Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4: STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
OBJECTIVES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Explain daydreaming.
Describe the stages of sleep.
Explain why REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep.
Define the sleep disorders of insomnia, narcolepsy, and apnea.
Explain the theories of the nature and content of dreams.
Explain the difference between substance abuse and substance
dependence.
Explain the effect of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
List two negative effects of each of the following drugs: alcohol,
marijuana, amphetamines, barbiturates, the opiates, cocaine, and
the hallucinogens.
Explain the biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors
related to addiction.
Describe meditation and hypnosis.
WARM-UP

How many of you know what consciousness is?

How many of you could clearly define it?
CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness:


Waking consciousness:


Our awareness of various cognitive processes, such as
sleeping, daydreaming, reflecting, concentrating, and
making decisions.
Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that occur when we
are awake and alert
Altered states of consciousness:

A mental state that differs noticeably from normal
waking consciousness, including sleep, dreaming,
meditation, or drug-induced states
CH4.1
CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE
WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS
Awareness is only part of consciousness
 we are constantly having our senses
bombarded with stimuli
 only aware of only small portion of this
 Attention can shift

OBJECTIVES
1.

Explain daydreaming.
Other terms to know:
 Consiousness
 Waking
consciousness
 Altered state of consiousness
 Nonconscious
 Self-conscious
WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS

Three Theories of Waking Consciousness
1.
2.
3.
Stream of Consciousness
Tip-of-iceberg
Adaptation/evolutionary
WAKING CONSCIOUSNESSSTREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS THEORY
Sensory info sent first to areas on
cerebral cortex to be analyzed and
processed
 At same time thalamus is “sweeping/
scanning” info from cortex at 40
times/sec
 Each sweep is a moment of
consciousness
 Therefore, consciousness is the
dialogue between the thalamus and
the cerebral cortex

WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS
“THE TIP-OF-THE-ICEBERG THEORY”
 Consciousness is only a small peak
emerging from a mass of
unconscious mental activities
 Popularized

by Freud
Nonconscious- used today to
describe thoughts, perceptions,
feelings etc. that we aren’t paying
attention to at the moment
WAKING CONSCIOUSNESSADAPTATION/ EVOULUTIONARY
viewed as an adaptation
allowing us to get along with
others in our group
(humans)
 Our survival depends upon
ability to look at ourselves
from outside and figure out
how to better situation for
survival
 Favors self-consciousness

DAYDREAMING
DAYDREAMING
DAYDREAMING

Daydreams- Apparently effortless spontaneous
shifts in attention away from the here and now
into a make-believe world
 Urge
to daydream peaks about every 90 minutes
 Peaks around noon-2pm
 Averages person spends ½ waking hours
fantasizing
 Daydreams may provide stress relief and
encourage creativity
DAYDREAMS

Types
 Unfulfilled
goals and wishes
 Pleasant, playful, entertaining scenarios
 Those who are achievement-oriented tend to
experience frustration, guilt, fear of failure, hostility,
self-doubt etc.

Bad if it interferes with work and school
TELEVISION AND DAYDREAMS

Hypothesize what effect do you think television
has on daydreaming?
P. 147
 Increases spontaneous daydreaming
 Decreases creative imagination

4.1 QUIZ
1.
2.
Shifting attention away from the here and now into a private
world of make-believe is characteristic of:
a)
Dreams
b)
Night terrors
c)
Nightmares
d)
Daydreams
Decision-making, problem solving, awareness, and reasoning
are all examples of:
a)
Arcadian cycles
b)
Divergent thought
c)
Altered states of consciousness
d)
Waking consciousness
CH. 4.2
SLEEP
Sleep: a natural state of rest characterized by a reduction in voluntary body
movement and decreased awareness of the surroundings
RANDOM SLEEP INFO
Humans spend 1/3rd of their life asleep
 Larger animals tend to sleep less than smaller
animals (except large cats)
 No one really knows why we sleep but theories
include:

