ConsciousnessUnit 5

Consciousness• Our awareness of ourselves and our environment• Much of our information processing is

consciousness, much is unconscious and automatic

• Selective attention: riding a bike• “Stream of consciousness”

State of Consciousness• Normal/waking awareness• Altered states: day dreaming, sleeping,

mediating, and drug induced

Sleep and Dreams• We process most information outside our

conscious awareness• T or F

o When people dream of performing some activity, their limbs often move in concert with the dream

o Sleepwalkers are acting out their dreamso Some people dream every night; other seldom dream

Biological Rhythms and Sleep

• Circadian Rhythm are those that occur once each day. It spans 24 hours and is responsible for our varying levels of arousal throughout the course of a day

Circadian Rhythm• Body temp rises as morning approaches, peaks

during the day, dips for a time in early afternoon, and then begins to drop before we go to sleep

• Thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when we are at our daily peak o All-nighter example

Circadian Rhythm• Bright light tweaks the circadian clock by

activating light-sensitive retinal proteins• These proteins signal the SCN (nucleus) to

decrease the production of sleep-inducing hormone melatonin

• Invention of light bulb drastically impacted us• Time-zones

Sleep Stages• About every 90 minutes we pass through a cycle

of five distinct sleep stages• Armond Aserinsky discovered REM sleep (rapid

eye movement)o And along with Nathaniel Kleitman pioneered procedures now used

today to measure sleep stages

Sleep Stages• Follow along Figure 5.4 page 179• Alpha waves: awake, relaxed state (slow)• Transition to sleep: marked by slowed breating

and stage 1 brain waveso May experience fantastic images, hallucinations, sensory experiences

(sensation of falling-jerks body)o Jerked awake in class (dreaming about tripping or falling)

Sleep Stages• Stage 2 characterized by the periodic appearance

of sleep spindles-bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity (20 mins)o Still can be woken up fairly easilyo Sleep talking can begin to occur

• Then for the next few minutes you go through transitional stage 3 to deep sleep stage 4

Sleep Stages• First in stage 3 and increasing in stage 4 your

brain emits large, slow delta waves• These two stages last for about 30 minutes• Hard to be awoken• Sleep walking or bed wetting may occur

Sleep Stages• Stage 1-4 (NREM) sleep• Rather than continuing in deep slumber you

ascend from your initial sleep dive• For about ten minutes brain waves become active

as you enter REM (similar waves to stage 1)• Heart rate rises, breathing become irregular and

rapid, every half-minute or so your eyes dart around

Sleep Stages (REM)• Essentially paralyzed may experience an

occasional twitch• Aroused and calm• Snoring stops• REM announces the beginning of a dream

Sleep Stages• As the night progresses deep stage 4 sleep gets

progressively briefer and then disappears• The REM and stage 2 sleep periods get longer• By morning 20-25% REM sleep

o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fk2PJOxTwc

Why dream in REM?• The body is completely relaxed so people do not

react physically to their dreams• Other stages body may interpret our dreams as

reality and react to them, causing startle

Why do we sleep?• Age-related difference• Sleep patterns genetically influenced• Culturally influenced • People sleeping less thanks to light bulbs, shift

work, the Internet, and social diversions• Most adults (if allowed) could sleep at least for 9

hourso We awake refreshed, better mood, more efficient and accurate worko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MT8ekBGyM4 (peter trip)

The Effects of Sleep loss

• Teens need 8 or 9 hours of sleep (today average less than 7)

• Students often function below their peak• Sleep deprivation: difficulty studying, diminished

productivity, tendency to make mistakes, irritability, fatigue

The Effects of Sleep loss

• Increases hunger-arousing hormoneo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSmdkOAmly8 (weight gain)

• Increases the stress hormone cortisol• Suppresses immune cells that fight off viral

infections and cancer• Alters metabolic and hormonal functioning in was

that mimic aging• Impaired creativity, concentration, and

communication

Effects of Sleep loss• Devastating for driving, piloting, and equipment

operating• Accidents frequently occur later in the evening• Time-change: accidents skyrocket right after we

lose an hour of sleep• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SCyRs0PE5s

Sleeping vs. Being Bored

• Who here has fallen asleep in class?• Boredom does not cause drowsiness• Boredom causes restless behavior like fidgeting

or impatience• When people fall asleep while bored, it is an

indication of sleep deprivation

Sleep Theories• Sleep protects: darkness of ancestors• Sleep helps us recuperate: restore and repair

brain tissue• Sleep is for making memories• Sleep also feeds creative thinking• Sleep plays a role in the growth process

• *Nocturnal animals-______ and _____eyes• *Animals who sleep a lot-_________ metabolism

