STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
We spend about 8 hours/day, 56 hours/week, 224 hours/month
and 2,688 hours/year doing it...that's right...SLEEPING. One
third of our lives we are apparently doing nothing. But is sleep
really doing nothing? It looks like it...a person's eyes are closed;
muscles are relaxed; breathing is regular; there is no response to sound or light.
However, if you take a look at what is happening inside the brain, you will find quite
a different situation - the brain is very active.
Scientists can record brain activity by attaching electrodes to the scalp and then
connecting these electrodes to a machine called an electroencephalograph. The
encephalogram (or EEG) is the record of brain activity recorded with this machine.
The wavy lines of the EEG are what most people know as "brain waves".
Consciousness is our level of awareness about ourselves and our environment.
Conscious level
The information about yourself and your environment of
which you are currently aware
Nonconscious level Body processes controlled by your mind that we are not
usually aware of
Preconscious level Information about yourself or your environment that you
are not currently thinking about, but you could be.
Subconscious level Information that we are not consciously aware of but we
know must exist due to behavior.
Unconscious level Psychoanalytic psychologists believe some events and
feelings are unacceptable to our conscious mind and are repressed into the
unconscious mind. Many psychologists object to this concept as difficult or
impossible to prove.
Mere-exposure effect - prefer stimuli we have seen before over novel stimuli
Priming - respond more quickly and/or accurately to questions they have seen before
Blind sight - person being blind being able to grasp an object they cannot see
SLEEP CYCLE
Great information found at: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/sleep.html
Circadian rhythm-Sleep stages-REM=rapid eye movement
SLEEP DISORDERS


Insomnia- problems of getting to or staying asleep, effects up to 10% of the
population
Narcolepsy- extreme sleepiness - sleep attacks Go to
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/narco.html



Sleep apnea- stop breathing during sleep
Night terrors- usually occur in children are dreams outside of REM, during stage
4 sleep
Somnambulism- sleep walking
DREAM THEORIES
Freudian Theory - believes that dreams reveal information in the unconscious
mind
Manifest content- literal content
Latent content - deeper meaning
Activation-synthesis Theory - dreams are nothing more than the brains
interpretation of what is happening physiologically during REM sleep
Information-processing Theory - dreams may be a way to integrate the
information processed during the day into our memories
HYPNOSIS
Posthypnotic amnesia - forget events that occurred during hypnosis
Posthypnotic suggestibility Role Theory - says hypnosis is not an alternate state of consciousness, points out
that some people are more easily hypnotized than others.
State Theory - hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness
Dissociation Theory - Hilgard studied, it causes to divide our consciousness
voluntarily - the experiment that demonstrated the hidden observer effect
DRUGS For information on specific drugs go to:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.heml#drug
Blood-brain barrier
Tolerance
Withdrawal
agonist
antagonist
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS TERMS
Consciousness- the awareness or, or the possibility of knowing, what is happening inside
or outside the organism
Subconscious – consciousness just below our present awareness
Unconscious – thoughts or desires about which we can have no direct knowledge
Chronobiology – the study of forces that control the body at different times of the day,
month, or year
Construct – a concept requiring a belief in something that cannot be seen or touched but
that seems to exist
Biological clocks – internal chemical units that control regular cycles in parts of the body
Free-running cycles – cycles set up by biological clocks that are under their own
control, ignoring the environment
Entrainment – the process of altering the free-running cycle to fit a different rhythm
Circadian rhythm – sequences of behavioral changes that occur every 24 hours
Twilight state – relaxed state just before we fall asleep
REM sleep – rapid eye movement sleep when we dream
Beta waves - rapid brain waves; appear when a person is awake
Alpha waves – stage 1, fairly relaxed brain waves occurring just before going to sleep;
relaxed
Delta waves – slow, lazy, deep-sleep brain waves.
