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States of Consciousness Chapter 7

States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

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Page 1: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

States of Consciousness

Chapter 7

Page 2: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism– The study of observable behaviors because studying

internal thoughts was seen as virtually impossible or unscientific

• By the 1960s psychology was almost purely a study of behavior and did not look at consciousness

• In the 1960s, mental concepts started to become important again *

Page 3: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness• Consciousness- our awareness of ourselves and our

environment• Consciousness brings varied information to the surface,

enabling us to reflect and plan• Consciousness allows us to concentrate on one particular

thing or several things at once• With driving the more we do it, the more it becomes

automatic allowing our consciousness to focus on other things

• Do you notice the weight of your clothes on your body?• What happened when I asked you this question?• You start focusing on your clothes and stop focusing on

these notes *

Page 4: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• Conscious awareness enables us to exert voluntary control and to communicate our mental states to others

• We do process a great deal of information outside our awareness

• We can register and react to stimuli we do not consciously perceive

• We perform well-learned tasks automatically *

Page 5: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• Subconscious information processing occurs simultaneously on parallel tracks

• We see a bird flying, we are consciously aware of the result of our cognitive processing but not of our subprocessing of the bird’s color, form, movement, distance, and identity

• Unlike parallel processing of subconscious information, conscious processing takes place in sequence

• Consciousness is relatively slow and has limited capacity *

Page 6: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• Our consciousness is like the chief executive whose assistants automatically take care of routine business

• Novel tasks require our conscious attention• Doing something for the first time usually

requires our full attention• Consciousness keeps us from trying to do

everything at once *

Page 7: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• Almost everyone has daydreams or waking fantasies every day

• Compared to older adults, young adults spend more time daydreaming

• Most daydreams involve the familiar details of our lives– Figuring out another way to solve a problem we have– Coming up with an explanation for our behavior– Replaying events in our lives *

Page 8: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Waking Consciousness

• Daydreams can help us prepare for future events by keeping us aware of our unfinished business

• Daydreaming for children can help to nourish social and cognitive development

• Daydreams can be a substitute for impulsive behavior– People who are more prone to violence and using

drugs have been found to have less vivid dreams *

Page 9: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Sleep is an irresistible tempter that we inevitably succumb to

• Sleep has been a mystery to psychologists for years

• Some of the mysteries are being solved over time

• Using recording devices, scientists can study what is happening in the brains of those that are sleeping *

Page 10: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• By recording brain waves and muscle movements of someone that is sleeping, we can learn what happens during sleep

• Biological rhythms- periodic physiological fluctuations(controlled by our internal biological clocks)– Annual cycles- can explain seasonal affective disorder– Twenty-eight day cycles- female menstrual cycle– Twenty-four hour cycle- cycles of varying and falling

alertness– Ninety-minute cycles- stages during sleep *

Page 11: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• We will be looking at the 24 hour cycle and the ninety minute cycles

• Our bodies roughly synchronize with the 24 hour cycle of day and night through a biological clock called the circadian rhythm– From Latin circa, “about” and dies, “day”– Regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle– Our body temp rises as morning approaches, peaks

during the day, dips for a time in early afternoon, and then begins to drop again before we go to sleep *

Page 12: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Pulling an all-nighter, we feel groggiest about 4 AM, and then a second wind after our normal wake up time arrives

• Recent evidence suggests that thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when people are at their daily peak in circadian arousal

• Good thing our exam is at noon *

Page 13: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Larks is a nickname for morning lovers and owls is a nickname for evening-energized people

• With age, we tend to shift from being owls to larks

• Most college kids see an improvement of their performance throughout the day, while most older adults see a decline in their performance *

Page 14: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Transcontinental flights can affect our circadian rhythms

• This is called jet lag and it causes our body to cry out sleep when our surroundings are saying its time to be awake

• Studies have shown that bright light can help reset our biological clocks

• To help with jet lag, spend the first day outdoors in the sunlight *

Page 15: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Light tweaks the circadian clock by activating light sensitive proteins which trigger signals to a brain region that controls the circadian clock– it does this by causing the pineal gland to

decrease(in the morning) and increase(in the evening) its production of sleep-inducing melatonin

