States of Consciousness
Consciousness
 Process
by which the brain creates
a model of internal and external
experience
Historical background
 The
emergence of behaviorism
lessened the study on
consciousness
 Consciousness as a legitimate
field of psychological study
reemerged in the 1960’s because
of advances in neuroscience and
interest in altered states of
consciousness.
Levels of Consciousness
 Conscious
Level Most common is wakeful: what
occurs here is memory,
emotions, processing and this
allow us to manipulate and
respond to our environment.
This thinking occurs serially.
Levels of Consciousness
 Nonconscious
Level-any brain
process that does not involve
conscious processing, including
both pre and unconscious (which
is why you can chew gum, walk,
and breathe at the same time.
This involve actions of a parallel
nature.
Levels of Consciousness
 Preconscious
Level-memories
that are not currently in one’s
consciousness but can be easily
recalled.
 Unconscious- cognition without
awareness (anesthesia, hypnosis)
Altered States of Consciousness
 Altered
State-state in which there
is a shift in the quality or pattern
of mental activity as compared to
waking consciousness.
 Hypnosis-state of consciousness
in which a person is especially
susceptible to suggestion.
Altered States of Consciousness
 Use
of Psychoactive Drugs-use of
drugs to take a shortcut to that
alter thinking, perception,
memory or some combination of
those abilities.
 Meditation-mental series of
exercises meant to refocus
attention and achieve trancelike
state of consciousness
Altered States of Consciousness
 Sleep-
most common altered state, it
is one of the body’s biological rhythms
or natural cycles of activity that the
body must go through.
 All altered states share the fact that
critical thinking is inhibited (ex
dreamer may perceive an unrealistic
dream as logical while he/she is
experiencing it)
Biological Clocks
 Internal timing
devices that are set
for hours, single days, or monthly.
For humans, it is important in
regulation of sleep. Influences
variation in blood pressure, alertness
and body temp. (ex body temp peaks
in afternoon and lowest around 34am. Location of biological clocks is
hypothalamus.
Biological Clocks
 Retina
sends signals to small structure in
the hyposthalamus classed the
suprachaiamatic nucleus (SCN)
 The SCN receives light info from a special
set of ganglian cells in the retina which
then sends info to areas in the hindbrain
that promote sleep or wakefulness.
 The SCN signals the nearby pineal gland
which secretes melatonin and plays a key
role in adjusting biological clocks.
Circadian Problems and
treatments
 Shift
work-changing from day to
night work changes a body’s
circadian rhythm
 Jet Lag- changes the body’s
biological clock
 Resetting the clock-shifts the day
without changing the actual time
according to daylight.
Circadian Problems and
treatments
 Melatonin-
hormone secreted by
pineal gland. It increases with
darkness and decreases with light.
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Daydreaming-mildly
altered state
of consciousness and mainly
alters attention.
 Stages of sleep-our bodies cycle
between REM and NREM sleep
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Characteristics
of Sleep-
Human sleep patterns follow a
circadian rhythm corresponding to
patterns of light and darkness.
 Average adults experience 4 to 6 90
minute cycles of NREM (non rapid
eye movement) and REM (rapid eye
movement) sleep per night,
although the ratio of NREM to REM
varies as the night progresses.

Sleeping and Dreaming
 Characteristics
of Sleep-
Babies have 50% REM sleep whereas
adults have 25-30% REM sleep.
 REM helps us restore memories.
Babies obviously learn more early on.
 Need for sleep varies among
individuals, but ranges from 20 hours
for infants to 6 hours for adults in
their 70’s.

Sleeping and Dreaming
 Characteristics
of Sleep-
Loss of sleep can result in weight
gain, shortened life span, grogginess,
and sometimes tragedy
 Benefits of sleep include mental
alertness, being more artistic, and
more creative

Sleeping and Dreaming
A
sleeper progresses through Stages 1
through 4, then climbs back from
Stage 4 to Stage 1 or 2, then
experiences REM sleep
 This happens for 40-50% of sleep and
the average person progresses
through all the Stages of sleep.
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Stage
0-a person is very relaxed with
eyes closed
 Quiet Sleep-this is NREM sleep
 Stage
1-slower theta activity
 Stage 2-sleep spindles appear, fast
(beta) brain activity, similar to those in
waking state
 Stage 3-progressively deeper state of
relaxed sleep. Delta waves appear for
the first time. Heart rate and breathing
slow down.
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Quiet Sleep-this is NREM
 Stage 4-electrical
sleep
activity of the brain
increases and sleeper climbs back up
through stages.
 OR rather than going into Stage 1 again
though, the sleeper begins to produce
fast beta waves on the EEG along with
REM. After about 10 minutes of REM,
the sleeper slips back into Stage 2 and
repeats. Each succeeding REM gets
longer and longer.
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Active
 OR
Sleep-this is REM sleep
rather than going into Stage 1 again
though, the sleeper begins to produce
fast beta waves on the EEG along with
REM. After about 10 minutes of REM,
the sleeper slips back into Stage 2 and
repeats. Each succeeding REM gets
longer and longer.
Sleeping and Dreaming
 Active
Sleep-this is REM sleep
 Nearly all dreams
occur in REM
 Periods of REM sleep increase during
the night
 REM sleep causes atonia which is
muscular weakness. The brain seems to
be active and awake while the body
shows loss of muscle tone.
 During REM, hormones are released
that influence growth
Sleeping and Dreaming
 NREM
sleep function
 Mostly still
debatable but seems to be
restorative.
 REM
 Is
rebound
a phenomenon that occurs after REM
deprivation in which people experience
increased amounts of REM sleep
Theories of Dreaming
 Dreaming
is a series of thoughts
 Duration of
dreaming ranges from a few
seconds to a few minutes to as long as
an hour
 Organization of dreaming is usually
somewhat logical and story-like
Theories of Dreaming
 Activation Synthesis
Theory-the
information accessed during waking
hours have influence on the synthesis of
our dreams
 Problem Solving – Adler said dream
allow us to problem solve. Dreams are
problem solving devices.
 Freud
Manifest-the actual content
 Latent-the symbol or hidden meaning

5.
Noah is a just and righteous
man who obeys God.
6.
God wants humanity to
begin anew from the virtuous
line of Noah and his family.
7.
It is important to obey God
based on the rewards that
Noah receives for his piety
while the rest of humanity is
destroyed for its sinfulness
and disobedience.