Unit VII: States of Consciousness
Advanced Placement Psychology
Mr. Landry
2011-2012
Introduction
 This unit is one of lists and categories, many of which are seemingly unrelated.
 Many major concepts are broken down into different categories, which are in turn broken down into other different categories
or have several examples associated with each (such as sleep disorders).
 Several of the major concepts have different levels or stages that you need to know the names of and different characteristics
associated with them (such as the stages of sleep).
 It is important to make sure that you are able to keep this information straight and which categories/stages/levels/etc. go with
which concepts. In other words, don’t mix up the five levels of consciousness with the different stages of sleep, which
people often do.
 Also, for two of the concepts, we will not spending much time in class on them. Hypnosis and near-death experiences.
Hypnosis, we will spend a small amount of time on in class to go over a couple of the major concepts, and near-death
experiences, we will not spend any time in class on. Like ESP in the previous unit, while interesting, the AP does not
consider them important so I will not be spending much time on them in class. What you need to know is listed below in the
study guide.
Major Concepts
 Levels of normal
consciousness
 Biological rhythms
 Sleep
o Stages of sleep
o Sleep disorders
 Dreams
o Theories: why we dream
o Theories: why we forget
 Hypnosis
 Psychoactive drugs
Levels of normal consciousness
 Conscious (concept)
 Conscious (level)
 Subconscious
 Non-conscious
 Parallel processing
 Preconscious
 Unconscious
To know…
 What is consciousness?
 What goes on at each level?
 What are the five levels of consciousness?
 How do the five levels interact?
 What are the characteristics of each level?
 Know what are normal levels of consciousness and what are altered states
Biological rhythms (biorhythms)
 Melatonin
 Entrainment
 Endogenous
 Free running rhythms
 Exogenous
 Annual biorhythms
To know…
 What are biological rhythms?
 What are the major biological rhythms?
 Infradian biorhythms
 Circadian biorhythms
 Ultradian biorhythms
 90-minue cycle
 Circadian desynchronization
 What are the characteristics of each?
 What are examples of each?
Sleep
 Sleep
 Beta waves
 Theta waves
 REM atonia
 Sleep debt
 Melatonin
 Alpha waves
 Hypnic
 Paradoxical sleep
 REM rebound
 Sleep stages
 Delta waves
 REM sleep
 NREM sleep
To know…
 What is sleep?
 What are some of the major theories regarding why we sleep?  What is REM sleep?
 What are the stages of sleep?
o What happens during REM?
o What are the characteristics of each level of sleep?
o Why called “Paradoxical sleep”?
o What wave(s) are associated with each level of sleep?
 Effects of not getting enough sleep?
o What are the descriptive names of each sleep
Sleep Disorders
 Dyssomnias
 Sleep apnea
 Parasomnias
 Obstructive sleep apnea
 Insomnia
 Central sleep apnea
 Hypersomnia
 Narcolepsy
To know…
 What are the two major kinds of sleep disorders?
o What are the differences between the two?
 What are the major sleep disorders?
o What are the characteristics of each?
o Which are dyssomnias? And which are parasomnias?
 Cataplexy
 Nightmares
 Night terrors/sleep terror disorder
 Sleep walking
Dreams
 Dream
 Latent content
 Lucid dream
 Collective unconscious
 “The Royal Road to the Unconscious”  Archtypes
 Manifest content
 Activation-synthesis theory
To know…
 What are dreams?
 What are the major theories regarding why we dream?
 What are the some of the theories as to why we forget?
 Salience hypothesis
 Interference theory
Hypnosis
Again, with hypnosis I will go over a couple major concepts in class, but I will not be spending a lot of time on this topic in
class. Most of the information you will need to get from your outlines.
 Hypnosis
 Dissociation
 Divided consciousness
 Stanford Hypnotic
Susceptibility Scale
 Trance
 Automaticity
 Hidden observer
To know…
 What is hypnosis?
 What are some of the characteristics of hypnosis?
 What are some of the controversies regarding hypnosis?
 What are some of the frequently asked questions regarding hypnosis?
 What are the two major theories regarding what hypnosis is?
 Know the different “Facts & Falsehoods” (286-291)
Psychoactive Drugs
 Psychoactive drug
 Barbiturates
 Opioid
 Tolerance
 Tranquilizers
 Agonist
 Withdrawal
 Sedatives
 Antagonist
 Addiction
 Amphetamines
 Neurotransmitter
 Overdose
 Methamphetamines
 Euphoria
 Physical dependence
 Methyenedioxymethamphetamine
 Hallucinogens
(MDMA)
 Psychological dependence
 Psychedelic drugs
 Caffeine
 Addiction
 Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
 Nicotine
 Depressants
To know…
 What is a psychoactive drug?
