States of Consciousness

Things never were the way they used to be. Things will never be the way its going to be someday. Things are always just the way they are for the time being. And the time is always in motion. Alexander Evangeli Xenopouloudakis

What is consciousness?

Awareness of ones own mental activity

Personal Can be selective Consciousness is continuous and ever-changing Klinger (1978)

In performing an experiment like this one on man attention car it house is boy critically hat important shoe that candy the old material horse that tree is pen being phone read cow by book the hot subject tape for pin the stand relevant view task sky be red cohesive man and car grammatically house complete boy but hat without shoe either candy being horse so tree easy pen that phone full cow attention book is hot not tape required pin in stand order view to sky read red it nor too difficult

Attentional Processes

Selective Attention

The ability to focus awareness on a single stimulus to the exclusion of other stimuli Cocktail party phenomenon The ability to distribute ones attention and simultaneously engage in two or more activities

Divided attention

Consciousness

Is awareness of both external and internal stimuli or events.

It refers to our mental content (thoughts and feelings) which we are aware.

Degrees of Consciousness

Conscious Preconscious - is part of the conscious mind and includes our memory. These memories are not conscious, but we can retrieve them to conscious awareness at any time. Unconscious- is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of our conscious awareness.

Levels of Consciousness
High Level of Awareness Low Level of Awareness Altered states of Consciousness Requires attention, controlled processes Automatic Processes- minimal attention Day dreaming- between consciousness and dreaming while sleeping Awareness produced by drugs, trauma, fatigue, meditation, and sensory deprivation. Sleep and dreams- low level of consciousness

No Awareness

Unconscious mind- Freud Coma, disease, being knocked, anesthetized

Mental Control & Thought Suppression

Wegner and colleagues (1987)

Can we at suppress our thoughts?

IV: 2 (order:expression/suppression X suppression/expression) DV: # of rings of bell (to indicate thinking of white bear) and mentions of white bear

Rebound effect

Stereotypes, dieting

Generally good control but sometimes we fail

Daydream Believer

Imaginary scenes & events that occur while awake When do they happen? Possible functions:

Mental rehearsal Mental arousal when bored Problem solving (practical & creative) Pleasure

Biological Rhythms

Periodic fluctuations in physiological functioning Four cycles:

Yearly 28-day Circadian (24 hours) 90 minutes

Circadian Rhythm

Synchronized behavior and body states in the environment Influences sleep & wakefulness

As well as:

Humans drift toward 25-hour cycle because of advances in technology Syprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN)

Blood pressure Hormones Body temperature

Controls our timing device for our circadian rhythm

Are you a Larks or Owls

Score Type 70-86 Definitely Morning type 59-69 Moderately Morning type 42-58 Neither Type 31-41 Moderately Evening Type 16-30 Definitely Evening Type *extreme larks- difficulty in schedule adjustment *extreme owls- have little difficulty

Sleep IQ Test
1. During sleep your brain rests. 2. You can not learn to function normally with one or two fewer hours of sleep a night than you need. 3. Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you have had enough sleep. 4. Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannot satisfy your bodys need for sleep. 5. Snoring is not harmful, as long as it doesnt disturb others or wake you up. 6. Everyone dreams at night.

Sleep IQ Test
7. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need. 8. Most people dont know when they are sleepy. 9. Raising the volume of your radio will help you stay awake while driving. 10. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or psychological problems. 11. The human body never adjusts to night shift work. 12. Most sleep disorders go away, even without treatment.

Sleep IQ Answers
1. During sleep your brain rests. 2. You can not learn to function normally with one or two fewer hours of sleep a night than you need.
True: Sleep need is biological. While children need more sleep than adults, how much sleep any individual needs is genetically determined.

False: While your body rests, your brain doesnt.

3. Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you have had enough sleep.
False: Boredom only unmasks sleepiness, but it doesnt cause it.

Sleep IQ Answers
4. Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannot satisfy your bodys need for sleep. 5. Snoring is not harmful, as long as it doesnt disturb others or wake you up.
True: Sleep is as necessary to health as food and water, and rest is no substitute for sleep.