NREM sleep – non-rapid eye movement sleep/ sleep involving partial thoughts,
images,or stories, poor organization
Nightmare – frightening dream during REM
REM rebound – increase in the number of dreams after being deprived of them
Incubus attack – also called a night terror, a horrible dream occurring during NREM
when the body is not prepared for it
Insomnia – the inability to get enough sleep
Narcolepsy - disorder in which a person falls instantly into sleep no matter what is going
on in the environment
Sleep apnea – breathing stops while someone is asleep
Hypnosis – a state of relaxation in which attention is focused on certain objects, acts, or
feelings.
Meditation – a form of self-control in which the outside world is cut off from
consciousness
Altered state of consciousness – mental state that differs noticeably from normal waking
consciousness
Psychoactive drugs – chemical substances that change moods and perceptions
Dreams – vivid visual and auditory experiences that occur primarily during REM periods
of sleep
Substance abuse – a pattern of drug use that diminishes the user’s ability to fulfill
responsibilities at home, work or school, that results in repeated use of a drug in
dangerous situations, legal problems
Substance dependence – a pattern of compulsive drug taking that often results in
tolerance and or withdrawal
Tolerance – phenomenon whereby higher doses of a drug are required to produce its
original effects or to prevent withdrawal symptoms
Withdrawal symptoms – unpleasant physical or psychological effects that follow the
discontinuance of a dependence-producing substance.
Drugs – know the effects – opiates, stimulants, amphetamines, cocaine, depressants,
hallucinogens, alcohol, LSD, barbiturates, marijuana
CONSCIOUSNESS QUIZ
1. Agonists are psychoactive drugs that
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
produce tolerance to the drug without the associated withdrawal symptoms
mimic and produce the same effect as certain neurotransmitters.
Mimic neurotransmitters and block their receptor sites.
Enhance the effects of certain opiates like heroin.
Make recovery from physical addiction more difficult.
2. In comparison with older people, babies
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
sleep more fitfully; they tend to wake up more often.
Sleep more deeply; they spend more time in stage 3 and 4 sleep
Spend more time in the REM stage than other sleep stages
Spend more time in stage 1, which causes them to awaken easily.
Sleep more than young adults but less than people over 50.
3. Which of the following is the best analogy for how psychologists view
consciousness?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
The on/off switch on a computer.
A circuit breaker that controls power to a house.
A fuse that allows electricity to pass through until a short circuit occurs.
A dimmer switch for a light fixture
The ignition switch on a car
4. During the normal night’s sleep, how many times do we pass through the different
stages of sleep?
A. 2
B. 2-3
C.
D.
4-7
8-11
E.
11-15
5. Which of the following is evidence supporting the role theory of hypnosis?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Some people are more hypnotizable than others
People will not behave under hypnosis in ways they would not without hypnosis.
Hilgard’s experiment demonstrated the presence of a hidden observer.
Our heart and respiration rates may differ while under hypnosis
Some therapists successfully use hypnosis in therapy.
6. Activation-synthesis theory tries to explain
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
how consciousness emerges out of neural firings.
How psychoactive drugs create euphoric effects.
The origin and function of dreams.
How our mind awakens us after we pass through all the sleep stages.
How our consciousness synthesizes all the sensory information it receives.
7. Hilgard’s experiment that demonstrated the presence of a hidden observer is evidence
for which theory?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
role theory of hypnosis
levels theory of consciousness
recuperative theory of sleep
dissociation theory of hypnosis
state theory of hypnosis
8. Which of the following two sleep disorders occur most commonly?
A.
B.
C.
D.
insomnia and narcolepsy
apnea and narcolepsy
night terrors and apnea
somnambulism and insomnia
E. apnea and insomnia
9. Marijuana falls under what category of psychoactive drug?
A. Depressant
B. mood-elevator
C. hallucinogen
D.
E.
stimulant
mood depressant
10. Night terrors and somnambulism usually occur during which stage of sleep?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
stage 1, close to wakefulness
REM sleep
REM sleep, but only later in the night when nightmares usually occur
Stage 4
Sleep onset
11. Which neurotransmitter is affected by opiates?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
serotonin
endorphins
dopamine
GABA
Acetylcholine
12. In the context of this unit, the term tolerance refers to
A.
B.
C.
D.
treatment of psychoactive drug addicts by peers and other members of society.