 How are psychoactive drugs categorized?
 What are the main characteristics of each of the categories?
 What are some examples of each category? Know what drugs fit into which categories.
 What effect does each of the categories have on the brain? The body?
 Know what neurotransmitters each drug mimics or effects, and know if the drug is an agonist or antagonist.
Near-Death Experiences
With Near-Death Experiences, I will not be spending any time in class on this topic in class; you will need to get the information
from your outlines.
 Dualist
 Monist
Works
 Interpretation of Dreams
People to know
 Ernest Hilgard
 Sigmund Freud
 Carl Jung
Theories to know
 Activation-synthesis theory
 Interference theory
 Salience hypothesis
Vocabulary
Due the day of the test
1. Infradian biorhythms
2. Ultradian biorhythms
3. Circadian desynchronization
4. Levels of consciousness
5.
6.
7.
8.
Dyssomnias
Parasomnias
Trance
Dissociation
9. Divided consciousness
10. Addiction
Unit VI test question breakdown: Versions A, B, & C
 Background: 1 – 4, 53
 Attention: Background: 5, 6
 Attention: Selective Attention: 7, 10, 77
 Attention: Change blindness: 8, 11
 Attention: Background: 10
 Attention: automaticity: 12, 14
 Attention: types of: 13, 14
 Visual capture: 15, 16
 Perceptual organization - background: 17
 Perceptual organization – Gestalt - background: 18, 19, 23
 Perceptual organization – Gestalt – figure ground: 20 - 22
 Perceptual organization – Gestalt – grouping rules: 24 - 28, 31
 Perceptual organization – Gestalt – closure: 28 - 30, 76
 Depth Perception – visual cliff: 32 - 34
 Depth Perception – binocular cues: 35 - 37
 Depth Perception – binocular cues & monocular cues: 38
 Depth Perception – monocular cues: 39 - 48
 Motion – background: 49
 Motion – apparent motion: 50 – 51, 54
 Perceptual constancy - general: 55
 Perceptual constancy - shape: 56
 Perceptual constancy - size: 57 – 59, 61, 83, 100
 Perceptual constancy - lightness: 60
 Perceptual constancy – color: 62
 Perceptual interpretation – sensory deprivation: 63 – 68
 Perceptual interpretation – feature detection: 67
 Perceptual interpretation – perceptual adaptation: 69 - 71
 Perceptual interpretation – perceptual set – general: 72 - 73
 Perceptual interpretation – perceptual set – schema: 74 – 76, 81
 Perceptual organization – perceptual set – context effect: 76
 Perceptual interpretation – perceptual set – context effect: 78 - 80
 Human Factors Psychology: 82
 Previous Units – neurotransmitters: 84
 Previous Units – psychological perspectives: 85
 Previous Units – measures of central tendency: 86
 Previous Units – statistical significance: 87
 Previous Units – methods of research: 88, 89, 93
 Previous Units – the need for psychology: 90, 94
 Previous Units – correlation: 91
 Previous Units – surveys: 92
 Previous Units – types of neurons: 95
 Previous Units – functions of the neuron: 96
 Previous Units – natural selection: 97
 Previous Units – heritability: 98
 Previous Units – twins: 99
Change in homework starting second quarter
Starting second quarter, I am making a change in the homework. Each day that a reading is due, the students will be responsible
for the Bold-Faced Terms from that section (definition, and two examples [one from the text and one of their own]) as well as the
outline of the section. On the day of the test, the vocab will be due as previously.
On the day the reading is due; I will either give a reading quiz or check the homework at the beginning of class.
Reading assignment due dates
Assignment
Due date
Topics covered
Outline/BFT (Unit VII: States of
Consciousness) 265-271 (stop at
sleep stages)
Outline/BFT (Unit VII: States of
Consciousness) 271-280
Outline/BFT (Unit VII: States of
Consciousness) 281-285 (stop at
hypnosis)
Outline/BFT (Unit VII: States of
Consciousness) 285-304 (305307)
“B” Day
“A” Day
Stages of consciousness,
Biorhythms, sleep-basics.
Wednesday,
November 16
Thursday,
November 17
Sleep stages, why do we sleep, sleep
deprivation, sleep disorders.
