Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Ed)
Chapter 7
States of
Consciousness
Waking Consciousness
 Consciousness
 our awareness
of ourselves
and our
environments
Construct – a concept that requires a
belief in something that can’t be seen or
touched but does exist.
What examples of constructs can you
think of?
Original definition of
Psychology:
–”the description and explanation of
states of consciousness”
Behaviorism felt psychology should be an
objective science, without reference to
mental processes…so new definition:
“the science of behavior.” so psychology
now becomes the study of observable
behavior.
In 1960, mental processes renter the
picture.
Neuroscience related brain activity to
various mental states: waking, sleeping &
dreaming.
Researchers studied to study altered
states of consciousness: hypnosis, drugs
& alcohol.
Levels of Consciousness
Conscious-awareness of what is going on in
ourselves & our environment.
Non-conscious-bodily processes controlled by
your mind that you are not aware of: heartbeat,
respiration & digestion.
Subconscious-consciousness that is just below
our present level of awareness: Example: reaching for
thinking without thinking, driving home and not remembering
stopping at a red light.
Unconscious mind contains information,
thoughts & desires about which we have
no direct knowledge.
It contains the:
Intuition-though that does not rely on
logic or a rational evaluation of events. It
is just a feeling.
What is sleep?
A state of consciousness because we are
less aware of our environment &
ourselves thane we are in our normal
awake state. It is a natural, reversible
loss of consciousness.
Sleeps helps us to recuperate & restore
body tissues.
It plays a role in our growth process.
All creatures are under the control
of: Biological Rhythms
 periodic physiological fluctuations
 Internal, chemical units that control
regular cycles in parts of the body.
 The human body goes through a
natural 25 hour sleep-wake cycle but
earth runs on a 24 hour light-dark
cycle. Humans have adapted.
Circadian Rhythm
 the biological clock
 regular bodily rhythms that occur on a
24-hour cycle, such as of wakefulness
and body temperature
 Sleep cycle: about every 90-100
minutes we pass through a cycle of 5
distinct sleep stages
BRAIN WAVES
While we sleep our brain has electrical
activity in which researchers record.
Beta waves are awake brain waves.
Stages of Sleep
Twilight Stage or Sleep Onset
-when we first lie down, electrical activity
in our brains begins to slow down, brief
transition stage when first falling asleep.
-alpha waves are produced. It is the
stage between wakefulness and sleep.
We let our minds wander and totally relax.
Stage 1 Sleep
Last about 5-10 minutes. We lose
perception of time. Can experience
hallucinations or a sensation of falling or
floating.
Alpha waves are produced. Waves get
slower and higher in amplitude.
STAGE 2 SLEEP
LAST ABOUT 20 MINUTES. CAN BE
AWAKENED WITHOUT DIFFFICULTY.
BRAIN WAVES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY
SLEEP SPINDLES.
TALK IN SLEEP IN THIS STAGE.
Stage 3 Sleep
Often referred to as Delta sleep
Delta brain waves are emitted.
Last for just a few minutes and then
moves on to Stage 4 sleep.
STAGE 4 SLEEP
 Lasts for 30 minutes.
 Stages 3 & 4 together referred to as slow-wave sleep or
Delta sleep, due to delta brain waves being emitted.
 The slower the brain wave, the deeper the sleep.
 Hard to awaken,become disoriented & groggy.
 Sleepwalking occurs in this stage
 Will be physically tired or ill if deprived of.
 Increasing amount of exercise, increase time in 3 & 4
sleep.
