Consciousness

Chapter 4

What is Consciousness? • Does it exist?

• Can it be studied through scientific method?

• Psychologists did not study Consciousness for a long time

• “The time seems to have come when psychology must discard all references to consciousness”

• Studied more in the past few decades

• Cannot capture the richness of human experience without studying consciousness

4.1 What is Consciousness?

Consciousness as a Construct

• Consciousness is a psychological construct

– Can’t be seen, touched, or measured directly

– Known for their effects on behavior

What is Consciousness? • Consciousness = sensory awareness of the

environment

• Vision allows us to see (or be conscious of ) snow

• Hearing – concert

What is Consciousness? • Selective attention

• Focusing on a particular stimulus

• Adaptation to environment

– What needs attended to and what can be safely ignored

• Selective attention makes sense keener

What is Consciousness? • Cocktail party effect

• Pick out the speech of a single person across a crowded room at a party

• Selective attention also plays a role in the advertising and marketing ploys we notice

• TV commercials – what stimuli make them front and center in your awareness

Meanings of Consciousness

• Consciousness as Sensory Awareness – Aware of things outside

yourself – Selective attention –

focusing on a particular stimulus (makes our senses keener)

– Tend to be very conscious of sudden changes & unusual or intense stimuli

What is Consciousness? • Sudden Change – cool breeze

• Novel Stimuli – dog runs into our classroom

• Intense stimuli – bright colors

• Repetitive Stimuli – same TV commercial a dozen times over

What is Consciousness? • Close your eyes

• Imagine spilling a can of bright-red paint across a black tabletop

• Watch it spread across the floor

• Is this image vivid?

• Open your eyes.

• Neither your eyes nor your other senses experienced this

• You were conscious of the image through direct awareness

Meanings of Consciousness

• Consciousness as Direct Inner Awareness

– Being aware of things inside yourself, can’t use any of your senses, but still know it exists (images, emotions, memories)

Meanings of Consciousness

• Consciousness as Sense of Self

– Aware of ourselves and our existence

– Ability to understand that we are unique individuals, separate from others and surroundings

Levels of Consciousness

1. Conscious Level

2. Preconscious Level

3. Unconscious Level

4. Nonconscious Level

Preconscious Level • Ideas aren’t in your awareness

right now, but are retrievable

• Readily available

• What did you eat for breakfast?

• You weren’t thinking of breakfast, but you could recall quickly

Unconscious Level • AKA Subconscious

• Unavailable to awareness under most circumstances

• Use defense mechanisms to push painful or unacceptable ideas out of our consciousness

• Protect ourselves from guilt, anxiety, and shame

• Repression – allow us to avoid these feelings

• Suppression – choose to stop thinking about unacceptable ideas or distractions

Nonconscious Level

• Many of our basic biological functions exist on this level

• Hair growing / pupils adjusting / breathing (exchange of CO2 and O2)

• If we were aware of everything...we’d go nuts!

Consciousness as Personal Unity • Differentiate ourselves from that which is not us

• Consciousness is “self”

• Forms intentions and guides behavior

• Sense of self

Consciousness as the Waking State • Conscious is the waking state

• Opposite is sleep

• Altered states of consciousness: sleep, meditation, hypnotic “trance”, distorted perceptions that can accompany use of conscious-altering drugs

• Rest of this unit will be altered states of consciousness

Section 2: Sleep & Dreams

Sleep Facts

• 1/3 of our adult lives are spent in sleep

• Experts recommend 8 hours of sleep a night

– A typical US adult gets a little less than 7 hours a night

– 1/3 of adult Americans get 6 hours or less of sleep a night during the work week

– 1/3 admit that lack of sleep impairs their ability to function during the day

Circadian Rhythms

• Biological clocks that control animals / plants / humans

• Control changes in body temperature, blood pressure, sleepiness & wakefulness, appetite, etc.

