AP Psychology
2.4 Consciousness
Consciousness
• Personal awareness of thoughts, sensations,
memories and the external world
• William James
– Ever-changing “stream” or “river”
– unbroken and continuous despite constant shifts
and changes
Levels of Awareness
• Controlled Processes
– Require focus, maximum attention
– Ex…writing an ACT essay
• Automatic Processes
– Require minimal attention
– Ex…walking in the mall while talking on the cell
phone
Levels of Awareness
• Subconscious
– Below conscious awareness
– Sleeping and dreaming
• No Awareness
– Biologically-based lowest level of awareness
– Being in a coma or under anesthesia
Freud’s: Levels of Awareness
Circadian Rhythms
• Biological process that systematically vary
over a period of about 24 hours
– 25 hours when time cues are removed
– 100 bodily processes rhythmically peak and dip
each day!
– Ex…Sleep-wake cycle, blood pressure, secretion of
different hormones, pulse rate
• Jet Lag / rotating work schedules
– Activities that disrupt normal circadian rhythms
– Lead to reduced concentration and fatigue
Jet Lag
Studying Sleep
• EEG (electroencephalograph)
• Detects and records brain-wave changes
• Shows that sleep consists of repeating pattern
of distinct stages
EEG Waves
Studying Sleep – other methods
EEG – Typical Nights Sleep
Two Basic Types of Sleep
• REM or rapid-eye-movement sleep
– Active sleep in which the sleeper’s eyes dart back
and forth behind closed eyelids
– Associated with dreaming
• NREM or non-rapid-eye-movement sleep
– Quiet sleep
– associated with slowing brain activity
– Divided into four stages
Stages of NREM
• Stage 1
– Period of light sleep that typically lasts only a few
minutes
– Characterized by slowing heart rate and
decreasing blood pressure
• Stage 2
– Period of true sleep that typically lasts 15 to 20
minutes
– Characterized by the periodic appearance of short
bursts of rapid, high-amplitude waves known as
sleep spindles
Stages of NREM
• Stage 3 and 4
– Periods of deep sleep that typically last 20 to 40
minutes
– Characterized by low levels of breathing, blood
pressure and hear rate
REM Sleep
• The initial four NREM stages typically last an
hour
• After completing Stage 4, the sleeper reverses
back through Stages 3 an 2 (sometimes 1) and
then enters REM
Paradoxical Sleep
• REM is often referred to as “paradoxical sleep”
• A paradox is a phenomenon that is
contradictory, but nonetheless true
• REM is paradoxical because it simultaneously
characterized by active eye movements and
the loss of muscle movement
• The suppression of voluntary muscle activity
prevents the sleeper from acting out dreams
Sleep Cycles
• In a typical night, a sleeping person
experience five 90-minute cycles of
alternating NREM and REM sleep
• The first REM episode is short. However, as
the night progresses, the REM phases
becomes longer and less time is spent in REM
Theories of Sleep
• The Restoration Theory of Sleep
– Sleep rejuvenates the mind and body
– REM restores mental and brain functions
– NREM restores key physical functions
– Supported by sleep deprivation studies
• REM Rebound – increase in REM sleep
Theories of Sleep
• The Adaptive Theory of Sleep
– Evolutionary psychologists
– Sleep patterns evolved so that both humans and
non-humans could conserve energy and avoid
predators
– Sleep is a necessary part of circadian rhythms
Theories of Dreams
• The Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic View
– Freud; Interpretation of Dreams
• “Royal road to unconscious”
– Insights into unconscious motives by expressing
hidden desires and conflicts
– Manifest content – story / actual dream
– Latent content – real unconscious meaning
– Theory is subjective and lacks scientific support
Freud - Dreams
Theories of Dreams
• The Activation-Synthesis View
– Sleep researcher J. Allan Hobson
– The dreaming brain is responding to its own
internally generated signals
– The grain synthesizes these spontaneous signals
into coherent patterns or dreams
– Dream out of random memories of neurons
– Dreams meaning comes from analyzing the
personal way in which a dream organizes images
Theories of Dreams
• Rosalind Cartwright – Problem Solving
– Way of solving everyday problems
– Find creative solutions / problem solve
• Information Processing
– Brain consolidates and stores info from the day
– Strengthening long term memory / Tie up loose
ends
– Like a computer
Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia
– Most common sleep disorder
– Characterized by persistent problems in falling
asleep, staying asleep, or awakening too early
– Psuedoinsomnia – erroneously thinking you don’t
get enough sleep
Sleep Disorders
• Sleep Apnea
– Common in overweight men over the age of 50
– Characterized by loud snoring, irregular breathing,
gasping for air, stop breathing (15-60 sec)
Sleep Disorders
• Sleepwalking (Somnambulism)
– Sleepwalking is much more common in children
than adults
– Characterized by an episode of walking or
performing other actions during stage 4 of NREM
sleep
Sleep Disorders
• Narcolepsy
– Sudden / irresistible onset of sleep during normal
wakeful periods
– Mild = ½-1 second / Severe = 10-20 minutes
Sleep Disorders
Night Terror
• Common in children 3-8
• NREM sleep (stage 4)
• Autonomic arousal
Nightmare
• Anxiety arousing
• REM sleep
• Stressed caused
• Persistent may reflect
emotional disturbance