Chapter 2: States of
consciousness
Learning activity suggested answers
Learning Activity 2.1 (p. 95)
Use student responses to clarify conceptual elements of consciousness and discuss advantages and
limitations of introspection and qualitative data.
Learning Activity 2.2 (p. 98)
People travelling on a plane from Melbourne to Singapore may each experience different states of
consciousness. Consider the list of people below and indicate where each person would be on the
states of consciousness continuum in figure 2.3.
•
Person 1: a pilot who is monitoring the cockpit instruments—most likely focused attention but
possibly normal wakefulness, depending on level of attention.
•
Person 2: a teacher who is thinking about her holiday and who has just finished her third
alcoholic drink—most likely below meditative state (for females) and daydreaming (for males)
but not below hypnosis (for either sex).
•
Person 3: a 12-year-old playing a computer game—most likely focused attention, depending on
level of attention due to game familiarity, game complexity, and other potentially relevant
variables that could also place level of awareness at normal wakefulness.
•
Person 4: the mother of a two-year-old child who is watching the in-flight movie while
simultaneously looking after her child—most likely at or above normal wakefulness.
•
Person 5: a tertiary student gazing aimlessly out the window—most likely daydreaming.
•
Person 6: an anxious passenger who has taken a sleeping pill and who can be heard snoring—
most likely asleep.
Learning Activity 2.3 (p. 98)
1
Define consciousness, with reference to internal and external factors.
Definition should refer to:
2
•
awareness of objects and events in the external world at any given moment, and
•
awareness of our own existence and mental experiences at any given moment.
In what ways is consciousness personal, subjective, continuous and changing?
•
personal: subjective, private and unique to individual
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
3
•
selective: you can voluntarily direct attention to one stimulus or to specific information
while ignoring another/others
•
continuous: you are always aware of something
•
changing: due to variability of information around you
Explain the term state of consciousness.
Explanation should refer to level of awareness of external events and of our internal state (each
with distinctive qualities).
4
What changes typically occur as a result of a change in a person’s state of consciousness?
Changes may include:
5
•
level of awareness
•
content of consciousness
•
use of controlled or automatic processes to perform tasks
•
perceptual experiences
•
cognitive abilities
•
emotional awareness
•
self-control
•
experience of time
•
physiological responses, e.g. brain wave patterns, eye movements, heart rate, body
temperature, galvanic skin response (GSR).
Could we experience two different states of consciousness simultaneously? Explain your
answer.
No. Explanation should refer to consciousness as a psychological/hypothetical construct for a
state/level of awareness at a given point in time. Experiencing two states simultaneously is
inconsistent with contemporary descriptions/definitions (but an individual can switch between
states, e.g. from asleep to normal waking consciousness, from normal waking consciousness to
unconscious).
Learning Activity 2.4 (p. 99)
1
What is ‘locked-in syndrome’?
A condition during which people are unable to speak or move but can think and reason.
2
Where on the continuum in figure 2.3 would Rom Houben be ranked
a
during the 23 years before being diagnosed with ‘locked-in syndrome’?
very low level of awareness, barely above coma on the continuum
b
now?
normal wakefulness.
3
For what reasons does Professor Cook believe individual cases such as that of Houben can be
misdiagnosed?
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
Reasons may refer to:
4
•
inconsistencies in diagnostic tools, e.g. no standardised neurobiological rating scale at the
time of diagnosis
•
limited or no access to MRI and other brain scanning devices
•
limited understanding of interpretation of test results using this equipment
•
whether family members persist in seeking confirmation that a higher level of awareness
exists in their loved one, despite a diagnosis to the contrary.
Do you think that people in a ‘vegetative’ state, who may have been ‘sent to nursing homes and
forgotten’, should be given periodic reassessments? Explain your answer.
Explanation should refer to new technologies influencing diagnosis over time.
5
What does Houben’s case suggest about the relationship between the body, brain and
consciousness?
Comments may include:
•
consciousness is possible in a non-responsive ‘vegetative’ state and is not dependent on a
normal functioning body
•
consciousness is possible when the brain is damaged.
Learning Activity 2.5 (p. 106)
1
Define the meaning of normal waking consciousness.
Definition should refer to states of consciousness/levels of awareness when awake and aware
of thoughts, memories, feelings and the sensations experienced from the external environment.
2
In what ways is the content of consciousness more limited in normal waking consciousness than
in an altered state of consciousness?