• We can reset our biological clocks by adjusting our sleep schedules– Sleeping in late on the weekends can actually cause

more harm than good *

Page 16: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep and dreams

• Because our ancestors’ body clocks were attuned to the rising and setting sun of the 24 hour day, many of today’s young adults adopt something closer to a 25 hour day

• The cause of this adjustment was the light bulb• We must discipline ourselves at a younger age to go

to bed on time and force ourselves to get up– Its easier to progressively stay up late than to get up earlier– This extends our day– Artificial light delays sleep *

Page 17: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• About every 90 to 100 minutes we pass through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages

• REM sleep- rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur– Known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles

are relaxed but other body systems are active *

Page 18: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• When you are in bed with your eyes closed, alpha waves can be seen on an EEG– Alpha waves- the relatively slow brain waves of a

relaxed, awake state• Sleep- periodic, natural, reversible loss of

consciousness-as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation *

Page 19: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages• Sleep is a state that we do not know we are in

until we leave it• Stage 1 sleep– It starts in an unrecognized moment– Light sleep– Lasts up to 5 minutes– May have a sensation of falling– You may experience fantastic images resembling

hallucinations• False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in

the absence of an external visual stimulus *

Page 20: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• Stage 2– Lasts about 20 minutes– Characterized by periodic appearance of sleep

spindles• Bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity

– Can still be awakened without too much difficulty– Sleeptalking can occur during this or any other

stage of sleep *

Page 21: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• Stage 3– Transitional stage– Start to show delta waves

• Stage 4– Deep sleep– You are showing large, slow delta waves

• The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

– Stage 3 and 4 are called slow wave sleep– Last for about 30 minutes and you are hard to awaken– During this stage children may wet the bed or begin

walking in their sleep *

Page 22: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• Even during deep sleep your brain can process certain stimuli

• You move around on your bed but don’t fall off

• You may be easily awoken from the sound of a baby cry but not from a train passing by

• Your auditory cortex responds even during sleep *

Page 23: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• About an hour after falling asleep you start to go back in order of the stages

• You return through stage 3 and 2– This is where you will spend about half of your

night *

Page 24: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages• REM sleep– For about 10 minutes your brain waves became rapid

and saw toothed like those of stage 1 sleep– Unlike stage 1 your heart rate rises, your breathing

becomes rapid and irregular, and every half minute or so your eyes dart around in a momentary burst of activity

– Your motor cortex is active but your brainstem blocks the messages leaving your muscles relaxed• Almost paralyzed

– Cannot be easily awakened– Paradoxical sleep- the body is internally aroused and

externally calm *

Page 25: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• The rapid eye movement in REM sleep announces the beginning of a dream

• All of us dream• The chance of remembering the dream is higher

if awakened from REM sleep• Unlike the fleeting images of stage 1, REM sleep

dreams are often emotional and usually storylike• Dreams in other stages usually just consist of one

thought or a single vague image *

Page 26: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep stages

• REM dreams are more richly hallucinatory• The sleep cycle repeats itself about every 90 minutes• As the night wears on, deep stage 4 sleep gets

progressively briefer and then disappears• The REM sleep period gets longer• By morning, 20 to 25 percent of your average night’s

sleep has been REM sleep• Most of us spend about 600 hours a year of

experiencing some 1500 dreams or more than 100,000 dreams over a typical lifetime *

Page 27: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of
Page 28: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of
Page 29: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Why do we sleep?

• The idea that everyone needs 8 hours is not true• Newborns spend 2/3 of their day sleeping while

adults spend no more than 1/3 of their day sleeping

• Allowed to sleep unhindered, most adults will sleep 9 hours a night

• Because of lights and social diversions, people are able to get by with less sleep today than they did in the past *

Page 30: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Why do we sleep?