Friday,
November 18
Monday,
November 21
Dreams, theories of dreams
Tuesday,
November 22
Monday,
November 28
Hypnosis, psychoactive drugs.
Tuesday,
November 29
Wednesday,
November 30
Thursday,
December 1
Friday,
December 2
Unit VII: test/vocab
Frequently Missed Questions from the Unit V test
 If a person’s sense improves (sight, hearing, taste, etc.), that means that the person can see better, hear better, taste better, etc.
If his/her hearing improves, that means that he/she now has a lower absolute threshold because he/she can hear sounds with
a lower decibel, so his/her absolute threshold decreases.
 With the analogy regarding waves, diagram it.
Light
Sound
intensity = brightness
hue = color
intensity = sound level
 frequency = pitch
 long waves = low frequency = low pitch
 short waves = high frequency = high pitch
o The taller the wave means more energy
o For sound, more energy translates as a louder sound (think about it, louder sounds require more energy than softer sounds)
o For light, more energy translates as brighter colors (again, a brighter light needs more energy than a less bright light)
 Know the order that light travels from the time that it enters the cornea until it reaches the occipital lobe.
 Know where transduction takes place in the eye.
 There is a ratio of one cone to one bipolar cell, while there are several rods that share one bipolar cell. What does that mean for
the rods’ ability to see detail?
 Rods require less light to activate them, which means they are more sensitive to light – they are able to sense light better.
Cones require more light to activate them, which means they are less sensitive to light – they cannot sense light as well.
 Rods are less color-sensitive than cones; rods cannot detect color as well as cones.
 Myopia = nearsightedness, which means you can see near objects better. The focal point of the image falls in front of the
retina (near to the front of the eye), because the eye ball is too long
 Hyperopia=farsightedness, which means you can see far objects better. The focal point of the image falls behind the retina (far
from the front of the eye), because the eye ball is too short.
 Know the difference between Conductive hearing loss and Sensorineural hearing loss, especially which parts of the eye each
one affects.
 The sense that sensory adaptation occurs the quickest to is touch, which means to be able to feel something you need to
constant move your skin over it. If the skin is not moving against the surface, than sensory adaptation occurs quickly.
 Know where the olfactory bulbs are located.
 Know what the Sodium Potassium Pump and when it is used.
 In order to assess the influence of self-esteem on interpersonal attraction, researches either insulted or complimented college
students about their physical appearance just before they went on a blind date. In this research, what is the dependant
variable?
 Which neurotransmitters is associated with the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system? And which is associated with
the functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system?
 Patients’ negative expectations about the outcome of a surgical procedure can increase the postoperative experience of pain.
This best illustrates the importance of?
 Know what color humans see long light-waves as, and what they see the shortest waves as.
Notes regarding the Unit V test
There were some issues with the Unit V test:
Question 23 (all versions)
The semicircular canals are most directly relevant to:
a. hearing
c. the vestibular sense
e. equilibrium
b. kinesthesis
d. parallel processing
 One issue is that I had the answer on the key as being “b”, which is obviously wrong.
 The other issue is that though the correct answer is “c,” I felt that “e” was too close of an answer. The answer is “c” but I felt
that there was too fine of a difference between the two answers for it to be a fair question (vestibular is [among other things]
our sense of balance).
 For the people who are curious, vestibular is the technical term for the sense, not equilibrium. It’s like saying gustation or
olfaction instead of taste or smell; it’s the “more” correct term for the sense.
Version A
#16 & #72 had the wrong answer on the key
Version C
#45 & #51 had the wrong answer on the key
Version D
#3 had the wrong answer on the key
 So the end result is:
o Version A – three total errors (one bad question & two
o Version C – two total errors (two errors on the key)
errors on the key)
o Version D – one total error (one error on the key)
o Version B – one total error (one bad question)
 For versions C & D, which 3rd block took, question #23 didn’t count as a wrong answer (which is why the score of the test
probably has a decimal, because it was scored out of 99, not 100).
 However, as a couple people from 5th block who had to make up the test, I gave them version C or D to take, though their class
took A and B.
 Normally I would catch these things before I pass back the test, and I would hand-correct the AccuScan™ but I didn’t have a
chance to do an item-analysis before I handed back the test this time.
 Anyway, what I believe to be the most “fair” way of doing things is adding 3 points to everyone’s Unit V score.
 This is the last time I have my cat fill in the key of an AP Psych test.