States of Consciousness

1. States of Consciousness Chapter 7

2. Waking Consciousness • During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism • The study of observable behaviors because studying internal thoughts was seen as virtually impossible or unscientific • By the 1960s psychology was almost purely a study of behavior and did not look at consciousness • In the 1960s, mental concepts started to become important again *

3. Waking Consciousness • Consciousness- our awareness of ourselves and our environment • Consciousness brings varied information to the surface, enabling us to reflect and plan • Consciousness allows us to concentrate on one particular thing or several things at once • With driving the more we do it, the more it becomes automatic allowing our consciousness to focus on other things • Do you notice the weight of your clothes on your body? • What happened when I asked you this question? • You start focusing on your clothes and stop focusing on these notes *

4. Waking Consciousness • Conscious awareness enables us to exert voluntary control and to communicate our mental states to others • We do process a great deal of information outside our awareness • We can register and react to stimuli we do not consciously perceive • We perform well-learned tasks automatically *

5. Waking Consciousness • Subconscious information processing occurs simultaneously on parallel tracks • We see a bird flying, we are consciously aware of the result of our cognitive processing but not of our subprocessing of the bird’s color, form, movement, distance, and identity • Unlike parallel processing of subconscious information, conscious processing takes place in sequence • Consciousness is relatively slow and has limited capacity *

6. Waking Consciousness • Our consciousness is like the chief executive whose assistants automatically take care of routine business • Novel tasks require our conscious attention • Doing something for the first time usually requires our full attention • Consciousness keeps us from trying to do everything at once *

7. Waking Consciousness • Almost everyone has daydreams or waking fantasies every day • Compared to older adults, young adults spend more time daydreaming • Most daydreams involve the familiar details of our lives • Figuring out another way to solve a problem we have • Coming up with an explanation for our behavior • Replaying events in our lives *

8. Waking Consciousness • Daydreams can help us prepare for future events by keeping us aware of our unfinished business • Daydreaming for children can help to nourish social and cognitive development • Daydreams can be a substitute for impulsive behavior • People who are more prone to violence and using drugs have been found to have less vivid dreams *

9. Sleep and dreams • Sleep is an irresistible tempter that we inevitably succumb to • Sleep has been a mystery to psychologists for years • Some of the mysteries are being solved over time • Using recording devices, scientists can study what is happening in the brains of those that are sleeping *

10. Sleep and dreams • By recording brain waves and muscle movements of someone that is sleeping, we can learn what happens during sleep • Biological rhythms- periodic physiological fluctuations(controlled by our internal biological clocks) • Annual cycles- can explain seasonal affective disorder • Twenty-eight day cycles- female menstrual cycle • Twenty-four hour cycle- cycles of varying and falling alertness • Ninety-minute cycles- stages during sleep *

11. Sleep and dreams • We will be looking at the 24 hour cycle and the ninety minute cycles • Our bodies roughly synchronize with the 24 hour cycle of day and night through a biological clock called the circadian rhythm • From Latin circa, “about” and dies, “day” • Regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle • Our body temp rises as morning approaches, peaks during the day, dips for a time in early afternoon, and then begins to drop again before we go to sleep *

12. Sleep and dreams • Pulling an all-nighter, we feel groggiest about 4 AM, and then a second wind after our normal wake up time arrives • Recent evidence suggests that thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when people are at their daily peak in circadian arousal • Good thing our exam is at noon *

13. Sleep and dreams • Larks is a nickname for morning lovers and owls is a nickname for evening-energized people • With age, we tend to shift from being owls to larks • Most college kids see an improvement of their performance throughout the day, while most older adults see a decline in their performance *

14. Sleep and dreams • Transcontinental flights can affect our circadian rhythms • This is called jet lag and it causes our body to cry out sleep when our surroundings are saying its time to be awake • Studies have shown that bright light can help reset our biological clocks • To help with jet lag, spend the first day outdoors in the sunlight *

15. Sleep and dreams • Light tweaks the circadian clock by activating light sensitive proteins which trigger signals to a brain region that controls the circadian clock • it does this by causing the pineal gland to decrease(in the morning) and increase(in the evening) its production of sleep-inducing melatonin • We can reset our biological clocks by adjusting our sleep schedules • Sleeping in late on the weekends can actually cause more harm than good *

16. Sleep and dreams • Because our ancestors’ body clocks were attuned to the rising and setting sun of the 24 hour day, many of today’s young adults adopt something closer to a 25 hour day • The cause of this adjustment was the light bulb • We must discipline ourselves at a younger age to go to bed on time and force ourselves to get up • Its easier to progressively stay up late than to get up earlier • This extends our day • Artificial light delays sleep *