Explanation should refer to content limitations/restrictions during normal waking
consciousness, such as:
3
•
ability to exercise conscious control over what enters consciousness, e.g. use of selective
attention
•
decision-making and problem-solving skills can be employed to make sense of experiences
•
thoughts about what is being experienced tend to be more organised and logical, e.g. as
compared with bizarre, irrational etc. dream content.
Distinguish between selective and divided attention with reference to an example not used in
the text.
Divided attention refers to the ability to distribute our attention and undertake two or more
activities simultaneously.
Selective attention involves choosing and attending to a specific stimulus to the exclusion of
others.
Example must be original and not from the text.
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
4
a
Explain the meaning of controlled and automatic processes in relation to consciousness,
with reference to an example not used in the text.
•
Controlled process: information processing involves/requires conscious, alert
awareness and mental effort in which the individual actively focuses their attention on
achieving a particular goal, e.g. when first learning to hit a golf ball off a tee.
•
Automatic process: information processing involves/requires little conscious
awareness and mental effort, minimal attention and does not interfere with other
activities, e.g. experienced knitter who can knit competently whilst attending to a TV
show rather than the task at hand.
Ensure example is not used in the text.
b
Describe two important differences between controlled and automatic processes in normal
waking consciousness.
Differences may refer to:
c
5
•
task difficulty/familiarity, i.e. controlled processes for difficult/unfamiliar, complex
tasks and automatic processes for easy/familiar, simple tasks
•
level of attention, i.e. high in controlled processes and low/minimal in automatic
processes
•
serial vs. parallel.
According to controlled and automatic processing theory, what level of attention and what
type of awareness are required to learn a new task?
•
level of attention: high (selective)
•
type of awareness: high level of normal waking consciousness
When the Stroop task is given to children who have mastered their colours, but have not
mastered their reading, the Stroop effect is not observed. Explain why this occurs with
reference to controlled and automatic processing.
Explanation should refer to word recognition/reading in children (particularly young children) as
a controlled process (i.e. still being learnt) and colour recognition as an automatic process (i.e.
familiar, has been mastered for some time and is not necessarily dependent on word
recognition), so there is no conflict as the same process is not used, whereas with adults both
word and colour recognition are automatic processes.
Learning Activity 2.6 (p. 106)
Discuss student responses and clarify conceptual understanding of controlled and automatic
processing.
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
Learning Activity 2.7 (p. 106)
Feature
Automatic processes
Controlled processes
Level of conscious awareness
required
normal wakefulness
focused attention
Level of attention required
low/minimal
high/more
Speed at which the processing is
performed
relatively fast
relatively slow
Task complexity
easy/simple
difficult/complex
Ability to undertake other tasks
simultaneously
yes
no
Example
(will vary)
(will vary)
Learning Activity 2.8 (p. 107)
1
Construct a hypothesis for the experiment.
Examples:
2
3
•
Participants will selectively attend to one of two distinct games presented in superimposed
video sequences.
•
When participants observe people engaged in two different games in a video, they will
demonstrate selective attention by responding only to the designated stimulus.
Identify the independent and dependent variables in the experiment.
•
IV: type of game behaviour (basketball-passing or hand-slapping)
•
DV: number of presses of the response key
Suggest why an independent-groups design used for the experiment, rather than a repeatedmeasures or matched-participants design?
•
The repeated-measures design would expose participants to the same footage twice,
possibly causing an unwanted order effect due to influences such as task familiarity and
boredom through stimulus or task familiarity.
•
The matched-participants design would require identifying a participant characteristic
relevant to the DV and matching pairs on this characteristic. This is weighed up against the
resource demands of organising such an experiment. The matched-participants design was
not deemed to be warranted.
•
The independent-groups design (using random allocation) was probably deemed most
suitable and practical (after considering the relative advantages and limitations of each
type of design).
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
4
Briefly state the results that were obtained.
Participants in both groups were able to selectively attend to specified game behaviour and
effectively block any competing stimuli present.
5
Briefly state the conclusion drawn by the researchers.
Information may enter or be excluded from our consciousness through the process of selective
attention.
Learning Activity 2.9 (p. 107)
1
Construct a hypothesis for each of the three experiments.
Examples:
2
•
Experiment 1: the time taken and the number of errors made in a controlled processing
task when a list of incongruent colour words is read will be greater than the time taken and
the number of errors made in an automatic processing task when a list of colours printed in
black ink is read.
•
Experiment 2: the time taken and the number of errors made in a controlled processing
task identifying the colour of the print in a list of incongruent words will be greater than
the time taken and the number of errors made in an automatic processing task identifying
the colour shown in a list of colour blocks.