• Sleep-Wake Cycle is most studied circadian rhythm

• 24 hours (because of Earth’s rotation)

• But really somewhere between 24-25 when cues are taken away

• Stages 1-4 of Sleep = NREM Sleep

• Stage 5 = REM Sleep

BrainWave and Sleep

• Frequencies: # of waves per second

• Amplitude: height of wave; an index of strength

• Alpha waves: 8-13 cycles per second

– Low amplitude; high frequency

• Theta waves: 6-8 cycles per second

– Low frequency; low amplitude

• Delta waves: 1-3 cycles per second

– Low frequency; high amplitude

Stage 1 & 2 • Stage 1: brainwaves slow – alpha waves

• Twilight Stage…

• Lightest sleep

• Brain waves slow to theta waves

• Brief dreamlike images

• If woken up, we can usually recall these images & feels like we didn’t sleep at all

• Lose perception of time

• Stay here for 30-40 minutes

Stage 2 Sleep Spindles

• Sleep spindle: brief bursts of rapid brain activity: 12-16 cycles per second

• Happens in stage 2

Stage 3 & 4 • Begin delta waves (slowest brain waves)

– 1-3 cycles per second

– Stage 4 .5-2 cycles per second

• Deepest Sleep

• Difficult to wake up

• Lasts for nearly 1 hour

• Bed-wetting, sleepwalking, talking, eating in sleep usually occur during Stage 4

• 5 trips through stages of sleep a night

REM Sleep

• Rapid-Eye-Movement Sleep

• First dream may last 10 minutes, lengthen as night progresses, last dream may last 45 min

• Nearly impossible to wake up

• Irregular breathing, blood pressure rises, heart beats faster, brain waves similar to Stage 1 waves

Why We Sleep

• Revive tired body

• Build up resistance to infection

• Help us recover from stress

• Sleep deprivation leads to hallucinations, speech difficulty, memory lapse (really dangerous)

• Consolidate learning and memories

• Helps infants brains develop

Not Getting Enough Sleep

• Impairment on concentration and performance

• Attention, learning, and memory deteriorate

• Like being intoxicated

• All nighters are sometimes like this

– Will show deficiencies after time

• Dangerous driving

– 1500 deaths per year

How Much Sleep Do You Need

• Partially genetically determined

• Sleep helps us recover from stress

• During episodes of depression, more sleep is needed

• Newborns – 16 hours

• Teens – 12 hours

• Older people need less sleep – myth – Often interrupted by the need to go to the

bathroom or other physical discomfort

Sleep Deprivation

• REM-Rebound Sleep or jump right into Stage 4 Sleep

• If deprived of REM

– Learn slower

– Forget what you learned easier

– Slower brain development in infants

– Not giving the brain ‘exercise’ in adults

Sleep, Learning and Memory

• REM deprived interferes with memory

• REM rebounds – spend more time in REM sleep during subsequent sleep periods

• Fetuses have periods of waking and sleeping

– REM sleep may foster development of the brain before birth

Dreams • Imagery in the absence of external stimulation

but can seem real

• Most likely to experience vivid imagery in dreams during REM sleep

• Can have up to 5 dreams per night – 5 sleep cycles

• Nightmares – generally during REM sleep

Residue of the Day

• Most dreams involved memories of the activities and problems of the day

• People and experiences from our daily life

• Include things we are preoccupied with

– Death, illness, moral dilemmas

• Traumatic events can spawn nightmares

• Frequent nightmare sufferers are more likely to have feelings of anxiety and depression

Expression of Unconscious Desires

• Freud theorized that dream content includes unconscious wishes and urges that we may censor during the day

• Content of dreams is symbolic of unconscious fantasized objects

• Freud would spend time interpreting his clients’ dreams

Freud

• Dreams reflect a person’s unconscious wishes and urges

• Painful or unacceptable wishes would be most likely to appear in dreams

• Dream in symbols

– to deal with painful material that we couldn’t deal with consciously

Freudian Dream Symbols

• Manifest – Teachers police, bosses, etc.

• Latent - Parents

• Manifest – monsters, wild creatures

• Latent – The “id” (our animal) – nature, anger, aggression and anti-social desires

• Manifest – guns, knives, ties, keys, fish, snakes, etc.

• Latent – Penis, phallic symbol, male sex organ

• Manifest – boxes, caves, doorways, hallways, locks, windows, closets, tunnels, etc.

• Latent – vagina, female sex organ

• Manifest – going up and down steps, ladders, elevators, roller coasters, etc.

• Manifest – diving, swimming, dancing, riding a horse, etc.

