Chapter 7: States of Consciousness
What is Consciousness?
•Consciousness has been defined by psychologists as our awareness of ourselves and our
environment.
•The awareness varies depending on our attention to the task at hand.
Ex:
Consciousness and Information Processing
•Consciousness describes what we are aware of but many things are processed outside of our
“consciousness.”
•Difficult or novel tasks require more conscious attention than well learned tasks.
•Consciousness has a limited capacity
Daydreams and Fantasies
•Almost everyone daydreams at one point or another.
•Fantasy-prone personality: Why Might Daydreaming Be Helpful and Adaptive for Humans?
Biological Rhythms
•Biological Rhythms: periodic physiological fluctuations built into human beings.
Ex: .
•Circadian Rhythm: biological clock that regulates body rhythms on a 24 hour cycle
Ex..larks vs. owls.
Is P.M.S. A Myth?!?
•“Premenstrual Syndrome:
•Human tendency to remember instances that confirm our beliefs.
•Placebos work the same
•Sadness, lethargic,irritability, headaches, insomnia
Sleep
•Sleep:
•Using an EEG, sleep researchers have shown the mind is “awake” during various stages of
sleep.
Sleep Stages: Stage 1
•As we lay with our eyes closed we are in an awake but highly relaxed state characterized by
alpha waves (_______________________) being emitted from our brain.
•As we fall asleep, we have a 50% decrease in alpha wave activity…sometimes referred to as
“drowsy sleep.”
•During Stage 1 sleep, we often experience hallucinations: false sensory experiences.
Ex:
Second Stage: Sleep Spindles
•After about 5 minutes in stage 1 sleep, you sleep into Stage 2 sleep which is characterized by
Sleep Spindles:
•Stage where you are clearly asleep, sleep talking can occur in this stage or any other later stage.
•20 minutes
Stage Three: Transition Stage
•Stage Three begins your descent into “slow wave sleep.”
•Delta Waves: (_____________________________________________________) begin
appearing in stage 3 but are increasingly apparent in Stage 4.
Stage Four: Delta Waves
•Stage of deep sleep characterized by Delta Waves.
•Stage when you are hard to awaken…but still aware of stimuli around you.
•Also experience night terrors.
Night Terrors
Occur during late stage 4 sleep and are characterized by high arousal and an appearance of terror
but are seldom remembered.
R.E.M. Sleep (Paradoxical Sleep)
•After stage 4, your bodies cycles back to stage 3, stage 2, and into REM sleep.
•A Normal Sleep cycle lasts about ________________ minutes.
•R.E.M.: rapid eye movement sleep, stage where vivid dreams occur. Known as Paradoxical
because _________________________________________________________________
•Heart rate increases, Breathing more rapid, eyes dart behind lids.
•Genitals become aroused during R.E.M. sleep even when dreams are not sexual in nature.
•As sleep cycle continues, R.E.M. sleep gets longer and longer.
So Why Do We Sleep?
Sleep Function
•Theories:
•1. Sleep protects
•2. Helps us recuperate
•3. Might help us grow
Sleep Disorders
1.Insomnia: ___________________________________________________________________
•10-15 % of adults
•Sleeping pills and alcohol might make it worse
–Less REM sleep
2.Narcolepsy:
__________________________________________________________________
–Usually 5 minutes
–1 in 2000 ppl
•R.E.M. sleep occurs at wrong time. Very little N.R.E.M. sleep goes directly to R.E.M.
•Cause- :_______________________________________________________________
3.Sleep Apnea: ________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
•Often complained about as “snoring.”
•Often interrupts deep sleep stages leaving person feeling exhausted.
Tips for Sleeping
What’s the Meaning Of Dreams? Depends Who You Ask!
•Psychoanalytic Theorists like Freud will argue that dreams represent the royal road to the
“unconscious.” Dreams represent unresolved wishes/desires and discharge feelings that would
be unacceptable if consciously voiced.
•Sigmund Freud- _________________________________ (1900)–wish fulfillment
–
•Manifest Content: ___________________________________________________________
•Latent Content: _____________________________________________________________
As Information Processing
– helps consolidate the day’s memories
–Stimulates neural development
What’s The Meaning of Dreams? Depends Who You As
•Physiological Function of Dreams: periodic brain activity associated with R.E.M. sleep gives
the brain needed activity to make neural connections.

•Activation-Synthesis Theory: dreams are result of brain’s attempt to make sense of random
neural activity. Visual cortex among other areas like the Limbic System are active during
R.E.M. sleep.