•
Experiment 3: the time taken and the number of errors made in a controlled processing
task identifying the colour of the print in a list of incongruent words will be greater than
the time taken and the number of errors made in an automatic processing task identifying
the colour of a swastika.
Identify the independent and dependent variable(s) for each experiment.
•
Experiment 1:
IVs—reading word list of colours printed in black ink; reading word list of incongruent
coloured words
DVs—time taken and number of errors
•
Experiment 2:
IVs—identifying the colour shown on a list of coloured blocks; identifying the colour of the
print in a list of incongruent words
DVs—time taken and number of errors
•
Experiment 3:
IVs—reading word list of colours printed in black ink; reading word list of incongruent
coloured words; identifying the colour shown on a list of coloured blocks of the print;
identifying the colour of the print in a list of incongruent words; identifying swastika colour
DVs—time taken and number of errors
3
Identify the different conditions of each experiment.
•
Experiment 1:
Condition 1—reading colour names in black ink/print
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
Condition 2—reading colour names in incongruent ink/print
•
Experiment 2:
Condition 3—identifying colour on a list of colour blocks
Condition 4—identifying colour of the print in a list of incongruent words
•
Experiment 3:
All of the above, with a modification to Condition 3—identification of colour of swastika
symbol rather than of a block.
4
a
What type of experimental research design did Stroop use?
Repeated-measures design.
b
c
5
Explain one advantage and one limitation of using this research design.
•
Advantages include participants completing both the experimental and control
conditions so that any effects of individual participant differences controlled.
•
Limitations include various order effects.
Suggest a reason to explain why Stroop used this experimental research design rather than
the independent-groups or matched-participants design.
•
Repeated-measures design ensured that all participants in each experiment
experienced all conditions, with use of counterbalancing to control for potential order
effects.
•
Independent-groups design could have been used with random allocation to ensure
control of participant differences but Stroop may have believed that this design
provides less strict control than the repeated-measures design.
•
Matched-participants design would have been impractical considering Stroop’s
preference to use three different samples of university students for each experiment.
Briefly state the results that were obtained.
In all experiments participants took significantly longer to identify an incongruent colour (where
there were conflicting tasks) than to identify a colour under any other condition.
6
What conclusions about automatic and controlled processing can be drawn from Stroop’s
experiments?
Conclusions may include:
•
when participants are presented with a recognition task involving competing cognitive
tasks, automatic processing can interfere with performance
Learning Activity 2.11 (p. 111)
1
Define the term altered state of consciousness (ASC).
Definition should refer to any state of consciousness that is distinctly different from normal
waking consciousness, in terms of level of awareness and experience, and the quality or
intensity of sensations, perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories that are experienced.
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
2
In what main ways is an ASC different from normal waking consciousness?
Differences may include:
3
•
levels of alertness including our ability to pay attention to the tasks we perform and to
changes occurring in our environment.
•
distorted perception and cognition
•
distorted time orientation/estimation
•
changes in emotional awareness
•
changes in self-control, e.g. less/weaker
•
changes in physiological responses.
Can an ASC be experienced during normal waking consciousness? Explain your answer with
reference to an example.
Yes. During normal waking consciousness an individual can shift into an ASC naturally, e.g. to a
daydreaming state, or purposely, e.g. to a meditative state. (However, normal waking
consciousness and an ASC cannot be experienced simultaneously.)
4
5
State two naturally occurring ASCs and two purposely induced ASCs.
•
naturally occurring, e.g. daydreaming, sleep, unconsciousness due to injury or disease
•
purposely induced, e.g. meditative, alcohol-induced, drug-induced, hypnotically-induced.
An employer is concerned that one of her employees has been arriving at work in an altered
state of consciousness and is not in a fit state to operate the machinery for which he is
responsible. She is not sure what the characteristics of different ASCs are and wants to be more
confident of her information before discussing the issue with him. Briefly describe four
characteristics of ASCs that may be helpful for the employer to know.
Depending on the ASC, characteristics may include:
•
distortions of perception and cognition, e.g. illogical thinking; poorer problem-solving,
decision-making and/or memory
•
distorted time orientation/estimation
•
changes in emotional awareness, e.g. heightened emotional reactions, inappropriate
emotional reactions
•
changes in self-control, e.g. inability to maintain self-control, uninhibited/inappropriate
behaviour.
Learning Activity 2.12 (p. 114)
1
Define daydreaming.