The amount of sleep a person needs to function normally.
The need for an elevated dose of a drug in order to get the same effect.
The labeling of individuals automatically produced by the level of our
consciousness.
E. The harmful side effects of psychoactive drugs.
13. The information processing theory says that dreams
A. are meaningless by-products of how our brains process information during REM
sleep.
B. Are symbolic representations of the information we encode during the day.
C. Are processed by one level of consciousness but other levels remain unaware of
the dreams.
D. Occur as the brain deals with daily stress and events during REM sleep.
E. Occur only after stressful events, explaining why some people never dream.
14. Which level of consciousness controls involuntary body processes?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
preconscious level
subconscious level
unconscious level
autonomic level
nonconscious level
15. Professor Bohike shows a group of participants a set of geometric shapes for a short
period of time. Later, Professor Bohike shows the same group a larger set of shapes
that includes the first set of geometric shapes randomly distributed among the other
new images. When asked which shapes they prefer, the participants choose shapes
from the first group more often than the new images, even though they cannot
remember which images they had seen previously. This experiment demonstrates
which concept?
A. priming
B. mere-exposure effect
C. shaping
D.
E.
primary-attribution error
primacy
16. Mr. Spam is a 39-year-old male who has been brought into your neurology clinic by
his wife. She has become increasingly alarmed by her husband’s behavior over the
last four months. You recommend a CAT scan to look for tumors in the brain.
Which two parts of the brain would you predict are being affected by the tumors?
List of symptoms: vastly increased appetite, body temperature fluctuations,
decreased sexual desire, jerky movements, poor balance when walking and
standing, inability to throw objects, and exaggerated efforts to coordinate
movements in a task
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
motor cortex and emotion cortex
motor cortex and hypothalamus
hypothalamus and cerebellum
cerebellum and medulla
thalamus and motor cortex
States of Consciousness ID’s
1. consciousness
2. biological rhythms
3. annual cycles
4. twenty-eight day cycles
5. twenty-four hour cycles
6. ninety-minutes cycles
7. circadian rhythms
8. superachiasmatic nucleus
9. melatonin
10. REM sleep
11. alpha waves
12. sleep
13. hallucinations
14. hypnagogic sensations
15. delta waves
16. erectile dysfunction
17. paradoxical sleep
18. Non-REM sleep
19. insomnia
20. narcolepsy
21. sleep apnea
22. night terrors
23. dreams
24. manifest content
25. latent content
26. information processing theory of dreams
27. wish fulfillment theory of dreams
28. physiological function theory of dreams
29. activation –synthesis theory of dreams
30. cognitive theory of dreams
31. REM rebound
32. hypnosis
33. Anton Mesmer
34. hypnotic ability
35. age regression
36. Posthypnotic suggestions
37. dissociation
38. psychoactive drugs
39. tolerance
40. withdrawal
41. psychical dependence
42. psychological dependence
43. addiction
44. depressants
45. alcohol
46. barbiturates
47. opiates
48. stimulants
49. amphetamines
50. methamphetamines
51. cocaine
52. ecstasy
53. hallucinogens
54. LSD
55. marijuana
56. near-death experiences
57. dualism
58. monism


States of Consciousness
Consciousness
Sleep & Dreams
 Biological rhythms
o Annual cycles
o 28 Day cycles
o 24 hour cycles
o 90 minute cycles
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

The Rhythm of sleep
o Circadian rhythm
o Melatonin
o Sleep stages
 Stage 1
 Stage 2
 Stage 3
 Stage 4
 REM (paradoxical sleep)
 Alpha waves
 Hallucinations
 Hypnagogic sensations
 Delta waves
 Erectile dysfunction
Why do we sleep
o Effects of sleep deprivation
o Sleep Theories
 Protection
 Heal & repair
 Memory
 Growth
o Sleep Disorders
 Insomnia
 Narcolepsy
 Sleep apnea
 Night terrors
