with intense fear accompanied by physiological reactions (e.g., rapid heart rate, perspiration)
15 % sleepwalk (Somnambulism)
Tranquilizer often helps

45. Narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable seizures of sleep during the waking state
Afflicts 100,000 people and runs in the family
“Sleep Attack” may last about 15 minutes
Disorder of REM functioning

46. Dreams
The link between REM sleep and dreaming has opened up a new era of dream research.

47. What do we Dream?
Negative Emotional Content: 8 out of 10 dreams have negative emotional content.
Failure Dreams: People commonly dream about failure, being attacked, pursued, rejected, or struck with misfortune.
Sexual Dreams: Contrary to our thinking, sexual dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in men are 1 in 10; and in women 1 in 30.
Dreams of Gender: Women dream of men and women equally; men dream more about men than women.
OBJECTIVE 9| Describe the most common content of dreams.

48. Dreams
A sequence of images or thoughts that occur during sleep. Dreams may be vague and loosely plotted or vivid and intricate
Most vivid during REM
Flexible: black and white or color

49. Why do we dream?
Sigmund Freud:Theorized that dreams reflect unconscious wishes and urges
Believed dreams “protect sleep” by providing imagery that would help keep disturbing, repressed thoughts out of awareness
Yet, our behavior in dreams is generally consistent with our waking behavior

50. Dreams Have Meaning Freud
Dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious”
Have two main functions:
>to guard sleep (by disguising disruptive thoughts with symbols
>to serve as sources of wish fulfillment

51. Freud continued
Manifest content of dreams: the story line, the surface plot
Latent content of dreams: the hidden or disguised meaning of the events in the plot, the symbolic content
Problem: no solid scientific evidence for Freud’s interpretations

52. Why do we dream?
Information Processing: Dreams may help sift, sort, and fix a day’s experiences in our memories.
OBJECTIVE 10| Compare the major perspectives on why we dream.

53. Why do we dream?
Physiological Function: Dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways. Neural networks of newborns are quickly developing; therefore, they need more sleep.

54. Why do we dream? Hobson and McCarley
Activation-Synthesis Theory: Suggests that the brain engages in a lot of random neural activity. Dreams make sense of this activity.
Very little emotional meaning in dreams

55. Why do we dream?
5. Cognitive Development: Some researchers argue that we dream as a part of brain maturation and cognitive development.
Rosalind Cartwright
Dreams provide an opportunity to work through everyday problems and emotional issues in one’s life
Cognitive, problem-solving view
Dreams as source of creative insights

56. Why do we dream? All dream researchers believe we need REM sleep. When
deprived of REM sleep and then allowed to sleep,
we show increased REM sleep called REM Rebound

57. Dream Theories
Summary

58. Hypnosis
A social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
OBJECTIVE 11| Define hypnosis, and note some similarities between the behavior of hypnotized people and that of motivated unhypnotized people.
Hypnos: Greek god of sleep

59. Mesmerism
Credit for the popularity of hypnosis goes to Franz Anton Mesmer, a physician, who mistakenly thought he discovered “animal magnetism.” Some of his patients experienced a trancelike state and felt better upon waking up.
Franz Mesmer ( )

60. Aspects of Hypnosis
Posthypnotic Suggestion: Suggestion carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized.
Posthypnotic Amnesia: Supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis.

61. Hypnotic Feats
Strength, stamina, and perceptual and memory abilities similarly affect those who are hypnotized and those who are not hypnotized.

62. Facts and Falsehood
Those who practice hypnosis agree that its power resides in the subject’s openness to suggestion.
Can anyone experience hypnosis?
Yes, to some extent.
Can hypnosis enhance recall of forgotten events?
OBJECTIVE 12| Discuss the characteristics of people who are susceptible to hypnosis, and evaluate claims that hypnosis can influence people’s memory, will, health, and perception of pain.
No.

63. Facts and Falsehood
Can hypnosis force people to act against their will?
No.
Can hypnosis be therapeutic?
Yes. Self-suggestion can heal too.
Can hypnosis alleviate pain?
Yes. Lamaze can do that too.

64. Is Hypnosis an Altered State of Consciousness?
Social Influence Theory: Hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative actors playing a social role.
Divided Consciousness Theory: Hypnosis is a special state of dissociated (divided) consciousness (Hilgard, 1986, 1992).
Courtesy of News and Publications Service, Stanford University
OBJECTIVE 13| Give arguments for and against hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness.
(Hilgard, 1992)

65. Both Theories
Mimi Forsyth

66. Drugs Substances that distort perceptions and change mood
Drugs can make you feel up, down, and move you all over the place
Alcohol is the most popular drug on high school and college campuses
Stimulants
Depressants

67. Drugs and Consciousness
Psychoactive Drug: A chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood (effects consciousness).
OBJECTIVE 14| Define psychoactive drug.

68. Substance Abuse
Persistent use of a substance even though it is causing or compounding problems in meeting the demands of life.

69. Dependence & Addiction
Continued use of a psychoactive drug produces tolerance. With repeated exposure to a drug, the drug’s effect lessens. Thus it takes greater quantities to get the desired effect.
OBJECTIVE 15| Discuss the nature of drug dependence, and identify three common misconceptions about drug addiction.