Upon reaching stage 4 and after about 90
to 100 minutes of total sleep time, sleep
lightens, returns through stages 3 and 2
REM sleep emerges, characterized by EEG
patterns that resemble beta waves of alert
wakefulness
muscles most relaxed
rapid eye movements occur
dreams occur
Four or five sleep cycles occur in a typical
night’s sleep - less time is spent in slowwave, more is spent in REM
Sleep and Dreams
 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep
 recurring sleep stage
 vivid dreams
 “paradoxical sleep”
 muscles are generally relaxed, but other
body systems are active
 Sleep
 periodic, natural, reversible loss of
consciousness
Sleep and Dreams
 Measuring sleep activity
Brain Waves and
Sleep Stages
 Alpha Waves
 slow waves of a
relaxed, awake
brain
 Delta Waves
 large, slow waves
of deep sleep
 Hallucinations
 false sensory
experiences
Stages in a Typical
Night’s Sleep
Awake
Sleep
stages
1
2
3
REM
4
0
1
2
3
4
Hours of sleep
5
6
7
Stages in a Typical
Night’s Sleep
Minutes
of
Stage 4
and
REM
Decreasing
Stage 4
25
20
15
Increasing
REM
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
Hours of sleep
6
7
8
Sleep Deprivation
 Effects of Sleep Loss
 fatigue
 impaired concentration
& memory
 depressed immune
system
 greater vulnerability to
accidents
Sleep Deprivation
Less sleep,
more accidents
Accident
frequency
More sleep,
fewer accidents
2,800
2,700
4,200
2,600
4000
2,500
3,800
2,400
3,600
Spring time change
(hour sleep loss)
Monday before time change
Fall time change
(hour sleep gained)
Monday after time change
Sleep Disorders
 Insomnia
 persistent problems in falling or staying
asleep during the night
 Most common/affects 10% of population
 Treat with a change in habits
Narcolepsy
 uncontrollable sleep attacks, suffer from
intense periods of intense sleepiness
 will fall asleep at unpredictable &
inappropriate times
rare, occurs in 1 in 2000 people
will fall immediately into REM sleep
treat with medication & a change of sleep
patterns.
Sleep Apnea
 almost as common as insomnia (1 in 25)
 temporary cessation of breathing for short
periods of time during the night
This causes person to wake up slightly, gasp
for air & return to sleep, robbing a person of
deep sleep, causing fatigue, attention &
memory problems
Night Terrors and
Nightmares
 Night Terrors
Sleep
stages
Awake
1
2
3
REM
4
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Hours of sleep
7
 occur within 2 or
3 hours of falling
asleep, usually
during Stage 4
 high arousal—sit
up in bed
appearance of
being terrified
 happens to
children only
Nightmares
Occur during REM sleep
5% of population have them
On average pf 1X per week
Usually happens when we miss REM
sleep, don’t get enough sleep, drink too
much alcohol, eat spicy foods, or see
something that is scary.
Somnambulism
Also known as sleepwalking
Occurs during Stage 4 sleep
Dreams: Freud
 Dreams
 sequence of story like images, emotions,
& thoughts passing through a sleeping
person’s mind
 hallucinatory imagery
 discontinuities
 incongruities
 delusional acceptance of the content
 difficulties remembering
Lucid Dreams
We are aware that we are dreaming and
can control the dream.
A very difficult area to research
Dreams: Freud
 Sigmund Freud--The Interpretation of
Dreams (1900)
 Symbolic expressions of our unconscious
conflicts or wish fulfillment
 clues to inner thoughts & forbidden impulses
 discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
 Manifest Content
 remembered story line
 Latent Content
 underlying meaning
Theories about why we dream
1. Information Processing Perspectivedreams help us sort out the day’s
experiences and fix them in memory.
2. Activation-synthesis explanation states
that REM sleep triggers impulses in the
visual cortex, evoking random visual
images that our brain tries to weave into a
storyline.
3. The brain-maturation/cognitive
development perspective believes dreams
represent the dreamer’s level of
development, knowledge & understanding
4. Dreaming serves as a physiological
function and REM induced regular
stimulation helps develop & preserves
neural pathways in the brain
Most sleep theorists agree that REM sleep
and dreams serve an important function,
as evidenced by REM rebound that
occurs following sleep deprivation.
Common dream themes
Most dreams about ordinary events
Involve our worries, fears, feelings,&
arguments.
Falling, being chased, flying, losing or finding
something, finding yourself naked, teeth falling
out are all common dream themes
50% of us dream in color and 50% in black &
white. Researchers don’t know why.