•Dreams As Part of Cognitive Development: all mammals experience R.E.M. sleep and many
researchers believe it helps facilitate cognitive development.
•R.E.M. Rebound: tendency for R.E.M. sleep to increase following deprivation.

•Lucid Dreams:
What do we dream about?
•Sex-
Hypnosis
Hypnosis- a social interaction in which one person ( the hypnotist) suggests to another ( the
subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts or behaviors will occur
Can anyone Experience Hypnosis?
Can Hypnosis Enhance Recall of Forgotten Events?
Can hypnosis force people to act against their will?
Can Hypnosis Alleviate Pain ?
Is Hypnosis an Altered State of Consciousness?
Hypnosis As A Divided Consciousness
•Explains hypnosis not as a unique “trance state” where the “subconscious” is under control by
the hypnotist but rather as a split in awareness caused by the “subjective experience of
hypnosis.”
•
Hilgard’s Hidden Observer
•Hidden Observer: describes hypnotized subject’s awareness of experiences, such as pain, that
go unreported during hypnosis.
–
Hypnosis Concepts: Can Hypnosis Have an Effect After The Session?
•Posthypnotic Amnesia: supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis;
induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion.

•Posthypnotic Suggestion: a suggestion made during a hypnosis session that will be carried out
after hypnosis session is over.

Monism vs. Dualism:.
•Dualism: argues that the mind and body are two distinct entities that interact. The “mind” is
nonphysical and can exist apart from the physical body.
•
•Monism argues that the mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.
•Mind and body cannot be separated without bodies we are nobodies.
•______________________ along with many philosophers and scientists support this
viewpoint.
Drugs
Altered Consciousness and Drugs
Psychoactive Drug: Any chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood.
Three Basic Categories:
Depressants:
Stimulants:
Hallucinogens:
Why Do Drugs Mess People Up?
No matter what type of drug from alcohol to cocaine, drugs work at the neurological
level and at the brain’s synapses.
Drugs and Social Expectations
Drug experiences vary depending on the culture you are in.
Often people act how they think they should act when on a certain drug.
Ex: Alcohol belief studies.
Depressants
Alcohol: suppresses parts of the brain that control judgment, inhibitions, and can
seriously alter physical functioning in high doses (balance, memory, consciousness,
death).


Barbiturates: depress CNS and reduce anxiety but impair memory and judgment.
Ex:
Opiates: opium and its derivatives, depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain
and anxiety.
Ex:
Opiates usually mimic endorphins; causes massive craving and addiction because
body stops producing its natural opiates.
Stimulants
Wide variety of substances fall under the category of stimulants including:





Speed up heart rate and breathing rates, often use to keep awake, lose weight, or to
boost mood.
All stimulants can become highly addictive and often come with a “crash” when high is
over with
Cocaine: powerful stimulant usually snorted or smoked that induces 15 to 30 minute
“rush.” Crack produces even quicker and more intense high but lasts shorter period of
time.


Methamphetamine: (____________________)causes increases in alertness and
may cause increase in energy and produce a euphoria.
Often leads to extreme addiction, insomnia, nervousness, or even seizures.
Hallucinogens
Also called psychedelics: are drugs that produce false and heightened sensory
experiences.
Most well known hallucinogen is LSD: (lysergic acid diethylamine): probably most
powerful hallucinogen.
Other examples include: _____________________________________________
Marijuana: consists of flowers and leaves from the hemp plant and when smoked or
ingested acts as a mild hallucinogen.
Relaxes,disinhibits, and impairs motor functions of individuals while at the same time
amplifying sensitivity to colors, sounds, tastes, and smells.
Main active ingredient=___________________
In recent years, Marijuana has also been promoted for medical use.
Advocates say that marijuana serves as relief for people suffering from intense
pain, nausea, or that have trouble eating.
Although the medical community is split on issue, most recognize the toxicity of
the smoke is a definite drawback to using the drug medically.
Marijuana also disrupts _____________________________________________
General Concepts and Drugs
Physical vs. Psychological Dependence
Tolerance:
Withdrawal:
Influences on Drug Use
Perception of the risk involved with a drug helps predict levels of use.
Also evidence that there may be biological influences in drug use. Couple examples:
Identical twin with alcoholism other twin has ______________________risk.
Molecular geneticists have found ___________________ that is more common
in people with alcoholism.
_______________________________ is perhaps most powerful.
Family strength, religiousness, morality are near as big as predictors as whether or
not peers use drugs. If your friends do drugs, odds are high that you may do them too.
Why many addicts have to change their social networks in order to remain drug free.