• 80 percent of students are said to be dangerously sleep deprived

• These individuals are at a high risk of some sort of accident

• Sleep deprivation can lead to a difficulty in studying, diminished productivity, tendency to make mistakes, irritability, fatigue

• Driver fatigue contributes to an estimated 20 percent of traffic accidents *

Page 31: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Why do we sleep?

• Other effects of a loss of sleep are:– a suppression of the disease fighting immune

system– an altered metabolic and hormonal functioning in

ways that mimic aging and can lead to obesity– Hypertension and memory impairment– Irritability, slowed performance, and impaired

creativity, concentration, and communication *

Page 32: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Why do we sleep?

• The survival function of sleep is not known but there are several functions of sleep that are known

• Sleep protects– Our ancestors’ would sleep at night to protect themselves from

predators• Sleep helps us recuperate

– It helps to restore body tissue especially those of the brain– It helps us to consolidate our memories

• Sleep plays a role in the growth process– During deep sleep, the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone– As adults grow older they release less of this hormone and they

spend less time in deep sleep *

Page 33: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep Disorders• Insomnia

– 10 to 15 percent of adults complain of suffering from insomnia– It is recurring problems in falling or staying asleep– True insomnia is not the occasional inability to sleep that we

experience when anxious or excited– The quick fixes for insomnia are often sleeping pills and alcohol– These can aggravate the problem– Both reduce REM sleep – The drug needs to be increased over time to produce the same

results– Insomnia can be worse when the treatment is stopped– There are some natural solutions that scientists believe will

help with insomnia *

Page 34: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep Disorders

• Narcolepsy– A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep

attacks– The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at

inopportune times– More rare than insomnia– Usually lasts less than 5 minutes– 1 in 2000 suffer from it– There has been a gene to be found that causes it in dogs– Caused by a lack in the neurotransmitter, hypocretin *

Page 35: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep Disorders

• Sleep apnea– A sleep disorder characterized by temporary

cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary reawakenings

– 1 in 20 people suffer from it– Mostly overweight men– After a minute with no air, the sleeper awakens and

snorts in air for a few seconds– Can happen more than 400 times a night– Apnea sufferers are often unaware of their disorder *

Page 36: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep Disorders

• Night terrors– A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and

an appearance of being terrified– Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during stage

4 sleep, within 2 to 3 hours of falling asleep– Seldom remembered– Usually in children– The person may sit up or walk around, talk

incoherently, experience a doubling of heart and breathing rates, and appear terrified *

Page 37: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Sleep Disorders

• Sleepwalking and sleep talking– Usually runs in families– Sleepwalking is usually harmless and unrecalled– Sleepwalkers will usually return to bed on their

own– Young children who have the deepest and longest

stage 4 sleep are most likely to experience it– Sleepwalking usually disappears as we get older– The same is for sleep talking *

Page 38: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• REM dreams are vivid, emotional, and bizarre• Dreams- a sequence of images, emotions, and

thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind

• Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, and discontinuities

• Dreams are so real we can often confuse them with reality *

Page 39: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Sometimes we can wonder during a dream if we are actually dreaming

• Lucid dreams- dreams in which we are aware that we are dreaming or dreams in which we wonder if we are in fact dreaming– People will sometimes test their state of

consciousness– They can perform absurd act such as floating in

the air to prove they are dreaming *

Page 40: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• We spend six years of our life dreaming• Most are anything but sweet• 8 in 10 dreams are marked by negative

emotions• People will dream about failing in an attempt

to do something, being attacked, pursued, or rejected, and they will dream of experiencing some misfortune *

Page 41: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• We usually dream of events in our daily lives• Women dream of males and females equally

where 65 percent of characters in men’s dreams are males

• No one knows why *

Page 42: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Sigmund Freud did a lot of research on dreams and their meanings

• Manifest content- the remembered story line of a dream– Sometimes incorporates traces of previous days’

experiences and preoccupations• The sensory stimuli of our sleeping

environment may also intrude and woven into our dream *

Page 43: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Anything that happens during the 5 minutes just before we fall asleep is typically lost from memory