• Latent – having sex

• Manifest – money or mud

• Latent – excrement

• Latent (for money) – potty training issues

Activation-Synthesis Model of Dreams

• Scientific approach

• Acetycholine (neurotransmitter) and pons (part of brain regulating sleep) stimulate response that lead to dreaming

• Activation of reticular activating system (RAS) arouses us but does not wake us

• RAS also stimulates parts of the cortex involved in memory and the cortex then synthesizes these memories together

• Frontal lobes of brain are not active, so dreams tend to be emotional rather than plot-filled

• Dreams helps us consolidate memories

Lucid Dreaming

• Being aware that you are dreaming

• May be able to control the dream

http://www.wikihow.com/Lucid-Dream

http://dailyinfographic.com/how-to-control-your-dreams-infographic

The Biopsychological Approach

• Neurons fire in movement and vision areas of the brain while we sleep

• Brain tries to make sense random neuron bursts

• May be why we usually dream about events that took place earlier in the day

Secrets to Better Sleep

• http://dailyinfographic.com/the-secret-to-better-sleep-infographic

Sleep Disorders

• Nightmares are NOT sleep disorders

• Sleep disorder – other problems that can seriously interfere with our functioning

Insomnia • Inability to fall asleep

• Racing mind at bedtime

• Increases during times of anxiety

• Sleeping pills could help, but not best method

• As many as ½ American Adults have this

Try the following techniques if you suffer from insomnia:

1. Tense muscles one at a time, then let tension go. This helps to relax the body.

2. Avoid worrying in bed. If worrying persists, get up for a while.

3. Establish a regular routine, particularly for getting up and going to sleep each day.

4. Use pleasant images or daydreams to relax. These may occur naturally, or people may have to focus on creating them.

Narcolepsy • Rare disorder

• Fall asleep regardless of time / location

• Fall immediately into REM sleep

• Dangerous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zVCYdrw-1o&safe=active http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0h2nleWTwI&safe=active

Sleep Apnea

• Apnea – interruption in breathing

• Don’t start breathing again until sit up gasping for air

• Don’t feel like they get a full night’s rest

• Air passages are blocked = snoring

Sleep Apnea • 10 million Americans have sleep apnea – due to

obesity and chronic loud snoring

• Related to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes

• Causes may include anatomical deformities that clog air passages and problems in the breathing center of the brain

Night Terrors

• Severe nightmares during Stages 3 & 4 Sleep

• Heart races, sweat, cry, gasp for air, thrash around

• Most common among kids

• Causes: Medication, sleep-deprivation, fever, stress

Sleepwalking

• Common in childhood

• During deep sleep stages

• May respond to questions, but won’t remember in the morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grEypMDqvTE&safe=active

Deep Sleep Disorders

• Bed wetting: stems from immaturity of the nervous system

– Behavior therapy methods help

– Children often outgrow

• Half of children talk in their sleep now and then

Section 3:

Meditation, Biofeedback & Hypnosis

Altered States of Consciousness

• A person’s sense of self or sense of the world changing

• Sleep, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, drugs

• Involves focusing on stimuli that are not common parts of our daily life

Hypnosis

• Altered state of consciousness where people are highly suggestible and appear to be in a trance

• Derived from the Greek word for sleep

• Franz Mesmer (mesmerize) in the 18th century

Franz Mesmer

• Asserted that everything in the universe was connected by forms of magnetism

• Claimed people could be drawn by “animal Magnetism”

– Not true

• Used bizarre props to put people under spells

• Managed to “cure” people

• Scientists argue this was the placebo effect

Hypnosis

• Today hypnosis is popular

• Anesthetic in dentistry, childbirth and surgery

• Reduce anxiety, overcome fears, lessen perception of chronic pain

• 241 surgery patients – patients who were hypnotized needed less additional pain medicine and experienced less anxiety

Hypnosis

• Enhances the function of immune system

• Weight loss

• Stop smoking

• Prompt memories of witnesses in crime cases

Hypnotic Trance

• Induced by asking people to focus on a small light or spot on the wall or hypnotist voice

• Suggest your limbs are becoming warm, heavy and relaxed

• “You are becoming very sleepy”

• Hypnosis is not sleep – hypnotic trance

• Research on brains during hypnosis – PET scans

Hypnotic Suggestibility

• People who are easily hypnotized

• Knowledge of what is expected in “trance state”

• Prone to fantasy and want to cooperate

• Pay close attention to instructions

• Unlikely to be hypnotized against your will

Explaining Hypnosis

• Freud – hypnotized adults permit themselves to return to childish modes of responding that emphasize fantasy and impulse rather than fact and logic

Explaining Hypnosis

• Role Theory – by Theodore Sabin

• People allow themselves to enact this role under the hypnotist’s direction.

