PSY 2012 General Psychology
Chapter 3: States Consciousness
Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
The Department of Psychology
The University of West Florida
States of Consciousness
• Think of your walk to class. What do you
see?
• Think of your last time to eat in a
restaurant off campus.
– What did you have to eat?
– What did the main course taste like?
States of Consciousness
• What is consciousness?
• Where is consciousness located?
• What does it mean to alter our state of
consciousness?
• What does it mean to lose consciousness?
What is consciousness?
• Zimbardo et al. (2006):
– “The process by which the brain creates a
model of internal and external experience.”
pg. 90
What is consciousness?
• Vaitl, et al. (2005): Dimensions of
consciousness:
– Activation:
• highly aroused to highly relaxed state of the
organism
– Awareness span:
• wide-ranging focus to narrowly focused attention
What is consciousness?
– Self awareness
– Absorption of sense of self in the present to forgetting
oneself
– Sensory dynamics
• Intense sensory experience to unaltered sensory
experience
Factors Impacting States of Consciousness
Vaitl, et al. (2005)
• Intact brain tissue
– Changes can come from injury, drugs, etc.
• Balanced metabolic system
– Brain chemistry, nutrients, etc.
• Moderate level of arousal
– Balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic
systems
Factors Impacting States of Consciousness
Vaitl, et al. (2005)
• Balance between excitatory and inhibitory networks
– Neurotransmitters and neuroinhibitors functioning normally
(see chapter 2; can be impacted by drugs or disease)
• Midrange environmental conditions
– Intensity, frequency, & duration are within the working and
adaptive range of the sense organs
• Alteration of any one or combination of these
conditions can lead to an altered state of
consciousness
The Conscious, Preconscious and
Unconscious Mind
• Conscious mind
– Contains the contents of our immediate
experiences (Vaitl’s awareness span)
– Information in the conscious mind can be
purposefully manipulated
– Distractible yet can be controlled
The Conscious, Preconscious and
Unconscious Mind
• Preconscious mind
– Contains memory traces that can be recalled
with relative ease
– Most likely associated with information that
can be retrieved from our “long term” memory
(memories that are retained over time)
The Conscious, Preconscious and
Unconscious Mind
• Unconscious mind:
– Multiple interpretations
• Freud—locus of deep seated and largely
inaccessible drives and desires; only accessible
through psychotherapy
• Neuroscience—those processes operating below
the level of consciousness (see example of
priming, pg. 96 of Zimbardo et al., 2006)
States of Consciousness
• Daydreaming—likely a sense of drift in the
awareness span
– Unintentional thoughts; not goal directed
– Decreased vigilance to immediate
surroundings
States of Consciousness
• Sleep—likely a change in activation,
sensory dynamics
– Sleep Cycle (REM, NonREM)
• Circadian Rhythms—normal sleep-wake cycle
based on an approximately 24hour cycle
• Likely controlled by a function of the hypothalamus
• Sensitive to dark-light cycles
– Sleep Deprivation
• Less than 7 to 9 hours of sleep can create
dysfunctional performance
• Lowered cognitive performance
• Drowsiness
• Sleep deprivation and moderate alcohol
impairment similar
States of Consciousness
• Sleep—Dreaming
– Sense of virtual reality
– Typically visual sensations
– Some covert speech
– Increased motor activity
– Sense of social interaction
– Typically contains a narrative structure
• (Vaitl, et al., 2005)
States of Consciousness
• Sleep—Dreaming
– Contents of our dreams vary by culture and
individual experiences (e.g. gender)
– Dreams during REM tend to be remembered
better than dreams during non-REM sleep
States of Consciousness
• Hypnosis—likely a change in activation,
awareness span, self awareness, and sensory
dynamics
– Individuals who are highly vulnerable to
suggestion are most easily hypnotized
– Hypnosis linked to increased awareness,
lower activation, suggestibility
– Hypnosis like states include concentration in
Lamaze method
States of Consciousness
• Meditation—likely a change in activation,
awareness span, self awareness, and sensory
dynamics
– Frequently associated with frontal lobe changes
– Increases sense of control over consciousness
• Activation: typically relaxed
• Awareness span: can range from wide to narrow
• Self awareness: can range from absorption to
dissociation
• Sensory dynamics: typically enhanced sensory
experience
States of Consciousness
• Psychoactive Drug States—likely a change in
activation, awareness span, self awareness, and
sensory dynamics
– Balanced metabolic system: can bring about
changes in metabolic rates
– Moderate level of arousal: depressants
decrease arousal; stimulants increase arousal
– Balance between excitatory (neurotransmitters)
and inhibitory (neuroinhibitors) networks:
depressants reduce transmitters stimulants
increase transmitters and decrease inhibitors