• This is why sleep apnea patients do not remember waking up

• Dreams that momentarily wake us up are usually forgotten by the morning

• To remember a dream, get up and stay awake for a few minutes *

Page 44: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Freud argued that by fulfilling wishes, a dream provides a psychic safety valve that discharges otherwise unacceptable feelings

• A dream’s manifest content is a censored, symbolic version of its latent content– The underlying meaning of a dream– Functions as a safety valve

• If these drives and wishes were expressed directly they would be threatening *

Page 45: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Freud believed that most adult dreams can be traced back by analysis to erotic wishes

• Most theorists say that dreams usually have very little to do with sexual desires

• Freud believed that even though they were not overtly expressing sexual desires, the latent content was focused around them

• Freud considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflicts *

Page 46: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Many psychologists argue against Freud’s ideas and say that even if dreams were symbolic, they could be interpreted any way one wished

• Some say that dreams do not hide anything• There is no latent content according to them• Freud’s theory is often referred to as his wish-

fulfillment theory *

Page 47: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Some researchers see dreams as information processing– Dreams help us sift, sort, and fix the day’s

experiences in our memory• Studies have confirmed the belief that sleep

helps us to remember *

Page 48: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Dreams may also serve a physiological function

• Dreams can provide the brain with periodic stimulation during sleep

• The stimulation can help to develop and preserve our neural networks *

Page 49: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• Some theorists believe our dreams come from a burst of neural activity that spreads upward from the brainstem

• This theory is called the activation-synthesis theory• This theory states that the neural activity is random and

dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of the activity

• Dreams spring from the mind’s relentless effort to make sense of unrelated visual bursts, which are given their emotional tone by the limbic system

• Dreams are the brain’s interpretation of its own activity *

Page 50: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Dreams

• We need REM sleep• Deprived of it by repeatedly being awakened, people

return more and more quickly to REM stage after falling back to sleep

• When allowed to sleep undisturbed, we sleep like babies with increased REM sleep

• REM rebound- the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation

• Withdrawing REM suppressing sleeping medications also increases REM sleep but with accompanying nightmares *

Page 51: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis- a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

• Examples on pg. 285• Posthypnotic suggestion- supposed inability to

recall what one experienced during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion *

Page 52: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Even though they say they don’t remember forgotten material, the material must be in there, for it can affect later behavior and be recalled at a prearranged signal

• Are people genuinely unable to recall the forgotten material, or do people distract themselves or withhold information to meet the hypnotist’s expectations? *

Page 53: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Anton Mesmer gets credit for the current ideas or theories about hypnosis

• Mesmer passed magnets over the bodies of ailing people, some of whom would lapse into a trancelike state(mesmerized), the awaken much improved

• Other scientists found no evidence that his studies were legitimate and attributed Mesmer’s cures to mere imagination

• Hypnosis or mesmerism has since been linked to quackery *

Page 54: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Other reasons that hypnosis was not respected by many from the beginning is that many hypnotists claimed that mesmerized people could see with the backs of their heads, perceive others’ internal organs, and communicate with the dead

• Studies have shown that hypnotized people cannot show anymore feats of strength or superhuman traits than an non-hypnotized person can *

Page 55: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• The power of hypnosis resides not in the hypnotist but in the subject’s openness to suggestion

• Hypnotists cannot control your mind, they simply engage people’s ability to focus on certain images or behaviors

• Everyone is suggestible to some extent• Examples on pg. 287- Stanford Hypnotic

Susceptibility Scale *

Page 56: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• The people who respond to suggestions without hypnosis are the people who respond with hypnosis

• People that are most hypnotizable typically have rich fantasy lives and easily become absorbed in the imaginary events of a novel or movie

• Anyone who can turn attention inward and imagine is able to experience some degree of hypnosis *

Page 57: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Age-regressed people are people that are supposedly reliving experiences from childhood

• some believe hypnosis can help people go back to their childhood to remember forgotten events all the way back to birth

• Many people dispute this claim and say age-regressed people act as they believe children would, but they typically miss the mark by outperforming real children of the specified age *

Page 58: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Researchers have found that hypnotically refreshed memories combine fact and fiction

