SOSC 2GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Chapter 3: Sensation, Perception and Conscious Experience

PART 2

CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE

CONSCIOUSNESS: our awareness of how we think, feel, perceive, and experience the world.

o Waking consciousness: mental state that encompasses the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that occur when we are awake and reasonably alert.

o Altered state of consciousness: mental states that differ noticeably from normal waking consciousness.

DAYDREAMS: fantasies that people construct while awake; apparently effortless shifts in attention away from the here and now into a private world of make-believe; the urge to daydream seems to come in waves, surging about every 90 minutes and peaking between noon and 2 pm.

SLEEP and DREAMS

Stage 1: the state of transition between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves.

Stage 2: A sleep deeper than that of stage 1, characterized by a slower, more regular wave pattern, along with momentary interruptions of “sleep spindles.”Stage 3: A sleep characterized by slow brain waves, with greater peaks and valleys in the wave pattern than in stage 2 sleep.

Stage 4: The deepest stage of sleep, during which we are least responsive to outside stimulation.

(REM) Rapid Eye Movement sleep: Sleep occupying 20% of an adult’s sleeping time, characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing heart; erections; eye movements; and the experience of dreaming.

During the night, the typical sleeper passes through all four stages of sleep and several REM periods.

A night’s sleep across the life span. Sleep patterns change from childhood to young adulthood to old age. The shaded areas represent REM sleep, the stage of sleep that varies most dramatically across age groups. Note how many times older adults awaken during their hours of sleep.

SLEEP DISORDERSINSOMNIA

SLEEPTALKING and SLEEPWALKING

NIGHTMARES

NIGHT TERRORS

APNEA

NARCOLEPSY

Sleep disorder characterized by difficulty in falling asleep or remaining asleep throughout the night.

Occurs during stage 4; common among children than adults; boys are more likely to walk in their sleep than girls;

Frightening dreams that occur during REM sleep and are remembered.

Frightening, often terrifying dreams that occur during NREM sleep from which a person is difficult to awaken and doesn’t remember the content.

Sleep disorder characterized by breathing difficulty during the night and feelings of exhaustion during the day.

Hereditary sleep disorder characterized by sudden nodding off during the day and sudden loss of muscle tone, often following moments of emotional excitement.

DREAMS: Vivid visual and auditory experiences that occur primarily during REM periods of sleep.

WHY DO WE DREAM?Unconscious Wish Fulfillment Theory

Dreams-For-Survival Theory

Activation-Synthesis Theory

Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams represent unconscious wishes that dreamers desire to see fulfilled.

Latent content, the actual wishes are disguised.

Manifest content, the apparent story line of dreams.

The theory suggesting that dreams permit information that is critical for our daily survival to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep.

Dreams represent concerns about our daily lives, illustrating our uncertainties, indecisions, ideas, and desires.

Hobson’s theory that the brain produces random electrical energy during REM sleep that stimulates memories lodged in various portions of the brain.

The limbic system, which is involved with emotions, motivations, and memories, is wildly active during dreams.

Symbol (Manifest Content of Dream)

Interpretation (Latent Content)

Climbing up a stairway, crossing a bridge, riding an elevator, flying in an airplane, walking down a long hallway, entering a room, train travelling through a tunnel

Apples, peaches, grapefruits

Bullets, fire, snakes, sticks, umbrellas, guns, hoses, knives

Ovens, boxes, tunnels, closets, caves, bottles, ships

Sexual intercourse

Breasts

Male sex organs

Female sex organs

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS: Biological processes that occur regularly on approximately a 24-hour cycle.

TIPS FOR TREATING INSOMNIAWhat can people who have trouble sleeping do to ease their insomnia? Here are some suggestions:

Maintain regular bedtime hours. Establish a regular routine of activities performed just

before going to bed. Abstain from drugs, including those with alcohol or

caffeine. Adjust the room temperature to a comfortable level. Avoid foods, such as chocolate, that contains caffeine. Engage in regular daytime exercise, but avoid exercising

just before bedtime. Learn to relax and avoid anxiety-provoking thoughts at

bedtime. Don’t fight insomnia: If you can’t sleep, get up, work or

read for an hour or so, and then try to sleep again.

DRUG-ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS

Psychoactive drugs: chemical substances that change moods and perceptions.

Addictive drugs: drugs that produce a biological or psychological dependence in the user so that withdrawal from them leads to a craving for the drug that, in some cases, may be nearly irresistible.

Substance abuse: a pattern of drug use that diminishes the ability to fulfill responsibilities at home, work, or school; that results in repeated use of a drug in dangerous situations; or that leads to legal difficulties related to drug use.

Substance dependence: A pattern of compulsive drug-taking that results in tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, or other specific symptoms for at least a year.

Depressants: chemicals that slow down the action of the nervous system and its associated behaviors and cognitive processes.

Stimulants: chemicals that speed up the action of the nervous system and its associated behaviors and cognitive processes; drugs that have an arousal effect on the CNS, causing a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension.

Hallucinogens: chemicals that produce a significant disruption in waking consciousness.

Narcotics: Drugs that increase relaxation and relieve pain and anxiety.

Number of drinks consumed in two

hours

Alcohol in blood

(%)

Typical effects

2

3

4

7

9

12

15

0.05

0.08

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

Judgment, thought, and restraint weakened; tension released, giving carefree sensation

Tensions and inhibitions of everyday life lessened; cheerfulness

Voluntary motor action affected, making hand and arm movements, walk and speech clumsy

Severe impairment—staggering, loud, incoherent, emotionally unstable, 100 times greater traffic risk; exuberance and aggressive inclinations magnified

Deeper areas of brain affected, with stimulus-response and understanding confused; stuporous; blurred vision

Incapable of voluntary actions; sleepy; difficult to arouse; equivalent of surgical anesthesia

Comatose; centers controlling breathing and heartbeat anesthetized; death increasingly probable

Note: A drink refers to a typical 12-ounce bottle of beer, a 1.5 ounce of hard liquor, or a 5-ounce glass of wine.

The effects of alcohol. The quantities represent only rough benchmarks; the effects vary significantly depending on an individual’s weight, height, recent food intake, genetic factors, and even psychological state.

MEDITATION AND HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis: A trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others.

Hypnosis has been used successfully to solve practical human problems. In fact, psychologists working in many different areas have found hypnosis to be a reliable, effective tool. It has been applied to a number of areas, including the following:

o Controlling paino Reducing smokingo Treating psychological disorderso Assisting in law enforcement

o Improving athletic performance

Meditation: A learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness.

REFLECTION:1. Why have drug education campaigns largely been

ineffective in stemming the use of illegal drugs? Should the use of certain now-illegal drugs be made legal? Would it be more effective to stress reduction of drug use rather than a complete prohibition of drug use?

2. Why do you think people in almost every culture seek ways of altering their states of consciousness?

Reference: Feldman, R. S. (2010). Understanding Psychology. 9th Edition. McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. Morris, C.G.,et al. (2007). Psychology Concepts and Applications. Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey.

Prepared by:Mrs. Maria Angela L. Diopol

Instructor