• Behaviors seen while hypnotized can be easily replicated when people are asked to behave as though they were hypnotized

• People allow themselves to enact the role

Explaining Hypnosis

• Response set theory: response expectancies play a role in the production of personal experiences

• A response set is created in which the subject is more likely to follow further suggestions

Hypnosis

• when people respond to suggestions and behave as if they’re in a trance

• Many scientists skeptical (Brain waves don’t change while under)

• Used as an anesthetic, to reduce anxiety, manage pain, overcome fears

Meditation

• Used to narrow consciousness so that the stresses of the outside world fade away

• Focus on peaceful, repetitive stimulus

Meditation

• Refers to the various ways of focusing one’s consciousness to alter one’s relationship to the world often within spiritual context

• Refers to various ways of focusing one’s consciousness to alter one’s relationship to the world

• Can also refer to the way people suspend thinking and allow the world to fade away

Meditation

• Rituals, exercises and passive observation

• Activities that alter the normal relationship between the person and the enviornment

• Suspend problem solving, planning and worries

• Alter consciousness

• Help people cope with stress, anxiety and help people to relax

Meditation -TM

• Transcendental Meditation

• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 1959

• Mantras – words or sounds that claimed to help people achieve an altered state of consciousness

• Repeat same word or sound

Meditation -TM

• Cannot be assessed scientifically

• Expanding consciousness to encompass spiritual experiences

• Reduce anxiety

• Lower blood pressure

Meditation -MM

• Mindfulness Meditation

• No pretense of achieving spiritual goals but instead provides clients with techniques they can use to focus on the present moment rather than ruminate about problems

• Helps cope with depression and stress

• Brain imaging shows this activates neural structures involved in attention and in control of autonomic nervous system, helping people relax

Explaining Hypnosis

• Freud – people return to childish ways of behaving

• Role Theory – part of a play, not faking it because they want to do it

Posthypnotic Suggestion

• Therapist gives instructions during hypnosis that can be carried out after session has ended

• To quit smoking or overeating

Biofeedback

• Provides information about bodily functions including heart rate

• Used to combat stress, tension and anxiety

• Electromyograph (EMG) often used to monitor muscle tension

• Each of these helps people relax, control anxiety and tension

Section 4:

Drugs & Consciousness

Altering Consciousness Through Drugs

• Psychoactive drugs: drugs that can distort perceptions and change moods

Substance Abuse and Dependence

• Abuse: repeated use of a substance despite the fact that it is causing or compounding social, occupational, psychological and physical problems

• Dependence: more severe than abuse; often characterized by loss of control with use, tolerance and/or abstinence syndrome

Substance Abuse and Dependence

• Tolerance: body’s habituation to a substance so that higher doses are required

• Abstinence Syndrome – characteristic group of withdrawal symptoms when use of the drug suddenly drops off

– Anxiety, tremors, shakiness, rapid pulse, sweating

Causal Factors in Abuse and Dependence

• Why experiment with drugs: curiosity; conform to peer pressure; parental use; rebellion; escape from boredom or pressure; seeing excitement

• Psychological views:

– Self medicate

– Social cognitive theory: people may use drugs as suggestions from others

– Learning theory – reinforcement

– Biological views- genetics

Depressants

• Drugs that slow the activity of the nervous system

• “downers”

Alcohol – Intoxication – slurs speech,

blurs vision, difficulty concentrating, lose judgment

– ½ of fatal car wrecks involved alcohol

– Can lead to addiction

– Causes liver problems, heart problems, cancer, and beer guts

http://chartsbin.com/view/1016

Alcohol – Provides relief from anxiety, depression or

loneliness

– 10-20 million Americans are alcoholics

– Most abused drug

– Binge drinking

– 4 College students are killed each day

– 44% of college students binge at least twice a month

– More men than women become alcoholics

http://chartsbin.com/view/1016

Narcotics

• Most derived from opium poppy plant

• Morphine, heroin, and codeine

– Morphine known as “the soldier’s disease”

– Heroin the “hero” drug to cure morphine addiction • Taken intravenously

• Now use methadone – human-made opioid – slower acting

– Awful withdrawal symptoms

Narcotics

• Opioids are similar in structure but synthetically derived

• Heroin: cause strong euphoric rushes – drowsiness and stupor, alter perceptions of time and impair judgment

• Withdrawal: flu-like symptoms, tremors, cramps, chills, alternating with sweating, rapid pulse, high blood pressure, insomnia, vomiting diarrhea

Stimulants

• Increase activity of the nervous system

• “Uppers”

• Nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine

Nicotine

• Spurs release of adrenaline, reduces appetite

• Extremely addictive

• Up to 20x more likely to die from lung cancer

• Secondhand smoke connected to cancer, breathing problems, etc.

