Chapter 7
States of Consciousness
Consciousness
• Mental awareness of sensations,
perception, memories, and feelings
• Mainly waking consciousness
• Altered states of consciousness (changes
in quality and pattern of mental activity,
such as sleep and dreaming)
Sleep
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Sleep-deprivation psychosis
EEG measures sleep activity
Awake, alert: beta waves (small, fast)
Immediately before sleep: alpha waves
(larger and slower)
4 Stages of Sleep
• 1. Light sleep: heart rate slows, muscles
relax
2. Body temp. decreases: EEG shows sleep
spindles, boundary of sleep
3. Delta waves (very large and slow): deeper
sleep, decreased consciousness
4. Deep sleep: shift between light and deep sleep during
the night
REM Sleep
• Rapid eye movement, associated with
dreaming
• Increased by day-time stress
• Early in life: may stimulate the developing
brain
• In adults: help process emotional events,
integrate memories
Sleep Disturbances
• Insomnia: difficulty going to sleep, waking up
during night, early-morning awakening
• Temporary insomnia may be due to stress
• Sleepwalking
• Nightmares are bad dreams that occur in REM
and are remembered
• Night terrors occur in Stage 4: total panic,
hallucinations, not remembered
• Imagery rehearsal: imagine positive ending to
nightmare
Sleep Disturbances
• Narcolepsy: sudden, irresistible sleep
attacks
• Fall directly into REM
• More than 50% also have cataplexy
(sudden temporary paralysis of muscles)
• Treated with Ritalin
Sleep Disturbances
• Sleep apnea: breathing stops
• Snore loudly
• Tired during the day
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or
“crib death”
• Risk factors: prematurity, teen mother
high-pitched cry, frequent awakening
Dreams
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Most people dream 4 to 5 times per night
Most dreams reflect everyday events
Half of dreams have sexual elements
Reflect waking thoughts, emotions,
fantasies
Psychodynamic Dream Theory
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Freud wrote The Interpretation of Dreams
Dreams based on wish fulfillment
Expression of unconscious desires
Desires are disguised as dream symbols
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
• Hobson and McCarley
• During REM, brain cells activated that control
eye movement, balance, and actions
• Messages blocked from body (no movement)
• Cells tell brain of activities, lead to a dream
• Brain activated, triggers sensations, memories,
synthesize activity into visual images and stories
Hypnosis
• Altered state of consciousness
• Narrowed attention and increased
openness to suggestions
• Began with Mesmer in the 1700’s
• When hypnotized, people remain in control
of their behavior and do not do things that
they feel are immoral or repulsive
• Used for pain relief
Drug-Altered Consciousness
• Psychoactive Drug: substance capable of
altering attention, judgment, memory, time
sense, self-control, emotion or perception
• Influence activity of brain cells, imitate or
alter neurotransmitters
• Stimulant: increases activity in body and
nervous system
• Depressant: decreases activity in body
and nervous system
Dependence
• Physical dependence (addiction): most
common with drugs that cause withdrawal
symptoms (alcohol, barbiturates, opiates)
• Psychological dependence: drug is
necessary for feelings or comfort, wellbeing
Patterns of Abuse
• Experimental: short-term curiosity
• Social-recreational: occasional social use
for pleasure
• Situational: cope with specific problem
• Intensive: daily use with some
dependence
• Compulsive: extreme use with extreme
dependence
Stimulants
• Amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA, caffeine, nicotine
• Cocaine: CNS stimulant, highly addictive, effects last 15
to 30 minutes, one of most dangerous drugs of abuse
• MDMA (“Ecstasy”): lowers scores on tests of memory
and mental functioning.
• Caffeine: most frequently used psychoactive drug in
North America, abuse causes irritability, insomnia
• Nicotine: most used psychoactive substance after
caffeine, addictive, carcinogenic
Depressants
• Sedatives, tranquilizers, alcohol
• Barbiturates: sedative drugs, decrease brain
activity, can OD because people forget they took
them
• Tranquilizers: decrease anxiety, strong addictive
potential, interaction with ETOH multiplies the
effects of both (Valium, Xanax, Halcion, Librium)
• Alcohol: impairs memory in young adults,
abusers drink to cope, genetic factors
Hallucinogens
• LSD
• Marijuana: sense of euphoria, perceptual
distortions, paranoia and hallucinations in
high doses, psychological dependence,
some decrease in learning, memory,
attention.
Predictors of Adolescent Drug Use
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Having friends who use drugs
Parental drug use
Delinquency
Troubled family life
Poor self-esteem
Social nonconformity
Stressful life changes
Impulsive, antisocial behavior, school failure