Mental activities that differ noticeably from normal waking consciousness are known as

States of Consciousness  

 Consciousness ­ awareness of various cognitive processes

• • Sleeping, dreaming, concentrating, making decisions
  • 2 broad categories­ vary according to how aware we are of processes

o Waking consciousness­ all thoughts, feelings, perceptions that occur when we are awake and reasonably alert
o Altered states of consciousness­ mental state that differs noticeably from normal waking

 Detached from environmental experience to some level

 Historical Views

• • • 1st­ consciousness was psychology’s primary concern
    • Fell out of favor in early 20th century­ focus became directly observable and measurable behavior
    • Change in the 1960s­ alternative states of consciousness, increase in cognitive psychology, advancements in Neuroscience, dissatisfaction with behaviorism

 Consciousness and Nonconsicousness:

• • • One common view­ conscious in only a small peak emerging from a mass of unconscious mental representations and activities that lie below the surface­ not aware of all activities
    • Unconscious­ not aware of unconscious forces o Freud­ sexual and aggressive instincts remain largely unconscious o Only way to access psychoanalysis and dream interpretation
    • Nonconscious­ no in conscious thoughts o Separate from Freud’s idea of dark forces o Not as emotionally charged

 Cognitive Psychology ­ see consciousness as 1st person element of information processing

• • • Sense of self
    • Interpret stimuli different based on learning history
    • Brain and NS are composed of specialized brain centers and related neural pathways that function somewhat like the divisions of a global corporation. Together, these brain centers provide the self with an overall orientation, a framework of expectations about the world and other people, and an agenda for what should happen next.
    • Work nonconsciously and independent most of the time­ brain determines

• • • When something new/unusual/expected occurs, more than one brain division enter consciousness

o Cocktail Party Phenomenon­ hear name across room and pay attention

 Practicing selective attention

 Consciousness and Adaptation

• • • Many of today’s psychologists view consciousness as highly adaptive­ chose for a reason o Pinker­ consciousness is necessary element of human sociability o Have to live/work in groups to survive­ intelligence and language

o Survival depends on how we get along with group o Advantageous to reflect on the self

• • • More able to stay in group
    • Learn from mistakes

 Daydreaming and Fantasy

• • • James Thurber’s “Secret Life of Walter Mitty”­ lived more in daydreams
    • Daydreams­ apparently effortless shifts in attention away from here and now to private world of make believe o Urge comes in waves ~ every 90 minutes­peak between 12 and 2 PM o Average person spends almost ½ waking hours fantasizing o Most are variations on central theme­ unfulfilled wishes/goals o Fall into distinct categories:
      • Positive­ pleasant, playful, entertaining scenarios
      • Negative­ extremely achievement orientated people

 Recurring themes of frustration, guilt, fear of failure, hostility

 Image worst possible outcome

• • • Scattered­ loosely connected, worrisome daydreams

 Less pleasant

 Anxious people

• • • Purposeful­ solve problems, think aloud, develop insights

 Curious people

• • • Does daydreaming serve any useful function?
      • Negative aspects

 Interference with production activities

 Replacement of real­life relationships

• • • Positive Aspects

 Provide a break/refresher

 Working through hostile feelings­ Freudian psyc.

 Problem solving, interpersonal skills, creativity­ cognitive psychology

 Enduring difficult decisions­ POW EX

 Sleep ­ characterized by decrease in voluntary body movements and awareness of surroundings

• • • ~ 1/3 of our lives
    • Necessity­ not a luxury
    • Deprivation used as form of torture/interrogation
    • How long we sleep, where, in what positions, and other details vary from species to species.
      • In general­ large animals sleep less than small animals
        • Takes large animals longer to find enough food for E
      • Circadian Cycles: The biological clock o Sleep and waking follow a daily cycle
        • Human biological clock­ tiny cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus that responds to a change in the levels of proteins in the body (blood stream)
          • Self­sustaining
          • Functions in the absence of external cues to the cycle of day/night­ maintains~ 24 hour cycle

• • • Melatonin­ play key role in adaptation to light/dark
      • Produced by pineal gland around dusk or cease of light
    • Rhythms of Sleep: predictable order from sleep studies o “going to sleep”­ losing awareness/failing to respond to external stimulir that would produce response in waking state
      • brain waves resemble relaxed state o Stage 1­ brain waves resemble being alert/excited
      • Decreased pulse, muscle relaxing, side to side rolling movement of eyes o Stage 2­ short rhythmic bursts of activity­ sleep spindles­ periodically appear on EEG
      • Fairly hard to awaken o Stage 3­ delta waves­ slow waves with very high peaks
      • Fairly hard to awaken o Stage 4­ brain emits VERY slow delta waves
      • HR, Respiratory rate, BP, body temperature all get as low as they will during the night
      • Lasts longer if haven’t slept in a while o About an hour after falling asleep, ascend from Stage 4 into Stage 3, Stage 2, and back to Stage 1
      • Takes about 40 minutes
      • Perform cycle several times during the night o REM sleep­ characterized by rapid eye movement and increased dreaming
      • Paradoxical sleep­ brain waves active, body non­responsive
      • Associated more strongly with dreaming o Non­REM sleep­ alternate with REM stages during sleep cycle
    • Stage 1 REM sleep lasts about 10 minutes and is followed by Stages 2,3,and 4 of nonREM sleep (~90 min cycle)

 Sleep Disorders:

