States of Consciousness
LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SLEEP &
DREAMING, SLEEP DISORDERS, HYPNOSIS AND
DRUGS
Levels of Consciousness – Clearing up the language…
 Consciousness – Your awareness of the outside world,
yourself, and your thoughts, feelings and perceptions
 Preconscious – Memories and feelings that are outside of
our awareness, but easily accessible – Ex. “What happened
in the football games this weekend?”
 Unconscious/Subconscious – Psychodynamic concept –
All of the thoughts, feelings and desires that are not
available to our conscious mind – too inappropriate
 Non-Conscious – Bodily processes that occur totally
outside of our conscious awareness, such as blood flow and
hormonal activity
Getting your zzzzzz’s…Sleep and Dreaming
 Sleep is a combination of different states of
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consciousness
The amount of sleep we get varies – Newborns average
about 16-18 hours per day, most adults average about 7
AP Exam Review - What portions of the brain control
our levels of wakefulness, arousal and attention?
The Reticular Formation, Thalamus and Hypothalamus
Circadian Rhythm - physical, mental and behavioral
changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle
Stages of Sleep
 Brain Waves are measured
with
Electroencephalograms
(EEGs)
 Awake – Beta Waves
 Relaxed Wakefulness
(Hypnagogic State) – Alpha
Waves
 Two types of sleep – REM
and NREM – NREM is
divided into 4 stages
 Stage 1 – Theta Waves
 Stage 2 – Sleep Spindles – High
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frequency bursts of brain activity
Stage 3 – Transition stage.
Beginning of Delta Waves
Stage 4 – Deep sleep.
Delta (D Deep) Heart rate,
temperature, blood flow to the
brain are all reduced
Then, the countdown – 3,2,1
REM sleep – Paradoxical Sleep –
Eyes move, breathing is irregular,
heart rate increase, etc. but
muscles are relaxed.
Dreams
 Freud believed dreams revealed the secrets of the
unconscious – a safety valve for our desires
 Manifest Content – The story that we remembered
 Latent Content – The underlying meaning
 Activation-Synthesis Theory – Pons generates action
potentials, and then the dreamer creates a story line
 Key Question – Are dreams psychological
(Psychoanalysts) or physiological (A-S Theory)?
Sleep Disorders
 REM-Rebound – More
 Night Terrors – Childhood
time is spent in REM sleep
the night after a “bad sleep”
 Insomnia – The inability to
fall asleep or stay sleeping
 Narcolepsy – An awake
person falls asleep – Sudden
and uncontrollable – Usually
directly into REM sleep
 Sleep Apnea – Temporary
cessation of breathing
sleep disruption from Stage
4 sleep
 Sleepwalking/
Somnambulism Childhood sleep disruption
from Stage 4 sleep
 In both cases, usually nothing
is remembered in the
morning
Hypnosis
 Hypnosis – an altered state of consciousness – deep
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relaxation and heightened suggestibility
“When I ring this bell, you will begin to cluck like a
chicken”
May smell, taste, see or hear things that are not really there
Highly vivid and intense
High levels of focus
Manage pain, quit certain unwanted behaviors, relaxation,
etc.
Drugs
 Psychoactive Drugs – Substances that can pass through
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the blood/brain barrier to alter perception – Ex. Coffee
Depressants – Reduce the activity of the Central Nervous
System and induce relaxation – Barbiturates, tranquilizers &
alcohol – Valium, Xanax, “roofies”
Narcotics – CNS depressants – Opiates – Morphine,
opium, heroin – Relieve pain and induce sleep
Stimulants – Reduce inhibitions and increase motivational
centers of the brain – Caffeine, cocaine and Ecstasy
Hallucinogens – alter mood and distort perceptions –
LSD, PCP, Marijuana