Definition should refer to an ASC in which there is a shift in attention from external stimuli to
internal thoughts, feelings and imagined scenarios.
2
What is a possible explanation of daydreaming occurring more often when alone or doing
routine or boring activities?
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
Explanation may refer to a possible predisposition/tendency to respond to an
boring/dull/unchanging event/world by turning inward and creating more interesting thoughts
and images.
3
List three possible functions or purposes of daydreaming.
Functions or purposes may include:
•
enable exploration of unfulfilled wishes, fantasies etc. that can’t be experienced in reality
(i.e. Freudian proposal)
•
enable mental rehearsal/role play of actions/responses for various situations
•
facilitate problem-solving
•
maintain mental alertness/activity in situations with insufficient external stimulation.
a
Explain the meaning of alcohol-induced state of consciousness.
4
Explanation should refer to conscious experiences/a state of awareness primarily
attributable to the consumption of a drink containing ethyl alcohol.
b
What factors influence the experience of an alcohol-induced state of consciousness?
Factors include:
c
•
concentration of alcohol consumed
•
amount of alcohol consumed/BAC level
•
context/conditions when consumed
•
rate of consumption
•
drinking history
•
amount of food in the stomach
•
body weight
•
age
•
gender
•
body chemistry
•
physical wellbeing
•
emotional state
•
mood.
Give three examples of changes in consciousness that may be associated with alcohol
consumption.
Examples may include:
•
a shortened attention span, e.g. difficulties in maintaining concentration
•
impaired perceptions, e.g. a slowdown in the processing of information from the
senses leading to trouble seeing, hearing, feeling and so on, or pain threshold may
increase
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
•
impaired thinking, e.g. difficulties with understanding, thinking clearly, using good
judgment
•
impaired memory, e.g. difficulties forming new memories or memory loss (including
recent events)
•
slower reaction times, e.g. not reacting to stimuli or situations quickly
•
reduced self-awareness, e.g. focusing attention on the immediate situation and away
from any future consequences to self
•
impaired emotional awareness and control, e.g. exaggerated states of emotional
experiences and responses such as anger, aggressiveness, withdrawal
•
impaired perception of time, e.g. estimating time, being aware of the amount of time
that has passed, knowing the time
•
less self-control, e.g. being more self-confident or daring or more impulsive, saying the
first thought that comes to mind rather than an appropriate comment for the given
situation, acting silly
•
difficulties with voluntary muscular control and fine movements, e.g. writing or
signing name, experiencing uncoordinated, jerky body movements and loss of
balance, stumbling and falling
•
deterioration in performance of complex tasks
Learning Activity 2.13 (p. 114)
1
What type of data is shown in table 2.4: quantitative, qualitative or both?
Both. ‘BAC level’ is quantitative and ‘Possible effects’ at each level are qualitative.
2
BAC level
Up to
0.05%
Possible title: ‘Characteristics of consciousness in relation to blood alcohol content level’.
Characteristics of consciousness
Level of
awareness
Content
limitations
Controlled
processes
Automatic
processes
Perceptual
and
cognitive
distortion
Emotional
awareness
Selfcontrol
Timeorientatio
n
Lowered
alertness.
Still able to
exert
control
over
content—
consciousness is still
organised.
Relaxed.
Still able to
divide
attention.
Still able to
perceive &
think with
some
clarity.
More
confident.
Talkative.
Aware of
time.
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
0.05–
0.08%
0.08–
0.15%
Lowered
alertness.
Less aware
of what is
going on
around
you.
Selfawareness
affected.
0.15–
0.30%
Sleepy.
Limited
awareness
of
surrounds.
Less able
to exert
control
over
content—
content is
more
disordered
Relaxed &
less
control,
attention
starts to
wander
Far less
limited, far
less
structured,
more
illogical.
Speech
slurred,
attention
wandering.
Trickier to
juggle
tasks,
more likely
to
experience
accidents
Judgment
impaired.
Reflexes
slowed.
Large
consistent
increases
in reaction
times.
Difficulty
performing
simple
tasks.
Increase in
reaction
times
acts and
feels selfconfident
Inhibitions
reduced.
Talkative.
Less selfcontrol
and
caution.
Less aware
of time.
Body
movement
s impaired
or
uncoordina
ted.
Senses
impaired.
Unstable
emotions,
e.g.
aggressive,
withdrawn
or overly
affectionat
e.
Balance
and
coordinati
on greatly
impaired.
