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Chapter 5: States of Consciousness

Chapter 5: States of Consciousness. Some Early Definitions. Consciousness: All the sensations, perceptions, memories, and feelings you are aware of in any instant Waking Consciousness: Normal, clear, organized, alert awareness

michael-beard
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Chapter 5: States of Consciousness

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  1. Chapter 5: States of Consciousness

  2. Some Early Definitions • Consciousness: All the sensations, perceptions, memories, and feelings you are aware of in any instant • Waking Consciousness: Normal, clear, organized, alert awareness • Altered State of Consciousness (ASC): Awareness that is distinctly different in quality or pattern from waking consciousness

  3. Sleep • Innate, biological rhythm • Microsleep: Brief shift in brain-wave patterns similar to those of sleep • Sleep Deprivation: Sleep loss; being deprived of needed amounts of sleep • Sleep-Deprivation Psychosis: Major disruption of mental and emotional functioning that occurs because of sleep loss • Hypersomnia: Excessive daytime sleepiness

  4. Measuring Sleep Changes • Electroencephalograph (EEG): Brain-wave machine; amplifies and records electrical activity in the brain • Beta Waves: Small fast waves associated with alertness and awakeness • Alpha Waves: Large, slow waves associated with relaxation and falling asleep

  5. Stages of Sleep • Stage 1: Small, irregular waves produced in light sleep (people may or may not say they were asleep) • Hypnic Jerk: Reflex muscle twitch throughout body that may occur in Stage 1

  6. Stage 2 • Deeper sleep; sleep spindles (bursts of distinctive brain-wave activity) appear

  7. Stage 3 • Deeper sleep; Delta waves appear; very large and slow

  8. Stage 4 • Deepest level of normal sleep; almost purely Delta waves

  9. Kinds of Sleep • Rapid Eye Movements (REM): Associated with dreaming; sleep is very light • Body is very still during REM sleep • Lack of muscle paralysis during REM sleep is called “REM Behavioral Disorder” • Non-REM (NREM) Sleep: Occurs during stages 1, 2, 3, and 4; no rapid eye movement occurs • Seems to help us recover from daily fatigue

  10. Sleep Disturbances • Insomnia: Difficulty in getting to sleep or staying asleep, or waking early • Sleeping pills exacerbate insomnia; cause decrease in REM and Stage 4 sleep and may cause dependency • Drug-Dependency Insomnia: Sleeplessness that follows withdrawal from sleeping pills

  11. Types and Causes of Insomnia • Temporary Insomnia: Brief period of sleeplessness caused by worry, stress, and excitement. • Avoid fighting it and read a book, for example, until you’re struggling to stay awake. • Chronic Insomnia: Exists if sleeping troubles last for more than three weeks. • Adopt regular schedule; go to bed at the same time each night, for example.

  12. Sleep Disturbances • Sleepwalking (Somnambulism): Occurs in NREM sleep during Stages 3 and 4 • Sleeptalking: Speaking while asleep; occurs in NREM sleep

  13. Nightmares • Bad dreams that occur during REM sleep • Imagery Rehearsal: Mentally rehearse the changed dream before you go to sleep again; may help to eliminate nightmares

  14. Night Terrors • Total panic and hallucinations may occur • Occurs during Stage 4 sleep • Most common in childhood; may occur in adults

  15. Sleep Apnea • Interrupted breathing during sleep; cause of very loud snoring • Hypersomnia: Extreme daytime sleepiness • Apnea can be treated by • Surgery • Weight loss • Breathing mask

  16. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome • Also known as SIDS or Crib Death; Sudden, unexplained death of healthy infant (infants should sleep on back or on side to try to prevent) • SIDS babies have a weak arousal reflex; prevents them from changing positions and resuming breathing after an apnea episode

  17. REM Rebound • Extra rapid eye movement sleep following REM sleep deprivation

  18. Psychodynamic (Freudian) Theory of Dreaming • Emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and unconscious forces • Wish Fulfillment: Freudian belief that many dreams are expressions of unconscious desires • Much evidence to refute this • Dream Symbols: Images that have a deeper symbolic meaning

  19. Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis • Dream content may be affected by motor commands in the brain (that occur during sleep) that are not carried out