 Conservation
of energy
 Re-synthesization of nervous system
 Build up of adenosine
CIRCADIAN CYCLES:
THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK





Circadian cycles are those that last “about a day”
Circadian rhythms regulated by cluster or neurons in
hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus
(SCN)
Receives info directly from retina
Controls body temperature, metabolism, blood
pressure, hormone levels, and hunger
Jet lag is the result of desynchronization of the
circadian rhythm

Why?
CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
Epinephrine peaks in late morning then
declines until morning
 Melatonin surges at night and drops off during
day
 Responses to seasonal variations in the length
of day can be linked to certain behaviors in
different animals
 What other things desynchronize our circadian
rythym?

RHYTHMS OF SLEEP
Almost everyone goes through the same stages
of sleep
 Experience patterns of brain waves, muscular
activity, blood pressure, and body temp

THE RHYTHMS OF SLEEP

Brain waves and sleep
stages





Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
REM sleep
STAGES OF SLEEP
“twilight” falling asleep stage: low voltage alpha
waves
 Stage 1: low amplitude brain waves, slowing of
pulse, muscle relaxation, side-to-side eye
movements
 Stage 2: short bursts of activity, sleep spindles,
heart rate, BP, and continue to temp drop
 Stage 3: delta waves—slow with high peaks,
heart rate, BP, and continue to temp drop

STAGES OF SLEEP
Stage 4: very slow delta waves, lowest heart
rate, breathing, BP, and temp of night.
 Then you return to 3, 2, 1 in about 40 minutes
 Begin REM sleep

 REM
(paradoxical) sleep- sleep stage characterized
by rapid eye movements and increased dreaming
 Non-REM (NREM) sleep- non-rapid-eye moment
sleep
REM SLEEP
“Rapid Eye Movement”
 REM called paradoxical sleep

 Brain
waves similar to waking state, but person is
deeply asleep and unable to move
 Body is essentially paralyzed

Most dreaming takes place during REM
SLEEP PATTERNS ACROSS
THE LIFE SPAN
CHANGES IN REM AND NREM
SLEEP DISORDERS

Sleep talking and sleepwalking
Usually occurs during Stage 4 sleep
 More common in children
 Sleepwalking more common in boys


Night terrors
Episodes of fright that occur during stages 3 or 4 of
NREM sleep
 Person may sit up or scream, but likely will not recall
the episode in the morning
 Generally cannot be awakened

SLEEP DISORDERS

Nightmares
 Frightening
dreams that occur during REM sleep
and are remembered

Insomnia
 Difficulty
falling asleep or remaining asleep
 Affects about 35 million Americans
 May be related to stress, depression, medication
 Can also be caused by noise, temperature, or trying
to sleep in a new environment
SLEEP DISORDERS

Narcolepsy
 Suddenly
falling asleep without warning during
waking hours
 Narcoleptics often experience loss of muscle tone
as well
 May also drop into REM sleep immediately, causing
hallucinations
 Likely caused by a central nervous system defect
SLEEP DISORDERS

Apnea
 Person
stops breathing momentarily during sleep
 Affects about 10 to 12 million Americans
DO YOU SUFFER FROM INSOMNIA?

Pg. 157 in book
4.2 SLEEP QUIZ

Match the sleep disorder with its definition
1. Narcolepsy
a. Difficulty falling or
remaining asleep
2. Sleep Apnea
b. Frightening dreams from
which a person cannot be
awakened
3. Insomnia
Difficulty breathing during the
night and daytime exhaustion
4. Night terrors
d. Sudden nodding off during
the day
5. Dreaming usually occurs during _____ sleep?
DREAMS
DREAMS
Avg person has 4-5 vivid dreams/night= 2hrs
 Most dreams last as long as the events would
in real life
 Sequential story or series of stories
 External and internal stimuli can modify
dreams but not initiate them
 Your gender, age,culture, and socioeconomic
status can play a role

DREAM VARIANCE BY AGE
Age
Typical Dream
2-5
Brief, involve animals, images unrelated,
no emotion, narrative, or story line
7-9
Feelings and emotion make appearance,
start to appear in own dreams
9-15
More adult like, well-developed story lines,
other people with important roles, verbal
exchanges, motor activity
WHY DO WE DREAM?