• They are not reliable in court so testimony by hypnotized witnesses is banned

• Hypnosis can sometimes boost recall but for the most part it contaminates memory with false recollections or even increases one’s confidence in false memories

• Without meaning to, the hypnotist can influence the memory with their questions *

Page 59: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis• Hypnotherapists try to help patients harness their

own healing powers• Posthypnotic suggestion- a suggestion, made

during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors– Can help to alleviate headaches, asthma, warts, and

stress related skin disorders– Studies show that hypnosis and positive suggestions

can have equal impact on a person’s behavior *

Page 60: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Some researchers have said that hypnosis can cause people to perform an apparently dangerous act

• In one study, participants followed a request to dip one hand briefly into fuming acid then throw the acid in a research assistant’s face

• When interviewed later they denied doing so and said they would have not done so

• After further research they found that unhypnotized people were just as likely to perform the same acts as those hypnotized *

Page 61: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis can relieve pain• Hypnotizable subjects can put their hands in an ice

bath and state that they feel no pain after they are told they will feel no pain

• Nearly 10 percent of us can become so deeply hypnotized that even major surgery can be performed without anesthesia

• Dissociation- a split of consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others *

Page 62: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis can help to dissociate the sensation of a pain stimulus from the emotional suffering that defines our experience of pain

• The ice water feels cold but not painful• The pain relief can also come from selective

attention• Hypnosis can serve as a distraction to get

someone’s mind off the pain *

Page 63: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hypnosis

• People may not be consciously faking hypnosis, they are just doing and reporting what’s expected of them

• They may be just acting their hypnotic role as actors act their role in movies and TV

• Hidden observer- Ernest Hilgard’s term describing a hypnotized subject’s awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis *

Page 64: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Drugs and consciousness

• There is doubt that hypnosis alters consciousness but there is no doubt about psychoactive drugs altering consciousness

• Psychoactive drug- a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood

• Tolerance- the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effect *

Page 65: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Drugs and consciousness

• A person who rarely drinks alcohol might get tipsy on one can of beer, but an experienced drinker may not get tipsy until the second six pack

• Even though it seems your body is tolerating more, the drug is still causing harm to the body

• Withdrawal- the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug *

Page 66: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Drugs and consciousness

• Physical dependence- a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued

• Psychological dependence- a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions

• Even though someone does not get physically addictive to a drug, they still need it and use it regularly to usually deal with negative emotions

• Psychological dependence can often be harder to deal with than physical dependence *

Page 67: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Drugs and consciousness

• Addiction- a craving for a substance with physical symptoms such as aches, nausea, and distress following sudden withdrawal

• Today, addiction also includes certain behaviors or habits

• The three myths on pg. 294 and 295 *

Page 68: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Drugs and consciousness

• Psychoactive drugs can be categorized into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens– Depressants- also called downers- calm neural

activity and slow body functions– Stimulants- uppers- temporarily excite neural

activity and arouse body functions– Hallucinogens- distort perceptions and evoke

sensory images in the absence of sensory input *

Page 69: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Depressants• Includes alcohol, barbiturates(tranquilizers), and opiates• Slow our body’s functions• Alcohol

– Sometimes alcohol seems to enliven a drinker but it is actually slowing brain activity that controls judgment and inhibitions

– Most abused psychoactive drug– Alcohol can increase harmful and helpful tendencies– Alcohol leads to people acting on urges they have when they

are sober– Alcohol causes the most harm of any drug– Alcohol can also impact memory– Prolonged drinking can lead to a shrinking of the brain- even

more in women because they lack an enzyme that breaks down alcohol *

Page 70: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Depressants

• Barbiturates- drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment– Also called tranquilizers– Mimic the effects of alcohol– Used to sometimes induce sleep and lower anxiety– If combined with alcohol the result can be lethal– With sufficient doses, barbiturates themselves can be

lethal– Xanax and Valium are examples *

Page 71: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Depressants

• Opiates- opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety– When used the pupils constrict, the breathing slows, and

the user becomes lethargic– They are very addictive and with each use the user craves

another fix and a larger fix– Withdrawal can last for a week– When repeatedly used, the brain stops producing its own

natural opiates so if the drug is withdrawn the brain lacks the normal level of painkilling neurotransmitters