• • • Sleepwalking and Sleep talking­ usually in Stage 4 o More common among children ( 1 in 5) o Not dangerous but difficult to wake up
    • Night terrors­ sleepers suddenly sit­up in bed, often screaming out of fear o Usually do not recall dream itself­ just fear o Usually seen in children ages 4/12
    • Insomnia­ inability to fall or remain asleep
      • Onset­ do not fall asleep­ usually associated with stress o Maintenance­ cannot stay asleep
    • Apnea­ breathing difficulty during the night, feelings of exhaustion during the day o Usually seen in obese or diabetic people
      • Do not spend enough time sleeping­ tired during the day
    • Narcolepsy­ suddenly nodding off during the day and sudden loss of muscle tone following moments of emotional excitement o Usually manifest in mid­childhood o Hereditary

 Dreams

• • • Every culture, including our own, attaches meaning to dreams
      • Deities
      • Actions in different realities
    • Dreams­ vivid visual and auditory experiences that occur primarily during REM sleep o Average person has ~ 4­5 each night­ 1­2 hours total time
    • Dreams as unconscious wishes o Freud­ live out what we’d like to do o Permit themselves to express primitive desires that re relatively free of moral controls o Even in a dream­hostile feelings may be censored and transformed into symbolic form

 Accounts for illogical nature of dreams

• • • Dreams as Information processing o Reprocess information gathered during the day o Strengthening memory of information is crucial for survival
      • TV channel surfing EX
      • Research­ both humans and non humans spend more time in REM sleep after learning difficult material
    • Dreams and Neural Activity o Alan Hobson­ activation­synthesis Theory
      • Dreams are a result of neurons misfiring from pons and BS
      • Cerebral cortex tries to make sense of meaningless
    • Dreams and Walking life o Extension of conscious concerns of daily life in altered, non disguised form o Worry transforms intro dream life

 Drug ­Altered Consciousness

• • • In nearly every culture throughout history, people have sought ways to alter waking consciousness
    • Psychoactive Drugs­ chemical substances that change moods, perceptions, mental functions, and behavior
    • Of all psychoactive substances, Alcohol has longest history of widespread use o Usually try to find something to ferment for alcohol o Known as Aqua Viate­ “water for life”

 Mixed water with alcohol to make drinking water safe

• • • Today’s drug problem is different from drug use in other societies and times o Motives for using psychoactive drugs have changed
      • Used as religious devices­ communicate with deity
      • Today­ use to get high o Drugs themselves have changed
      • Stronger
      • Not ingesting the same type constantly o New, synthetic drugs appear regularly with unpredictable consequences
      • Club Drugs­ not around long enough to see long­term effects

 Depressants : Alcohol, Barbiturates, and Opiates

• • • Depressants­ slow down activity in CNS o Feelings of calmness and drowsiness o Sleep allows less anxiety
      • Alcohol­ intoxicating ingredient in whiskey, beer, wine, and other fermented/distilled liquors
        • Effects depend on individual, social setting, cultural attitudes, but also how much an individual consumes and how fast
        • Alcohol is US #1 drug problem

 ~ 8 mil US are alcoholics

 ~100,000 US die every year from mixing drugs with alcohol

• • • Barbiturates­ potentially deadly depressants
      • 1st used for sedative/anti­convulsion properties
      • Now used only to treat epilepsy and arthritis
      • 1950s­ researchers began to realize that barbiturates were more addictive and potentially lethal
      • Continued use leads to tolerance­ increase does to get same effect but OD level stays the same
    • Opiates­ psychoactive substances derived from or resembling the seedpod of the opium poppy
      • Incredibly addictive and hard to get off of
      • Mainly used in folk medicine
      • Changes in way opium and its derivative morphine were used opened doors to abuse
      • Morphine­ derivative of opium that became widespread during the Civil War
      • Heroin­ introduced in 1898 as a cure for morphine addiction

 Created an even stronger addiction

 Can smoke, snort, or inject  Effects:

• • • Rush of drug
    • Serious health conditions o Spontaneous abortions o Collapsed veins o HIV, hepatitis
    • Easy to OD­ cannot predict potency of each batch

 Stimulants

• • • Amphetamines­ stimulant drugs that initially produces “rushes” of euphoria often followed by sudden “crashes”
      • Used in WW2 to keep soldiers fighting o Effects:
        • Increased alertness­ work extra shifts
        • Appetite suppressant
        • Sweating, heart palpitations that can lead to shock
        • Formication­ “insects inside skin”
        • Amphetamine psychosis­ paranoid schizophrenia
      • Methamphetamine­ speed, fire, ice, crank ,crystal o Ecstasy­ acts as both stimulant and hallucinogen
        • Become more emotionally close to people around them
        • Produced in Dallas­ used for therapy
        • Body temperature increases­ cooking brain in skull
        • Water intoxication
      • Hallucinogens­ natural/synthetic drugs that cause shifts in perception or experience of imaginary landscapes, settings and beings o LSD­ lysergic acid diethylamide

 “bad trips”­ unpleasant experiences may be set off by a change in dosage or an alternation in setting/mood

• • • Marijuana­ mild hallucinogen that produces feelings of euphoria, sense of wellbeing, swings in mood
      • May also cause feelings of anxiety and paranoia
      • Active ingredient­ THC­ shares some chemical properties with hallucinogens like LSD but with fare less potency  Physical effects:

 Red eyes, weak eyelid muscles

 Bronchial problems

 Fertility issues

Temporal disintegration­ lose track of time