Sleep Across the
Lifespan
Hypnosis
 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
 Used to cure ailments, bring back memories
 Greek god of sleep-Hypnos
 Posthypnotic Amnesia
 supposed inability to recall what one
experienced during hypnosis
 induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion
Hypnosis
 Orne & Evans (1965)
 control group instructed to “pretend”
 unhypnotized subjects performed the same
acts as the hypnotized ones
 Posthypnotic Suggestion
 suggestion to be carried out after the subject
is no longer hypnotized
 used by some clinicians to control undesired
symptoms and behaviors
Hypnosis
 Dissociation
 a split in consciousness
 allows some thoughts and behaviors to
occur simultaneously with others
 Hidden Observer
 Ernest Hilgard’s (1904-2001)term
describing a hypnotized subject’s
awareness of experiences, such as pain,
that go unreported during hypnosis
Explaining Hypnosis
Drugs and
Consciousness
 Psychoactive Drug
 a chemical substance that alters perceptions and
mood,changes the chemistry of the brain
 Changes our perceptions, mood or behavior
 Molecules pass through the blood-brain barrier
 Lead to Physical Dependence
 physiological need for a drug,to take more
 marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms
 Psychological Dependence
 a psychological need to use a drug
 for example, to relieve negative emotions
Dependence and
Addiction
Big
effect
Drug
effect
 Tolerance
 diminishing effect
with regular use
Response to
first exposure
 Withdrawal
After repeated
exposure, more
drug is needed
to produce
same effect
Little
effect
Small
Large
Drug dose
 discomfort and
distress that follow
discontinued use
Psychoactive Drugs
 Depressants
 drugs that reduce neural activity
 slow body functions
 alcohol, barbiturates, opiates
 Stimulants
 drugs that excite neural activity
 speed up body functions
 caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine
Psychoactive Drugs
 Hallucinogens
 psychedelic (mind-manifesting)
drugs that distort perceptions
and evoke sensory images in
the absence of sensory input
 Does not slow or speed up the
body
 LSD, peyote, mushrooms,
ecstasy
Psychoactive Drugs
 Barbiturates
 drugs that depress the
activity of the central nervous
system, reducing anxiety but
impairing memory and
judgment
Psychoactive Drugs
 Opiates
 opium and its derivatives
(morphine and heroin,
methadone)
 opiates depress neural activity,
temporarily lessening pain and
anxiety
 Elevate endorphins, mood
elevators
Psychoactive Drugs
 Amphetamines
 drugs that stimulate neural
activity, causing speeded-up
body functions and associated
energy and mood changes
Cocaine Euphoria and
Crash
Psychoactive Drugs
 Ecstasy (MDMA)
 synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen
 both short-term and long-term health risks
 LSD
 lysergic acid diethylamide
 a powerful hallucinogenic drug
 also known as acid
 THC
 the major active ingredient in marijuana
 triggers a variety of effects, including mild
hallucinations
Psychoactive Drugs
Trends in Drug Use
80%
High school
seniors
reporting
drug use
70
60
50
Alcohol
40
Marijuana/
hashish
30
20
Cocaine
10
0
1975 ‘77 ‘79
‘81
‘83
‘85
‘87 ‘89
Year
‘91 ‘93
‘95
‘97 ‘99
Perceived Marijuana
Risk
100%
Percent
of
twelfth
graders
Perceived “great risk of
harm” in marijuana use
90
80
70
60
50
40
Used marijuana
30
20
10
0
‘75
‘77
‘79 ‘81 ‘83
‘85
‘87 ‘89 ‘91 ‘93
Year
‘95 ‘97 ‘99
Near-Death Experiences
 Near-Death
Experience
 an altered state of
consciousness
reported after a close
brush with death
 often similar to druginduced
hallucinations
Near-Death Experiences
 Dualism
 the presumption that mind and
body are two distinct entities that
interact
 Monism
 the presumption that mind and
body are different aspects of the
same thing