17. Sleep stages • About every 90 to 100 minutes we pass through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages • REM sleep- rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur • Known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles are relaxed but other body systems are active *

18. Sleep stages • When you are in bed with your eyes closed, alpha waves can be seen on an EEG • Alpha waves- the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state • Sleep- periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness-as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation *

19. Sleep stages • Sleep is a state that we do not know we are in until we leave it • Stage 1 sleep • It starts in an unrecognized moment • Light sleep • Lasts up to 5 minutes • May have a sensation of falling • You may experience fantastic images resembling hallucinations • False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus *

20. Sleep stages • Stage 2 • Lasts about 20 minutes • Characterized by periodic appearance of sleep spindles • Bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity • Can still be awakened without too much difficulty • Sleeptalking can occur during this or any other stage of sleep *

21. Sleep stages • Stage 3 • Transitional stage • Start to show delta waves • Stage 4 • Deep sleep • You are showing large, slow delta waves • The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep • Stage 3 and 4 are called slow wave sleep • Last for about 30 minutes and you are hard to awaken • During this stage children may wet the bed or begin walking in their sleep *

22. Sleep stages • Even during deep sleep your brain can process certain stimuli • You move around on your bed but don’t fall off • You may be easily awoken from the sound of a baby cry but not from a train passing by • Your auditory cortex responds even during sleep *

23. Sleep stages • About an hour after falling asleep you start to go back in order of the stages • You return through stage 3 and 2 • This is where you will spend about half of your night *

24. Sleep stages • REM sleep • For about 10 minutes your brain waves became rapid and saw toothedlike those of stage 1 sleep • Unlike stage 1 your heart rate rises, your breathing becomes rapid and irregular, and every half minute or so your eyes dart around in a momentary burst of activity • Your motor cortex is active but your brainstem blocks the messages leaving your muscles relaxed • Almost paralyzed • Cannot be easily awakened • Paradoxical sleep- the body is internally aroused and externally calm *

25. Sleep stages • The rapid eye movement in REM sleep announces the beginning of a dream • All of us dream • The chance of remembering the dream is higher if awakened from REM sleep • Unlike the fleeting images of stage 1, REM sleep dreams are often emotional and usually storylike • Dreams in other stages usually just consist of one thought or a single vague image *

26. Sleep stages • REM dreams are more richly hallucinatory • The sleep cycle repeats itself about every 90 minutes • As the night wears on, deep stage 4 sleep gets progressively briefer and then disappears • The REM sleep period gets longer • By morning, 20 to 25 percent of your average night’s sleep has been REM sleep • Most of us spend about 600 hours a year of experiencing some 1500 dreams or more than 100,000 dreams over a typical lifetime *

29. Why do we sleep? • The idea that everyone needs 8 hours is not true • Newborns spend 2/3 of their day sleeping while adults spend no more than 1/3 of their day sleeping • Allowed to sleep unhindered, most adults will sleep 9 hours a night • Because of lights and social diversions, people are able to get by with less sleep today than they did in the past *

30. Why do we sleep? • 80 percent of students are said to be dangerously sleep deprived • These individuals are at a high risk of some sort of accident • Sleep deprivation can lead to a difficulty in studying, diminished productivity, tendency to make mistakes, irritability, fatigue • Driver fatigue contributes to an estimated 20 percent of traffic accidents *

31. Why do we sleep? • Other effects of a loss of sleep are: • a suppression of the disease fighting immune system • an altered metabolic and hormonal functioning in ways that mimic aging and can lead to obesity • Hypertension and memory impairment • Irritability, slowed performance, and impaired creativity, concentration, and communication *

32. Why do we sleep? • The survival function of sleep is not known but there are several functions of sleep that are known • Sleep protects • Our ancestors’ would sleep at night to protect themselves from predators • Sleep helps us recuperate • It helps to restore body tissue especially those of the brain • It helps us to consolidate our memories • Sleep plays a role in the growth process • During deep sleep, the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone • As adults grow older they release less of this hormone and they spend less time in deep sleep *

33. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia • 10 to 15 percent of adults complain of suffering from insomnia • It is recurring problems in falling or staying asleep • True insomnia is not the occasional inability to sleep that we experience when anxious or excited • The quick fixes for insomnia are often sleeping pills and alcohol • These can aggravate the problem • Both reduce REM sleep • The drug needs to be increased over time to produce the same results • Insomnia can be worse when the treatment is stopped • There are some natural solutions that scientists believe will help with insomnia *