 Sleep walking
 Bruxism
Dreams
o Freud
 Wish fulfillment
 Manifest content
 Latent content
o Information processing
o Physiological function (Preserve neural pathways)
o Activation - synthesis theory
o Cognitive theory
Hypnosis





Hypnosis
o Anton Mesmer
 Hypnotic ability/susceptibility
Posthypnotic suggestion
Dissociation
Hypnosis as social phenomenon
Hypnosis as dived consciousnesses
o Ernest Hilgard
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
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

o Drug & Consciousness
Psychoactive drugs
Tolerance
Withdrawal
Physical dependence
Psychological dependence
Addiction
Psychoactive drugs
o Depressants
 Alcohol
 Barbiturates
 Opiates
o Stimulants
 Amphetamines
 Methamphetamines
 Cocaine
 Nicotine
 Caffeine
 Ecstasy *
o Hallucinogens
 LSD
 Marijuana (THC)*
 Psilocybin mushroom
 Phencyclidine (PCP)
o Influences on Drug Use
 Biological
 Psychological
 Social
Near Death Experiences


Dualists
Monists
Sleep Notes
Circadian Rhythms – biological clock (about 24 hours); regular body rhythms
 Regulated by hormones
 Light resets biological clock (knee study), but not needed for cycling
o Darkness stimulates secretion of melatonin by pineal gland, which
causes slowing of biological activity
o Can buy melatonin to induce sleep, but most health stores sell doses
10X too high
 Shift to 25 hour clock due to electric lights
o Easier to adjust to later shifts than earlier ones
Sleep stages

Measure brain activity during sleep with EEG.
o Awake and relaxed – alpha waves
o Sleep – low amplitude brain waves; slowed breathing, 90 minute cycles
 Stage 1 – (5 min) hypnogogic state (floating, falling), low
amplitude EEG, easily awakened
 Stage 2 – (20 min) sleep spindles, clearly asleep, sleeptalking may
occur here
 Stage 3 – (transitional) begin delta waves (large and slow); slowwave sleep
 Stage 4 – (shorter as night progresses) delta waves, sleepwalking,
deep sleep
 Progress backwards through stages 3, then 2, then REM sleep
 REM sleep – (longer as night progresses) EEG like alpha waves,
heart rate increases, breathing rapid and irregular, eyes move back
and forth, genital arousal, brainstem blocks messages from motor
cortex, paralyzed, dream here
Why we sleep?
1. Evolutionary psychology – sleep protects; better to be safe in cave than vulnerable
in dark
2. Physiological psychology – sleep frees up energy to restore body and brain and
allow for growth
Sleep Disorders
1. Insomnia – problems falling or staying asleep
a. People with insomnia tend to overestimate their lack of sleep
b. Sleeping pills and alcohol reduce REM sleep
2. Narcolepsy – uncontrollable sleep attacks
a. 1 in 2000 people
b. triggered by strong emotions
c. lapse into REM sleep with accompany muscular paralysis
3. Sleep apnea – stop breathing during sleep
a. 1 in 25 people (mostly overweight men)
b. Can repeat up to 400 times per night!
c. Wake up snorting so partner often complains of loud snoring
d. Most don’t remember awakening
4. Night terrors – high arousal and physiological symptoms of terror during stage 4
sleep
a. Heart rate and breathing rate double
5. Other interesting sleep disorders –
a. Klein-Levin syndrome – sleep for days
b. Sleep-wake disorders – bodies run on 26 or 27 hour clock; fall asleep later
each night
c. Hypnophobia – fear of going to sleep
d. Hypnalgia – dream pain
Why do we dream?
1. Freud’s theory – (wish-fulfillment) dreams are time for the id to express itself;
they reflect our innermost desires that are too threatening to express directly.
Thus, dreams have manifest content (the literal narrative) and latent content (the
underlying meaning)
2. Information processing – dreams facilitate memory by rehearsing important
events; dreams are bizarre because we incorporate other memories into them
3. activation-synthesis theory – the brain periodic “exercises” during the night by
sending random electrical impulses; dreams are the brain’s interpretation of its
own activity
We need REM sleep – if prevented from it, we have experience REM rebound
(increase in REM sleep) later.