Theory 1: Dreams as unconscious
wishes
 Freud
thought dreams were the
“royal road to the unconscious”
 Dreams represent wishes that
haven't been fulfilled
 Manifest content
 What
the dreamer remembers about
the dream
 Latent
 The
content
hidden, unconscious meaning of
the dream
DREAM THEORIES

Theory 1: Dreams as unconscious wishes
 Dreams
are free of moral controls according to
Freud
 Deciphering meanings of the random events of
dreams is one of the primary methods of
psychoanalysts like Freud
 What
do you think? Do all dreams have hidden
meanings?
WHY DO WE DREAM?

Theory 2: Dreams and information
processing
 Information
gathered during the day is
reprocessed to strengthen memory
 Possibly
evolutionary to remember important
survival info
 Humans/nonhumans
spend more time
in REM after learning difficult material
 Same area of brain used for both tasks
 Explains people who said it came to
them in a dream
 Can help with emotional processing after
divorce etc.
WHY WE DREAM?

Theory 3: Dreams and neural activity
 Hobson
stated dreams simply neurons
misfiring and dreams are meaningless
 Activation-synthesis hypothesisneurons in the pons fire at random
during REM sleep that the brain tries to
make sense of resulting in random
stories
 New research shows that brain areas
associated with emotions, motivation,
memory are very active but centers for
logic, memory, attention, and selfmonitoring are not
WHY WE DREAM?

Theory 4: Dreams and waking life
 Extension
of concerns in daily life
 Research shows that people dream about same
things the think about when they are awake
 Similar teams across years or decades
DO WE NEED TO DREAM?

Experiment- continue to wake people as the
enter REM sleep
 Outcome:
people became anxious, testy, hungry,
couldn’t concentrate, and hallucinated
 Once they experienced REM sleep again the effects
disappeared
 REM rebound- amount of REM sleep doubles if
people are allowed to sleep after being sleep
deprived
4.3 QUIZ
1.
2.
3.
The average person has how many dreams a night?
a) 1-2
b) 4-5
c) 6-7
d) 10+
Freud named the unconscious desires expressed through dreams the….
a) Manifest content
b) Latent period
c) Latent content
d) Stream of consciousness
Which adjective does NOT describe a person deprived of REM sleep?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Alert
Hungry
Grumpy
Anxious
4.5 MEDITATION AND HYPNOSIS
MEDITATION AND HYPNOSIS

Meditation- any of the various methods of
concentration, reflection, or focusing of
thoughts undertaken to suppress the activity of
the sympathetic nervous system.
 Techniques
which improve the ability to focus and
relax
 Called mesmerism in 1700s
BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
Can help with anxiety and stress in addition to
pain
 Reduction of ADHD symptoms
 Pain relief

METHODS OF MEDITATION
Zen meditation- focus on breathing for
relaxation
 Sufism- frenzied dancing and prayer to raise
endorphin levels
 Transcendental meditation (TM)- focus on
sound, idea and keep all other images,
problems at bay

HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis- trancelike state in which a person
responds readily to suggestions
 Hypnosis
has been used in conjunction with
psychotherapy and as an anesthetic in dentistry
and surgery
HYPNOSIS CONTROVERSY

What do you think?
No simple definition for what it means to be
hypnotized
 People have different experiences
 People vary in their susceptibility to hypnosis

HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS
Suggestibility not related to trust, gullibility,
submissiveness etc.
 IS related to ability of person to become
absorbed in reading, music, daydreaming etc.
 Hypnotic suggestion- some people do what they
are told under hypnosis
 Posthypnotic commands- response to
command after “waking” to relieve symptoms
of pain etc.