Nicotine

• Stimulant discharge of adrenaline (hormone) and neurotransmitter (dopamine, acetycholine, GABA and endorphins)

• Enhance memory and attention

• Improve performance on simple tasks

• Enhance mood

• Relax and reduce stress

Nicotine • Addictive

• Withdrawal symptoms: nervousness, drowsiness, loss of energy, headaches, irregular bowel movements, lightheadedness, insomnia, dizziness, cramps, palpitations, tremors, sweating

• 430,000 Americans die from smoking – related illnesses each year

• Hydrocarbons (tar) leads to lung cancer

• Women who smoke show reduced bone density

• Pregnant women = low birth weight babies, higher miscarriages, preterm births, stillborn babies

Nicotine

• Second hand smoke – inhaled from other people’s tobacco products

• Lung cancer, repertory illnesses, asthma, and other heath issues

Nicotine

Nicotine

Nicotine

Amphetamines

• Help people stay awake / reduce appetite

• First used by WWII soldiers

• Highs and crashes

• Hallucinations – perception of an object or a sound that seems real but is not

• Delusions – false idea that seems real

• Abused because of euphoric rush

• Ritalin

• High doeses = restlessness, insomnia, loss of appetite

http://investigation.discovery.com/resources/meth/before-after/before-after-10.html

Cocaine

• Used by Freud to overcome depression

• Dangerous, addictive

–Deadens pain

–Reduces oxygen levels to heart

–Raises blood pressure

–Causes hallucination and delusions

Cocaine

-Made from coca leaves

-Coca-cola put in products until 1906

4% of teens use regularly

Hallucinogens

• Cause relaxation and/or feelings of panic

• Marijuana & LSD

Marijuana

• Impairs perception & coordination, memory & learning, anxiety & confusion

• Increases heartbeat & blood pressure

• Hallucinations

• 100 years ago – used like aspirin

• Use increasing in USA

LSD

• (Acid)

• Intense hallucinations

• Flashbacks can last for years

• Memory loss, violent outbursts, nightmares, feelings of panic

Treatments for Drug Abuse

• Detoxification – usually used for alcohol and narcotics

• Maintenance Programs – Give smaller dosage

– Give controlled amounts of a less-addictive drug

– Provide moral support

• Counseling – treating stimulant and depressant abuse

• Support Groups – members share common experiences and problems

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 4 7 11 73

Amphetamines

Caffeine 2 2 4 1 9 60

Cocaine

Ecstasy

Heroin

LSD

Marijuana 2 2 13

Nicotine 3 3 20

Prescription

Drugs

3 1 4 27

15 Students in 2nd Period

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 3 9 2 14 61

Amphetamines

Caffeine 1 6 4 9 3 23 100

Cocaine 1 1 4

Ecstasy 1 1 4

Heroin

LSD 1 1 4

Marijuana 1 8 2 1 12 52

Nicotine 3 4 1 8 35

Prescription

Drugs

2 1 1 4 17

23 Students in 3rd Period

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 2 7 1 10 45

Amphetamines

Caffeine 1 4 4 6 2 17 77

Cocaine

Ecstasy 1 1 5

Heroin

LSD

Marijuana 2 2 1 2 7 32

Nicotine 2 1 3 14

Prescription

Drugs

1 3 4 18

22 Students in 6th Period

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 2 9 1 12 57

Amphetamines

Caffeine 3 4 5 7 1 (Dr. Pepper) 20 95

Cocaine

Ecstasy

Heroin

LSD

Marijuana 1 5 6 29

Nicotine 2 3 5 24

Prescription

Drugs

1 1 5

21 Students in 7th Period

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 11 32 4 2 49 60

Amphetamines

Caffeine 5 16 15 26 7 69 85

Cocaine 1 1 1

Ecstasy 2 2 2

Heroin

LSD 1 1 1

Marijuana 3 17 3 3 26 32

Nicotine 7 7 1 1 16 20

Prescription

Drugs

3 8 2 13 16

81 Students in all Psych Classes

Drug

Have

tried

once

Have tried

multiple

times

Use once

or

twice a

week

Use

regularly

Probably

addicted

Totals

# / %

Alcohol 20 41 5 1 67 .74

Amphetamines 1 3 1 5 .05

Caffeine 5 19 30 20 9 83 92

Cocaine 1 1 2 .02

Ecstasy 3 1 4 .04

Heroin

LSD 3 2 5 .05

Marijuana 9 15 6 11 41 .46

Nicotine 6 2 1 1 1 11 .12

Prescription

Drugs

7 8 1 4 20 .22

90 total students took survey in 2012