Hypnosis
1. Hypnosis – an interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain
perceptions, feelings, etc with occur spontaneously.
a. The ability to turn attention inward, relax, and imagine
b. Posthynoptic amnesia – inability to remember things that happened during
hypnotic state (controversial)
c. Evidence suggests that people cannot do anything under hypnosis that they
cannot do normally; it seems to be a state of increased motivation
2. Susceptibility to hypnosis
a. Highly susceptible people tend to have rich fantasy lives
b. More likely to be responsive if you believe it
3. Enhancing Recall of Forgotten Events
a. Not true; a few rare instances, but not confirmed
b. Hypnotically refreshed memories combine fact and fiction; susceptible to
false memory suggestions
4. Acting Against their Will
a. At first believed yes – Orne and Evans (1965) study with splashing acid
b. Control group – unhypnotized people just as likely to splash acid
c. Barnier and Conkey (1998) – asked subjects to send them a daily postcard.
Both control and experimental group equally likely to send, but
hypnotized subjects claimed they felt more compulsive about it.
5. As therapy?
a. No support that it is any better than positive suggestions outside of
hypnosis (placebo effect?)
6. Alleviate pain?
a. YES
b. 10% can become so deeply hypnotized they can undergo major surgery
without anesthesia
c. 50% experience some pain relief from hypnosis.
d. How? Selective attention or actually dissociating pain from conscious
awareness?
7. Theories of Hypnosis
a. Social-influence theory – hypnosis an extension of everyday social
behavior
b. Divided-consciousness theory – hypnosis is a dissociation between our
conscious awareness and our automatic behaviors
Drugs and Consciousness
1. Psychoactive drugs – chemical that alters perceptions and mood
2. Tolerance – user requires a larger amount to get same effects
3. Withdrawal – user experiences discomfort when discontinuing use
a. Physical – physical pain
b. Psychological – cravings
4. Myths
a. Most people do NOT become addicted when using drugs medicinally
b. People are equally as likely to overcome addiction by themselves as when
they seek therapy
5. Psychoactive Drugs
a. Depressants – calm neural activity and slow body function
i. Alcohol
1. decreases inhibitions – people are more aggressive and
more loving
2. Relaxes sympathetic nervous system (reactions slow speech
slurred, performance deteriorates)
3. Disrupts processing of information into long-term memory
4. suppresses REM sleep
5. People who believe they have ingested alcohol exhibit
symptoms of being drunk
ii. Barbituates
1. Depress sympathetic nervous system
2. Impaired memory and judgment
3. Mixed with alcohol, can be fatal
iii. Opiates
1. morphine and herion
2. pupils constrict, breathing slows
3. mimics endorphins – stops pain and causes release of
dopamine in the hypothalamus (pleasure center)
4. Tolerance – Brain reduces number of receptors to more of
drug is required to produce same effect; many addicts
express frustration of spending life trying to reach same
high as first time, but never being successful; higher doses
can eventually lead to overdose
5. Withdrawal – brain stops producing natural endorphins;
when use is stopped, user suffers pain
b. Stimulants – amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine, caffeine
i. increased heart and breathing rate, pupils dialate, blood sugar rises,
appetite diminishes, self-confidence rises
ii. May “crash” when drug is metabolized – headaches, fatigue,
irritability, depression
iii. Amphetamines
1. First became a problem when used as diet drugs in 1950’s
2. Increase secretion of dopamine and norepinesphrine
3. increased heart and breathing rate, pupils dialate, blood
sugar rises, appetite diminishes, self-confidence rises
4. May “crash” when drug is metabolized – headaches,
fatigue, irritability, depression
iv. Cocaine
1. Blocks reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and
serotonin
v. Nicotine
1. Mimics acetylcholine receptors that lead to release of
dopamine and serotonin (and adrenaline into bloodstream)
vi. Caffeine
1. Blocks adenosine (a neurotransmitter that blocks the
release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin)
c. Hallucinogen
i. Evoke vivid images or hallucinations
ii. LSD
1. serotonin antagonist
2. strong emotions from euphoria to detachment to panic
3. Person’s mood and expectations can influence the
experience
4. Hallucinations – geometic forms, meaningful images (often
a tunnel), replay past emotional experiences, often feel
outside of body
iii. Marijuana
1. THC – active ingredient
2. relaxes, disinhibits, and produces euphoric high, inhibits
pain, increases appetite, alleviates nausea, disrupts memory
formation and motor coordination
3. mechanism of action unknown, but recent evidence
indicates that THC binds to a previously undiscovered
neurotransmitter active during childbirth that block
memory formation
4. THC found in body for a month; users require less to get
high than non-users
5. Long-term use – (controversial) cancer and lung damage
from smoke, complications during pregnancy, depression
of male sex hormones and sperm count, loss of brain cells,
makes brain more susceptible to addiction to other drugs
6. Influences on Drug Use
a. Negative correlation between drug education and use
i. Marijuana use of highly negatively correlated with the belief that it
is harmful
b. Evidence for biological predisposition for alcohol dependence
c. Use correlated with sense of meaningless, stress, failure, and depression
d. Peer pressure – Most likely to use if you believe friends use
i. Users more likely to overestimate number of other people using.