  20. Hypnosis • Altered state of consciousness characterized by intensely narrowed attention and increased openness to suggestion • Mesmer: Believed he could cure diseases by passing magnets over body; true “animal magnetism” (“mesmerize” means to hypnotize) • Must cooperate to become hypnotized

  21. Hidden Observer • Detached part of hypnotized person’s awareness that silently observes events

  22. Hypnosis Can • Help people relax • Reduce pain • Get people to make better progress in therapy

  23. Hypnosis Cannot • Produce acts of superhuman strength • Produce age regression • Force you to do things against your will

  24. Stage Hypnosis • Simulation of hypnotic effects

  25. Tricks of the Trade • Waking Suggestibility: People on stage do not want to spoil the act, so they will follow any instruction. • Selection of Responsive Subjects: Any “volunteer” who does not get hypnotized in the stage group and does not follow instructions is “voted off.” • The Hypnosis Label Disinhibits: On stage, once you are “in a hypnotic trance,” your responsibility for actions is removed; you can do whatever you want!

  26. More Stage Hypnosis “Tricks of the Trade” • Hypnotist as Director: Once they are in a trance, the “volunteers” are suddenly the show’s stars, and they will act like it. The hypnotists only need to direct them. • Stage Hypnotists Use Tricks: Stage hypnosis is 50% deception and 50% taking advantage of the situation

  27. More Hypnosis Concepts • Hypnotic Susceptibility: How easily a person can be hypnotized • Basic Suggestion Effect: Tendency of hypnotized people to carry out suggested actions as though they were involuntary

  28. Meditation • Mental exercise designed to produce relaxation or heightened awareness • Concentrative Meditation: Attention is paid to a single focal point (i.e., object, thought, etc.) • Produces relaxation response and thus works to reduce stress • Mindfulness Meditation: Based on widening attention span to become aware of everything experienced at a given moment • Mantra: Word(s) or sound(s) repeated during concentrative meditation

  29. Relaxation Response • Occurs at time of relaxation; internal response that prevents activation of adrenal glands

  30. Sensory Deprivation (SD) • Any major reduction in amount or variety of sensory stimulation • Benefits • Sensory enhancement • Relaxation • Changing habits • REST: Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy: Makes it easier to change bad habits

  31. Drugs and Altered States of Consciousness • Psychoactive Drug: Substance capable of altering attention, judgment, memory, time sense, self-control, emotion, or perception • Stimulant: Substance that increases activity in body and nervous system • Depressant: Substance that decreases activity in body and nervous system

  32. Physical Dependence • Physical Addiction based on drug tolerance and withdrawal symptoms • Drug Tolerance: Reduction in body’s response to a drug • Withdrawal Symptoms: Physical illness following withdrawal of the drug

  33. Psychological Dependence • Drug dependence based on psychological or emotional needs • Usually crave drug • Can be as powerful as physiological addiction

  34. Stimulants (Uppers) • Amphetamines: Synthetic stimulants that excite the nervous system • Dexedrine and Methamphetamine are two types of stimulants • Amphetamine Psychosis: Loss of contact with reality because of amphetamine use; user tends to have paranoid delusions

  35. Cocaine • Central Nervous System stimulant derived from leaves of coca plant; also used as local anesthetic • From 1886-1906, Coca-Cola did indeed have cocaine in it! • Highly addictive drug • Anhedonia (Inability to Feel Pleasure): Common after cocaine withdrawal

  36. MDMA (Ecstasy) • Chemically similar to amphetamine; created by small variations in a drug’s structure • Risks of using MDMA are unclear • May cause severe liver damage • Repeated use damages serotonergic brain cells

  37. Caffeine • Most frequently used psychoactive drug in North America; present in colas, chocolate, coffee, and tea • Causes hand tremors, sweating, talkativeness, tinnitus, suppresses fatigue or sleepiness, increases alertness • May be hazardous to pregnant women if used excessively

  38. Caffeinism • Physiological dependence on caffeine • Symptoms: Insomnia, irritability, loss of appetite, chills, racing heart, elevated body temperature

  39. Nicotine • Natural stimulant found mainly in tobacco; known carcinogen • May cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, tremors • Addictive • Sum: Don’t smoke; smoking kills (so does chewing tobacco)

  40. Sedatives: Barbiturates • Sedative drugs that depress brain activity • Seconal and Amytal are two types • Easy to overdose

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