THE HUBERT KAIRUKI MEMORIAL UNIVESITY.
FACULTY OF MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE AND MEDICAL ETHICS.
TOPIC: CONSCIOUSNESS IN BEHAVIORAL CHANGE STRATEGIES
PRESENTERS: ISACK SUGA, STELLA N. TEMU,OSAMA MOHAMMED
NASSORO,MARIAM HABIBU CHAMVUA,
SAID JUMANNE, IBRAHIM RAJAB, KAVUBA NTAYABA,
SCHOLAR NDIMBO, ANNETH MBEYELE,
MARCELINA RWEGASIRA
FACILITATOR: DR. ISACK LEMA
DATE: 25TH JANUARY 2015
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Learning Objectives
 Understanding the meaning of Consciousness
 Variation in consciousness
 Basic characteristics of consciousness
 Measuring state of consciousness
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CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Objective
 Definition of key words
 Main discussion
 Summary
 Conclusion
 Recommendation
 References
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Introduction
FIGURE 1.0 Gordon Gallup (1970) exposed
four chimps to a mirror. By day three
they used it to inspect hard-to-see parts of
their own bodies and began making odd faces
at themselves in the mirror. To further test
whether the chimps knew the mirror image
was their own reflection, Gordon anaesthetized
them and put a red mark on their
faces. Later, with no mirror, the chimps rarely
touched the red mark. But upon seeing it
when a mirror was introduced, they touched
the red spot on their face almost 30 times in 30
minutes, suggesting that the chimps had some
self-awareness. Using a similar test in which a
red rouge mark is placed on the tip of the infant’s
nose, researchers find that infants begin
to recognize themselves in a mirror around 18
months of age.
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Case study
In the early morning of May 24, 1987, Ken Parks left
his home in the Toronto area and drove 23 km to
the house where his in-laws lived. He then proceeded
to kill his mother-in-law with a kitchen knife
and seriously injure his father-in-law. Mr. Parks then drove
to a nearby police station where he turned himself in, telling
police that he had, in fact, just killed two people.
At the trial, Parks entered a plea of “not guilty,” arguing that he
was completely unaware of what had happened because he was
sleepwalking at the time. He claimed he had always been a deep
sleeper and that his family suffered from a variety of sleep disorders.
In addition, the previous year had been particularly stressful for him
and his personal life had suffered greatly.
After hearing all the evidence (including expert testimony), the
jury acquitted Mr. Parks on the charge of first degree murder and later
on a charge of second degree murder. The trial judge also handed
down a not guilty verdict on a charge of attempted murder. All acquittals
were upheld by the5appeal court.
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Nature of consciousness
Philosopher David Chalmers (1995) notes that
“Conscious experience is at
once the most familiar thing in the world and the most
mysterious.” As we shall
see, its mysteries span a range from normal waking
states to sleep and dreams,
drug-induced experiences, hypnosis, and beyond.
When psychology was
founded in the late 1800s, its “Great Project” was to
scientifically unravel some of the puzzles of
consciousness (Natsoulas, 1999). This interest waned
during behaviourism’s dominance in the mid-20th
century, but resurgence of the cognitive
and biological perspectives has sparked new research,
forcing us to rethink long-standing conceptions about
the mind (Figure 2.).
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FIGURE 2: The mysteries of
consciousness have intrigued
scholars for ages.
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The Nature of Consciousness
 What is consciousness?
 Your awareness of external events
 your awareness of internal sensations
 your awareness of yourself as a unique being having
experiences
 your awareness of your thoughts about these experiences
 The critical element in consciousness is awareness!
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Variations in Consciousness
 Levels of awareness
 Consciousness is not all-or-none






Awake
Sleep
Anesthesia
Coma
Persistent Vegetative State
Death
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Definitions of Death
 As little as 50 years ago, people were considered “dead” when
their heartbeat & breathing stopped.
 Brain Death




total unawareness of externally applied stimuli
no movements or breathing during a period of at least one hour
no reflexes
flat EEG (no brain waves)
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The Electroencephalograph:
A Physiological Index of Consciousness
 EEG – monitoring of brain electrical activity
 Brain-waves
 Amplitude (height)
 Frequency (cycles per second)




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Beta (13-24 cps)
Alpha (8-12 cps)
Theta (4-7 cps)
Delta (<4 cps)
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Characteristics of Consciousness
Subjective and private.
Other people cannot directly know what
reality is for you, nor can you enter directly
into their experience. As the author Charles
Dickens observed, “Every human creature
is constituted to be that profound secret
and mystery to every other.”
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Characteristics of Consciousness….
Dynamic (ever-changing).
We drift in and out of various states
throughout
each day. Although the stimuli of which we
are aware constantly change, we typically
experience consciousness as a continuously
flowing “stream”
of mental activity, rather than as disjointed
perceptions and thoughts (James,
1890/1950).
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Characteristics of Consciousness….
Self-reflective and central to our
sense of self.
The mind is aware of its own consciousness.
Thus, no matter what your awareness is focused
on—a lovely sunset or an itch on your back—you
can reflect upon the fact that “you” are the one
who is conscious of it.
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Measuring state of Consciousness
Scientists who study consciousness must
find ways to operationally define
private inner states in terms of
measurable responses. The most common
Measure are:
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Measuring state of Consciousness
Self-report,
In which people describe their inner
experiences. Self reports
offer the most direct insight into a person’s
subjective experiences, but
they are not always verifiable.
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Measuring state of Consciousness
Physiological measures
establish the correspondence between bodily
states and mental processes. For example, EEG
recordings of brain activity help identify
different stages of sleep
throughout the night. Physiological measures
are objective, but cannot tell us what a person is
experiencing subjectively.
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Measuring state of Consciousness
Behavioural measures
Also are used, including performance on
special tasks such as the rouge test
(Figure 1.0). Behavioural measures are
objective, but we still must infer the
person’s (or chimp’s) state of mind.
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Summary
 Consciousness refers to your individual awareness of your
unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and
environment.
 Your conscious experiences are constantly shifting and
changing. For example, in one moment you may be focused on
reading this article. Your consciousness may then shift to the
memory of a conversation you had earlier with a co-worker.
Next, you might notice how uncomfortable your chair is, or
maybe you are mentally planning dinner.
 This ever-shifting stream of thoughts can change dramatically
from one moment to the next, but your experience of it seems
smooth and effortless.
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Conclusion
 Consciousness make people be as their, through the
study of it, medical personnel can make more studies
on the human behaviour.
 But also its difficult to measure the extent of
consciousness of an individual though some methods
given out can assist in measurement.
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recommendation
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recommendation
 Consciousness has bond with brain, and all processes
of consciousness centrally performed by the brain.
 Through this bond lead consciousness have a great
influences on the behavioural change of an individual
and the study of behavioural changes go direct with
awareness of a person.
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References
 “Lecture Notes on Behavioural Sciences” by A.C.P Sinus
& W.I Humes
 “Paser 1 Sample, chapter 5, States of Consciousness” by
Sharon Begley
 A Theory of Consciousness, Giorgio Marchetti,
University of Urbino
 Behavioural sciences books.
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