Time could
pass slowly
or quickly,
perhaps
gaps in
time are
experience
.
Apathetic.
Unable to
walk
without
help.
Little or no
comprehe
nsion of
the
immediate
environme
nt.
Visual
attention
impaired.
Vague &
nonsensica
l.
Slurred
speech.
No focus.
Cannot
perform
basic tasks.
Perception
greatly
impaired.
Higher
pain
threshold.
Less selfawareness.
Confused.
Unable to
remember
events.
0.30–
0.40%
Stuporous
but
conscious
at 0.30%.
‘Out of it’.
Cannot
stand or
walk.
Loss of
consciousness (like
surgical
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Incapable
of
voluntary
action.
Difficult to
wake up.
Cannot
respond to
stimuli.
Not
Can barely
responsive. move at
all.
No
comprehe
nsion of
the
immediate
environme
nt.
11
Chapter 2: States of consciousness
anaesthesi
a) at
0.35%.
Over
0.40%
Coma
and/or
death
(about half
at 0.40%
die; at
0.50% or
higher a
person
usually
stops
breathing
and dies).
Absent.
Absent.
Absent.
Absent.
Absent.
Absent.
Absent.
Learning Activity 2.14 (p. 116)
•
lying on the beach, having just fallen asleep: theta
•
playing a computer game: beta
•
alcohol-induced state with a BAC level of 0.01%: alpha
•
alcohol-induced state with a BAC level of 0.4%: delta (or none)
•
sleepwalking that occurs in the deepest stages of sleep: delta
•
learning how to use a mathematical formula for the first time: beta
•
watching a Disney ‘family’ movie: alpha (if relaxed)
•
watching a suspenseful horror movie: beta
Learning Activity 2.15 (p. 118)
1
Why is consciousness (and any ASC) referred to as a psychological construct?
Explanation should refer to consciousness not being directly observable or measurable but
assumed/inferred to exist on the basis of self-reports and observable activity.
2
a
What is the galvanic skin response?
Description should refer to a physiological response involving a change in
conductivity/resistance of the skin to an electrical current.
b
Describe the GSR that could be expected of someone in an alcohol-induced state of
consciousness:
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
Up to a BAC level of 0.15%, during emotionally charged phases of the period of alcohol
consumption when an individual may sweat more, it could be expected that the GSR shows
an increase in electrical conductivity. Beyond a BAC level of 0.15%, when the individual
may be in an apathetic state, their GSR could be expected to show a decrease in electrical
conductivity.
3
4
Construct a table to summarise the frequency (slow or fast) and amplitude (large or small) of
the four different kinds of brain wave patterns. In addition, state whether each brain wave
pattern is associated with normal waking consciousness or an ASC.
Brain wave
patterns
State of consciousness
Frequency
Amplitude
Beta
Normal waking
consciousness
High (but faster than
alpha)
Low
Alpha
Normal waking
consciousness or ASC
High (but slower than
beta)
Low
Theta
ASC (sleep)
Medium (but slower than
alpha and beta)
Mixture of high and low
Delta
ASC (sleep)
Low
High
Construct a table to summarise how heart rate, body temperature and GSR may differ during
high and low levels of alertness and during normal waking consciousness and specific ASCs.
State of
consciousness
Heart rate
Body temperature
GSR
High level of alertness
Increase or decrease
depending on
task/activity
Small increase during
strenuous physical
activity
High electrical
conductivity (but
dependent on state of
physiological arousal)
Low level of alertness
Increase or decrease
depending on
task/activity
Small decrease during
sleep
Low electrical
conductivity (but
dependent on state of
physiological arousal)
Normal waking
consciousness
Regular (mean of 70
beats per min. in
adults)
Around 37C
Regular (2 Mega
Ohms)
Drowsy/very
relaxed/unconscious
Lower & regular
Drop of up to more
than 1 degree Celsius
when in deeper
stages of nREM sleep.
As these states reflect
low arousal, we can
deduce low GSR
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Chapter 2: States of consciousness
ASC as a result of
chemicals
Higher when caused
by a stimulant (e.g.
caffeine,
amphetamine)
Ecstasy can raise body
temperature.
GSR reading will
depend on the type of
chemical taken. If the
drug increases
arousal, a higher GSR
would be expected.
Learning Activity 2.17 (p. 119)
Outline an experimental research design that could be used to study one or more of the key
characteristics associated with normal waking consciousness or an ASC.
Use student responses to clarify conceptual elements of experimental research design for the
study of consciousness.
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