– Withdrawal from opiates is agonizing and painful *

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Stimulants• The most widely used stimulants are caffeine, nicotine,

amphetamines, and cocaine• Caffeine is the most frequently used psychoactive drug in the US• Stimulants speed up body functions, hence the nickname

“speed” for amphetamines• Strong stimulants increase heart and breathing rates• When used appetite diminishes because blood sugar levels

increase• Energy and self-confidence increase• Stimulants are used to stay awake, lose weight, or boost mood or

athletic performance• When the drug is stopped the person can experience a crash• Stimulants are addictive *

Page 73: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Stimulants• Amphetamines- causes speeded up body functions and

associated energy and mood changes• Cocaine

– 5 percent of high school seniors reported having tried cocaine during the past year

– Crack is a form of cocaine that can be smoked– When cocaine is sniffed, injected, or smoked it enters the blood quickly– The result of using the drug is a rush that last about 30 minutes and

ends in a crash– The crash is because the rush depletes the brain’s supply of dopamine,

serotonin, and norepinephrine – The crash comes in the form of an agitated depression– Crack works faster and produces a briefer but more intense high, a

more intense crash, and a craving for more crack *

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Stimulants

• Cocaine cont.– Cocaine is addictive– A study with monkeys has shown that monkeys

addicted to cocaine will press a lever more than 12,000 times to gain each cocaine injection *

Page 75: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Stimulants

• Ecstasy- a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen– Also called MDMA– Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but short term health risks

and longer-term harm to serotonin producing neurons and to mood and cognition

– Triggers the release of dopamine– Releases stored serotonin and blocks its reuptake prolonging its feel

good feeling– Ecstasy was considered a club drug the late 1990s– Leads to a 3 to 4 hour feeling of emotional elevation and a feeling of

connectedness with people around them– Can lead to dehydration, overheating, blood pressure increase, and

death *

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Hallucinogens

• Also called psychedelics• Distort perceptions and evoke vivid images in the

absence of sensory input• LSD- a powerful hallucinogen drug also called acid– Synthetic– Similar to a subtype of serotonin– Emotions from use of LSD can be euphoria, detachment,

and panic– Very powerful, even a very small amount can have a

strong effect *

Page 77: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Hallucinogens• Marijuana

– Consists of the leaves and flowers of the hemp plant– THC- the major active ingredient in marijuana- triggers mild hallucinations– Marijuana is difficult to classify because of its mixed effects– It relaxes, disinhibits, and produces a euphoric high– Acts as a hallucinogen by amplifying sensitivity to colors, sounds, tastes, and

smells– It can intensify pre-existing emotions or feelings– Can be used to help with pain, nausea, and severe weight loss associated

with AIDS– It is recommended to use THC through an inhaler for medical reasons– THC lingers in the body for a month or so after it is taken in– It is not considered as physically addictive as the other psychoactive drugs

but it does change brain chemistry and make the brain more susceptible to addiction to stronger drugs

– It is very psychologically addictive *

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Near Death Experiences

• Near death experience- an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death– Often similar to drug induced hallucinations

• Dualists- the presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact

• Monists- the presumption that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing *

Page 79: States of Consciousness Chapter 7. Waking Consciousness During the first half of the century psychologists mainly focused on behaviorism – The study of

Additional Terms

• Beta Waves- waves associated with someone that is awake and alert

• SIDS- Sudden death infant syndrome– Usually caused by a disturbance in an infants

breathing– Can be caused by suffocation– The best sleep position for an infant is on his or her

back to help prevent SIDS• nREM sleep(non-REM sleep)- stages 1-4– Along with REM sleep this is the other group of stages

when discussing your stages of sleep *

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Additional Terms

• Experimental drug use- short term drug use usually caused by curiosity

• Detoxification- the cessation of the use of certain drug, usually deals with the alcohol– The first step in treatment for a drug addiction *