DRUG-ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS
SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE

Substance Use
 Using
a substance but it does not yet interfere with
a person’s life

Substance Abuse
 Pattern
of drug use that diminishes one’s ability to
fulfill responsibilities
 May result in repeated use in dangerous situations
 May lead to legal difficulties related to drug use
SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE

Dependence
 Compulsive
use of a substance
 Also known as addiction

Tolerance
 More
effect

substance is required to obtain the original
Withdrawal
 Physical
discomfort when the substance is stopped
DEPENDENCE
(4 OF THE FOLLOWING 7 SYMPTOMS)




Developing a tolerance
Experiencing withdrawal
Using substance for a longer
period or in greater
quantities than intended
Presence of a desire or
repeated attempts to cut
back on use



Spending a lot of time
using/obtaining the
substance
Reduction or cessation of
usual activities
Continued use despite
awareness of drug’s harmful
effects
DEPRESSANTS
Depressant drugs slow behavior by either
speeding up or slowing down nerve impulses
 Common depressants are

 Alcohol
 Barbiturates
 Opiates
ALCOHOL
Most used psychoactive drug in Western
societies
 Although most often used in moderation, about
14 million Americans have problems with
alcohol
 Men are three times more likely to be problem
drinkers

ALCOHOL
Highly addictive
 Even moderate amounts can affect

 Perception
 Motor
processes
 Memory
 Judgment
 Visual acuity
 Depth perception
 Cognitive functioning
ALCOHOL
Overall effect is to calm the nervous system
 Sometimes perceived as a stimulant because it
relaxes inhibitions

BARBITURATES
“Downers”
 Often Used to treat insomnia
 Can interfere with sleep patterns and cause
dependence
 Effects are similar to alcohol

OPIATES
Derived from the opium poppy
 Includes opium, morphine, and heroin
 Opiates resemble endorphins, the body’s
natural painkillers
 Causes euphoria followed by clouded mental
functioning

STIMULANTS
Substances that excite the central nervous
system
 Includes drugs such as

 Caffeine
 Nicotine
 Amphetamines
 Cocaine
CAFFEINE
Naturally occurring substance found in coffee,
tea, cocoa, and chocolate
 Also added to soft drinks and pain medications
 Increases alertness
 In high doses, caffeine can cause anxiety,
headaches, heart palpitations, insomnia, and
diarrhea

NICOTINE





Found in tobacco
Considered by many to be the most addictive
stimulant in use today
Affects levels of several neurotransmitters
Depending on amount and time smoked, can have
either sedative or stimulating effects
Can lead to numerous withdrawal symptoms, including
nervousness, headaches, and irritability
AMPHETAMINES
Chemically similar to epinepherine, a hormone
that activates the sympathetic nervous system
 Increase alertness as well as feelings of wellbeing
 Can cause euphoria followed by a crash,
including severe depression
 Leads to cycle of addiction

AMPHETAMINES
Forms can include methamphetamine and
ecstasy (MDMA)
 Ecstasy acts as both a stimulant and
hallucinogen
 Even short-term use of ecstasy may have longterm consequences

COCAINE
Blocks reabsorption of dopamine
 Produces increased alertness, motivation, and
euphoria
 Crash leads to anxiety, depression, and strong
cravings

HALLUCINOGENS
Substances that distort visual and auditory
perception
 LSD

 Produces
hallucinations and delusions similar to a
psychotic state
 Can result in psychosis, memory loss, paranoia,
panic attacks, nightmares and aggression
MARIJUANA

THC, the active ingredient in marijuana,
produces symptoms such as
 Mild
hallucinations
 Euphoria
 Enhanced sense of well-being
 Relaxation
 Distortion of time

Some users may experience anxiety and
paranoia
EXPLAINING ABUSE AND ADDICTION

Biological factors
 Some
people may be genetically predisposed to
addiction

Psychological, social, and cultural factors
 Expectations,
social setting, and cultural beliefs
and values can affect usage patterns
 Attitudes and beliefs about drug use may come
from family environment