Sleep disorders• Insomnia: inability to fall OR stay a sleep

o 1 in 10 adults, 1 in 4 older adultso Alcohol and sleeping pills aggregate the problemo Treatment: Exercise, avoid caffeine after early afternoon, avoid rich

foods before bedtime, relax before bed, stay on regular sleeping schedule, hide the clock, avoid long naps

Sleep Disorders• Narcolepsy

o Periodic, overwhelming sleepinesso Collapse directly into a brief period of REM (extreme)o 1 in 2000 in U.S. o Causes? Absence of hypothalamic neural center that produces orexino Treatment? Drugs to relieve sleepiness and scientists developing a

drug to mimic orexin

Sleep disorders• Sleep apnea

o 1 in 20o People intermittently stop breathing during sleepo Unaware of disorder: may just feel fatigue the next dayo Associated with obesity

Sleep Disorders• Night terrors: may sit up or walk around, talk,

experience a doubling of heart and breathing rates, appear terrified (not nightmares)o Target childreno Occur during Stage 4 sleep (2-3 hours of sleep)o Seldom rememberedo As we grow older, deep stage 4 diminishes, so do night terrors and

sleeping walking/talkingo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2yfUL8uct0 (sleep disorders)

What we dream• REM dreams are vivid, emotional, and bizarre• May confuse them with reality (kids esp)• We spend six years of our life in dreams• 8 in 10 dreams are marked by at least one

negative event or emotiono http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGzc3x9WJU

General trends of what we dream

• Northeastern have dreams with images of time, activity, streets, and architecture

• Southerners dream of nature, good fortune, emotion, and family members

• Westerners dream about objects, negative emotions, and indoor settings

• In the U.S. men are more like to dream about aggression and tools; women were more likely to dream about children, clothes, food, and friendly interactions

Freud’s theory of dreams

• Plot of the dream the manifest content• Hidden content od reams was supposed to reflect

our unconscious thoughts and desires, while to difficult to deal with when we are awake

What we dream• We maintain some awareness of changes in our

external environment (water example)• Can’t remember recorded information played

while we are soundly asleep • To remember a dream, get up and stay awake for

a few minutes

Why we dream?• To satisfy our own wishes

o Freud: latent content-consists of unconscious drives and wishes that would be threatening if expressed directly

o He considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflictso No reason to believe Freud’s claims o Interpretations of dreams?

Why we Dream?• To file away memories

o Dreams help sift, sort, and fix the day’s experiences in our memory o Brain scans confirm the link between REM sleep and memory

Why we dream?• To develop and preserve neural pathways

o Provide the brain with periodic stimulation

• To make sense of neural static o Dreams make sense of random neural activity

• To reflect cognitive developmento Dreams are part of brain maturation

Why we dream?• We need REM sleep• Increased REM sleep results in REM rebound• Most mammals experience REM rebound

Hypnosis• Altered state of consciousness• Facts and falsehoods

o No magical mind-control power; they merely engage people’s ability to focus on certain images or behaviors

Can Anyone Experience Hypnosis?• Anyone can turn attention inward and imagine is

able to experience some degree of hypnosis

Can Hypnosis Enhance recall of forgotten

events?• American, Australian, and British courts generally

ban testimony from witnesses who have been hypnotized

• No we can’t. Fact mixed with Fiction. • Research disputes claims of age regression

Can hypnosis force people to act against

their will?• An authoritative person in a legitimate context

can induce people-hypnotized or not to perform some unlikely acts

Can hypnosis be therapeutic?

• Posthypnotic suggestions have helped alleviate headaches, asthma, and stress-related skin disorders

• Helpful for the treatment of obesityo Not alcohol, drug, or smoking addictions

Can hypnosis alleviate pain?

• Hypnosis can relieve pain

Explaining the Hypnotized state

• Hypnosis as a social phenomenono Some psychologists believe that hypnotic phenomena reflect the

workings of normal consciousness and the power of social influenceo They point out how powerfully our interpretations and attentional

spotlight influenced our ordinary perceptions

Explaining the hypnosis state

• Hypnosis as divided consciousnesso Ernest Hilgard believed a special state of dissociation (a split between

different levels of consciousness)o Ex: hypnosis dissociates the sensation of the pain stimulus (cold water)

• Today:o More to thinking and acting than we are conscious ofo New theory: Hypnosis is an extension of both normal principles of social

influenced and of everyday dissociations between our conscious awareness and our automatic behaviors

PSA Presentations on Drugs

• Be sure to answer the following: • side effects of use of the drug• Addictiveness• category it falls under and why• a problem of some sort• all members must speak• statistics encouraged

• Alcohol, Heroin, Caffeine Meth, Cocaine, Nicotine, Ecstasy, Marijuana