34. Sleep Disorders • Narcolepsy • A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks • The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times • More rare than insomnia • Usually lasts less than 5 minutes • 1 in 2000 suffer from it • There has been a gene to be found that causes it in dogs • Caused by a lack in the neurotransmitter, hypocretin *

35. Sleep Disorders • Sleep apnea • A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary reawakenings • 1 in 20 people suffer from it • Mostly overweight men • After a minute with no air, the sleeper awakens and snorts in air for a few seconds • Can happen more than 400 times a night • Apnea sufferers are often unaware of their disorder *

36. Sleep Disorders • Night terrors • A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified • Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during stage 4 sleep, within 2 to 3 hours of falling asleep • Seldom remembered • Usually in children • The person may sit up or walk around, talk incoherently, experience a doubling of heart and breathing rates, and appear terrified *

37. Sleep Disorders • Sleepwalking and sleep talking • Usually runs in families • Sleepwalking is usually harmless and unrecalled • Sleepwalkers will usually return to bed on their own • Young children who have the deepest and longest stage 4 sleep are most likely to experience it • Sleepwalking usually disappears as we get older • The same is for sleep talking *

38. Dreams • REM dreams are vivid, emotional, and bizarre • Dreams- a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind • Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, and discontinuities • Dreams are so real we can often confuse them with reality *

39. Dreams • Sometimes we can wonder during a dream if we are actually dreaming • Lucid dreams- dreams in which we are aware that we are dreaming or dreams in which we wonder if we are in fact dreaming • People will sometimes test their state of consciousness • They can perform absurd act such as floating in the air to prove they are dreaming *

40. Dreams • We spend six years of our life dreaming • Most are anything but sweet • 8 in 10 dreams are marked by negative emotions • People will dream about failing in an attempt to do something, being attacked, pursued, or rejected, and they will dream of experiencing some misfortune *

41. Dreams • We usually dream of events in our daily lives • Women dream of males and females equally where 65 percent of characters in men’s dreams are males • No one knows why *

42. Dreams • Sigmund Freud did a lot of research on dreams and their meanings • Manifest content- the remembered story line of a dream • Sometimes incorporates traces of previous days’ experiences and preoccupations • The sensory stimuli of our sleeping environment may also intrude and woven into our dream *

43. Dreams • Anything that happens during the 5 minutes just before we fall asleep is typically lost from memory • This is why sleep apnea patients do not remember waking up • Dreams that momentarily wake us up are usually forgotten by the morning • To remember a dream, get up and stay awake for a few minutes *

44. Dreams • Freud argued that by fulfilling wishes, a dream provides a psychic safety valve that discharges otherwise unacceptable feelings • A dream’s manifest content is a censored, symbolic version of its latent content • The underlying meaning of a dream • Functions as a safety valve • If these drives and wishes were expressed directly they would be threatening *

45. Dreams • Freud believed that most adult dreams can be traced back by analysis to erotic wishes • Most theorists say that dreams usually have very little to do with sexual desires • Freud believed that even though they were not overtly expressing sexual desires, the latent content was focused around them • Freud considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflicts *

46. Dreams • Many psychologists argue against Freud’s ideas and say that even if dreams were symbolic, they could be interpreted any way one wished • Some say that dreams do not hide anything • There is no latent content according to them • Freud’s theory is often referred to as his wish-fulfillment theory *

47. Dreams • Some researchers see dreams as information processing • Dreams help us sift, sort, and fix the day’s experiences in our memory • Studies have confirmed the belief that sleep helps us to remember *

48. Dreams • Dreams may also serve a physiological function • Dreams can provide the brain with periodic stimulation during sleep • The stimulation can help to develop and preserve our neural networks *

49. Dreams • Some theorists believe our dreams come from a burst of neural activity that spreads upward from the brainstem • This theory is called the activation-synthesis theory • This theory states that the neural activity is random and dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of the activity • Dreams spring from the mind’s relentless effort to make sense of unrelated visual bursts, which are given their emotional tone by the limbic system • Dreams are the brain’s interpretation of its own activity *

50. Dreams • We need REM sleep • Deprived of it by repeatedly being awakened, people return more and more quickly to REM stage after falling back to sleep • When allowed to sleep undisturbed, we sleep like babies with increased REM sleep • REM rebound- the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation • Withdrawing REM suppressing sleeping medications also increases REM sleep but with accompanying nightmares *