6. Everyone dreams at night.

False: Snoring may be a signal for sleep apnea (which can be fatal if untreated). True: Every person dreams every night its just that some of us cant remember much of our dreams.

Sleep IQ Answers
7. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need. 8. Most people dont know when they are sleepy. 9. Raising the volume of your radio will help you stay awake while driving.
True: We are not very good judges of our biological need for sleep. False: Although we tend to sleep less, our need for sleep doesnt decrease as we age.

False: The only short-term solutions are to pull over and take a nap or to have a caffeinated drink.

Sleep IQ Answers
10. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or psychological problems. 11. The human body never adjusts to night shift work.
True: No matter how long you work a night shift, sleeping during the day remains a challenge because of our circadian rhythms that operate on the light/dark schedule. False: Sleep apnea is caused by relaxed muscles and narcolepsy appears to be genetic.

12. Most sleep disorders go away, even without treatment.

False: On average, sleep disorders do not disappear without treatment.

5 stages

The Stages of Sleep

Stage 1

First four stages are non-REM Fifth, and final, stage is REM

As you start this stage, brain waves go from beta to alpha to theta (by end of stage) Hypnic jerks Lasts about 10 minutes This is the transition from relaxed wakefulness to sleep

The Stages of Sleep

Stage 2

Sleep spindles Lasts about 20 minutes Delta wave Deep sleep Last about 30 minutes

Stages 3 & 4

The Stages of Sleep

REM

After reverting back through stages 3 and 2, the brain enters the REM (rapid eye movement) stage Marked by more vivid, detailed, and storylike dreams

Each cycle lasts roughly 90 minutes Approx. 4 to 6 cycles per night

We dream during all stages but these are more visual

The first time through the cycle, you only spend about 10 minutes in REM which increases to 30 to 60 minutes by the last cycle

Restorative theories

Why do we sleep?

Sleep rejuvenates us
Amount of slow wave sleep depends on how long weve been awake

Circadian theories

Evolutionarily, it has survival value

Amount of REM sleep depends on circadian rhythm

What are dreams?

Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. Charles Fisher

What are dreams?

Electrochemical events that involve the brainstem, areas of the cortex, and the eyes

What do we dream about?

Dream content

What influences the dreams we have

Most common themes: falling, being chased/attacked, repeatedly trying but failing to do something Concerns of your everyday life External stimuli Yourself

Lucid dreaming

Why do we dream?

Wish fulfillment (Freud)

Manifest content Latent content

Activation-synthesis (Hobson & McCarley)

Activation: random neural signals firing in the brainstem that spread up to the cortex Synthesis: the brain then creates images and stories in an effort to make sense out of these random signals

So whos right?

Sleep Disorders

Insomnia

Chronic problems in getting good sleep Difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep Causes

Stress, depression, health problems

Sedatives arent always effective and should never be a long-term solution!!! Dont take naps during the day Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and cigarettes within 5 hrs before bedtime (avoid exercise within 2 hrs) Keep a rigid schedule going to bed and waking up at the same time

Solutions

Sleep Disorders

Hypersomnia

Being sleepy during the day and sleeping too much at night Narcolepsy Sleep apnea Nightmares Night terrors Sleepwalking

Parasomnias

Meditation

Procedure that uses mental exercises to achieve a highly focused state of consciousness

TM Relaxation response

Effects include:

Increased self esteem & sense of control Overcoming insomnia, preventing smoking

Hypnosis

An induced state of consciousness

Highly suggestible state Can influence thinking, feeling & behavior

Animal magnetism Induction Suggestion

Franz Anton Mesmer

Two stages of hypnosis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5coUgy03ug0

Hilgards Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale

Hypnotic Susceptibility

Effects of hypnosis

Roughly 10% highly hypnotizable Roughly 10% not hypnotizable at all Perceptual effects Cognitive effects

Altering smells Pain relief

Behavioral effects

Hypermnesia vs. psuedomemories

Posthypnotic suggestion

Chemically Altered Consciousness

Psychoactive drugs

Induce changes in thinking, perception & behavior by affecting neuronal activity in the brain

Four general categories

Depressants Stimulants Hallucinogens Opiates