Near-Death Experiences
1. 30-40% of those had came close to death report NDE
2. Commonalities: replay of old memories, out-of-body sensation, lights, tunnels
3. Similar to reports by 1) users of hallucinogens, 2)patients with temporal lobe
seizures, 3) people experience prolonged isolation or cold, and 4) those suffering
oxygen deprivation
4. Those who have done hallucinogens and had NDE claimed they are different
SLEEP STAGES
Stage 1
Stage 2
Light sleep; Fantastic images resembling hallucinations
Body relaxes; Hypnogogic sensations: falling, floating
Irregular and small brain waves
Relax more deeply
Sleep spindles – bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity
5 minutes
20 minutes
Stage 3
Stage 4
REM


Can be awakened without too much difficulty
Clearly asleep; Garbled sleep talking is possible
Transitional stage
Brain begins to emit delta waves (large slow waves associated
with sleep)
Continual delta waves; Stages 3 and 4 termed slow-wave sleep
Sleep-walking, bed-wetting, night terrors
After Stage 4 goes back to stage 3, then 2, then REM (Rapid Eye
Movement)
Dream here
Heart rate rises, rapid and irregular breathing, eyes dart around,
genital arousal, brain waves rapid and saw-toothed
Motor cortex is active, but brainstem blocks it messages
Muscles EXTREMELY relaxed and little movement
Cannot be easily awakened
Termed paradoxical sleep as internally body is aroused while
externally appears calms
Few
minutes
10 minutes
Sleep cycle repeats itself about every 90 minutes
As Stage 4 sleep gets progressively briefer and then disappears, REM sleep period
gets longer.
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransm Physical Control
itter Name
Acetylcholine Helps muscle
(Ach)
action, learning, &
memory
Dopamine
Helps with learning,
thought processes,
rewarding
sensations,
emotional arousal
and movement
Serotonin
Helps with sleep,
appetite,
temperature
Norpinephrin
e
Endorphins
Increase may cause
Muscle paralysis
Decrease may
cause
Alzheimer’s
disease
Muscle weakness
Schizophrenia
(hallucinations)
Parkinson’s
disease
Drug addiction
Tremor’s
Mania
Weight gain
Insomnia
Anxiety
Depression
Weight loss
Exhaustion/
Feeling overly
tired
Depression
Helps with memory, Stress
physical arousal &
learning
Helps the body deal Runners high (a lack Pain
with pain
of the feeling of
pain), positive
emotions
GABA
Inhibition of brain
activity
Anxiety
Glutamate
Involved in memory Over stimulation of
the brain may cause
migraines or
seizures
Tremors,
seizures,
insomnia
Drug interaction
Botulism poison
Cocaine
THC/Marijuana
LSD
Ecstasy
THC/Marijuana
Ecstasy
THC/Marijuana
Heroin
Morphine & other
Opiates such as
prescription
medication
(pain killers).
Alcohol
MSG
(monosodium
glutamate) found
in food