70. Tolerance
Habituation to a drug, with the result that increasingly higher doses of the drug are needed to achieve similar effects

71. Abstinence Syndrome
A characteristic cluster of symptoms that results from sudden decrease in an addictive drug’s level of usage
Ex: Alcohol
Anxiety, tremors, restlessness, weakness, rapid pulse, high blood pressure

72. Withdrawal & Dependence
Withdrawal: Upon stopping use of a drug (after addiction), users may experience the undesirable effects of withdrawal.
Dependence: Absence of a drug may lead to a feeling of physical pain, intense cravings (physical dependence), and negative emotions (psychological dependence).

73. Misconceptions about Addiction
Addiction is a craving for a chemical substance, despite its adverse consequences (physical & psychological).
Addictive drugs quickly corrupt.
Addiction cannot be overcome voluntarily.
Addiction is no different than repetitive pleasure-seeking behaviors.
Addictive drugs quickly corrupt: After taking drugs only (perhaps) 10% become addict.
Addiction cannot be overcome voluntarily: It can be to a large extent.
Addiction not different than repetitive pleasure-seeking behaviors: Indeed. But should we stretch the concept to cover social behaviors?

74. Causal Factors Psychological View:
Control or express unconscious needs and impulses
Positive effects on mood and reduction of unpleasant sensations (anxiety, fear)
Those who are physiologically dependent will avoid withdrawal symptoms
Escape from boredom
Peer pressure

75. Causal Factors Genetic predispositions
Biological View:
Genetic predispositions
Inherited tendency toward alcoholism may involve a combination of greater sensitivity to alcohol (enjoyment and tolerance)

76. Psychoactive drugs are divided into three groups.
Depressants
Stimulants
Hallucinogens
OBJECTIVE 16| Name the main categories of psychoactive drugs, and list three ways these substances can interfere with neurotransmission in the brain.

77. Depressants
Depressants are drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. They include:
Alcohol
Barbiturates
Opiates
OBJECTIVE 17| Explain how depressants affect nervous system activity and behavior, and summarize the findings on alcohol use and abuse.

78. Depressant
A drug that lowers the rate of activity of the nervous system
Alcohol most popular
Sedative: a drug that soothes or quiets restlessness or agitation

80. Alcohol
Alcohol affects motor skills, judgment, and memory…and increases aggressiveness while reducing self awareness.
Daniel Hommer, NIAAA, NIH, HHS
Ray Ng/ Time & Life Pictures/ Getty Images
Drinking and Driving

81. Barbiturates
2. Barbiturates: Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment. Nembutal, Seconal, and Amytal are some examples.

82. Depressants
3. Opiates: Opium and its derivatives (morphine and heroin) depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. They are highly addictive.

83. Stimulants
Stimulants are drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions.
Caffeine
Nicotine
Cocaine
Ecstasy
Amphetamines
Methamphetamines
OBJECTIVE 18| Identify the major stimulants, and explain how they affect neural activity and behavior.

84. Caffeine & Nicotine
Caffeine and nicotine increase heart and breathing rates and other autonomic functions to provide energy.

85. Amphetamines
Amphetamines stimulate neural activity, causing accelerated body functions and associated energy and mood changes, with devastating effects.
National Pictures/ Topham/ The Image Works

86. Ecstasy
Ecstasy or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a stimulant and mild hallucinogen. It produces a euphoric high and can damage serotonin-producing neurons, which results in a permanent deflation of mood and impairment of memory.
Greg Smith/ AP Photos

87. Cocaine
Cocaine induces immediate euphoria followed by a crash. Crack, a form of cocaine, can be smoked. Other forms of cocaine can be sniffed or injected.

88. Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens are psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.
OBJECTIVE 19| Describe the physiological and psychological effects of hallucinogens and summarize the effects of LSD and marijuana.
Ronald K. Siegel

89. Hallucinogens
LSD: (lysergic acid diethylamide) powerful hallucinogenic drug (ergot fungus) that is also known as acid.
THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol): is the major active ingredient in marijuana (hemp plant) that triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations.
Hemp Plant

90. Drugs
Summary

91. Influences on Drug Use
The graph below shows the percentage of US high- school seniors reporting their use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine from the 70s to the late 90s.
OBJECTIVE 20| Discuss the biological, psychological and social-cultural factors that contribute to drug use.

92. Influences on Drug Use
The use of drugs is based on biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences.

93. Marijuana Use
The use of marijuana in teenagers is directly related to the “perceived risk” involved with the drug.

94. Near-Death Experiences
After a close brush with death, many people report an experience of moving through a dark tunnel with a light at the end. Under the influence of hallucinogens, others report bright lights at the center of their field of vision.
(From “Hallucinations” by R.K. Siegel. Copyright
© 1977 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.)
OBJECTIVE 21| Describe the near-death and the controversy over whether it provides evidence for mind-body dualism.

95. Mind-Body Problem
Near-death experiences raise the mind-body issue. Can the mind survive the dying body?
Dualism: Dualists believe that mind (non-physical) and body (physical) are two distinct entities that interact.
Monism: Monists believe that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.