General Psychology

Chapter 4
Consciousness and Its Variations
Linda S. Krajewski, MA
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Consciousness
Personal awareness of mental activities,
internal sensations, and the external
environment being experienced at a given
moment
William James (1892) described it as a
stream or river; unified and unbroken

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The Perils of Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking: paying attention to two or
more stimuli at once

Dividing attention among tasks sacrifices the

quality and quantity of attention each task gets
Research on cell phone use while driving: more
impaired than being legally drunk (Strayer, et al,
2006)

If tasks are very different than one another,

there is less interference
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Regulation of Consciousness
Biological rhythms.

A periodic, more or less regular fluctuation in

a biological system; may or may not have
psychological implications.

Entrainment.

Biological rhythms are synchronized with

external events such as changes in clock
time, temperature, and daylight.

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Circadian Rhythms
Any rhythmic change that continues at close
to a 24-hour cycle in the absence of 24-hour
cues
body temperature
cortisol secretion
sleep and wakefulness
In the absence of time cues, the cycle period
will become somewhat longer than 24 hours.
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Circadian Rhythms
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).

Located in the hypothalamus,

responsible for circadian rhythms by
regulating melatonin, a hormone
secreted by the pineal gland.
Melatonin is responsible for feelings of
sleepiness.

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Circadian Rhythms

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Sleep
The exact function of sleep is uncertain
but sleep appears to provide time for:

the body to eliminate waste products from

muscles,
repair cells,
strengthen the immune system, or
recover abilities lost during the day.

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Sleep
Beta brain waves small, fast waves
associated with alert wakefulness
Alpha brain waves larger, slower waves
associated with relaxed wakefulness and
drowsiness
Hypnagogic hallucinations odd but
vividly realistic sensations experienced
during the transition to light sleep
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Non-REM Stages of Sleep

Stage 1
-

The stage of transition between

wakefulness and sleep that is
characterized by relatively rapid, lowvoltage brain waves

Stage 2
Characterized by a slower, more
regular wave pattern and
momentary interruptions of
sharply pointed spiky waves
called sleep spindles
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Non-REM Stages of Sleep

Stage 3

Brain waves become slower

with an appearance of higher
peaks and lower valleys in
the wave pattern

Stage 4

Deepest stage of sleep where people

are least responsive to outside
stimuli and the wave patterns are
more slower and regular

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REM Sleep
Upon reaching stage 4 and after about 80 to 100
minutes of total sleep time, sleep lightens, returns
through stages 3 and 2
REM sleep emerges, characterized by EEG patterns
that resemble beta waves of alert wakefulness

muscles most relaxed

rapid eye movements occur
dreams occur
Four or five sleep cycles occur in a typical nights
sleep; less time is spent in slow-wave, more is spent
in REM
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The First 90 Minutes of Sleep

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Sleep Facts
Increased adenosine in body increases need
for sleep.
Sleep paralysis, sometimes occurs upon
waking; related to moving out of REM sleep
Deaf people can sleep sign during sleep.
Sleeptalking usually occurs during NREM
stages 3 & 4.
Sleepwalking occurs during NREM stages 3 &
4; not generally dangerous to wake a
sleepwalker
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Sleep Across the Lifespan

Sleep cycles emerge during prenatal development.
Newborns sleep about 16 hours per day.
By age 2, 75-minute sleep cycles are experienced.
By age 5, typical 90-minute sleep cycles of
alternating REM and NREM sleep emerge.
Deeper slow-wave sleep decreases with age.
Time in REM sleep increases during childhood and
adolescence, remains stable throughout adulthood,
and decreases during late adulthood.
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Sleep Across the Lifespan

Quality changes significantly over the
lifespan.
Sleep decreases over the lifespan.
By middle adulthood, people usually
experience wakefulness after sleep onset
(WASO).
Those over 55 take longer to fall asleep
(sleep latency).
Many spend an hour dozing or resting
quietly in bed.
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Sleep Deprivation
Some individuals need more and some
less than the typical 8 hours per night.
After being deprived of sleep for just one night,
microsleeps develop-episodes of sleep lasting a few
seconds during wakefulness.
Disruptions in mood, mental abilities, reaction time,
perceptual skills, and complex motor skills occur
with sleep deprivation.
Most people are not good at judging the extent to
which their performance is impaired by inadequate
sleep.
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Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Moods become more volatile
Harmful changes in levels of stress hormones
Immune system compromised
REM deprivation often results in REM rebound
increasing REM by 50%
Changes become more pronounced the longer the
sleep deprivation
The brain needs to experience the full range of
sleep states, compensating when possible.
Amygdala (responsible for emotion) is more strongly
activated with those who are sleep deprived.
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Sleep and Memory

Sleep critical for:

strengthening new memories

integrating new memories with existing memories

NREM slow-wave sleep contributes to forming

new episodic memories (memories of personally
experienced events).
REM sleep and NREM stage 2 sleep help
consolidate new procedural memories (e.g.,
learning a new skill or task until it can be
performed automatically).

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The Function and Meaning of Dreaming

Unconscious wish fulfillment
theory (Freud, 1900): proposed
that dreams represented
unconscious wishes that dreamers
desire to see fulfilled

Latent content refers to the

disguised meaning of the dream
Manifest content refers to the
actual story line of the dream

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The Function and Meaning of Dreaming

Dreams-for-survival theory
Dreams permit information that is critical for our daily survival
to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep

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Dreams as Reflections
of Current Concerns
Dreams may reflect ongoing conscious issues
such as concerns over relationships, work, sex
or health.
Dreams are more likely to contain material
related to a persons current concerns than
chance would predict.

Example: college students and testing

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Dreams as By-Product
of Mental Housekeeping
Unnecessary neural connections
in the brain are eliminated and
important ones are strengthened.
The brain divides new information
into wanted and unwanted.
What we recall as dreams are
only brief snippets from scanning
and sorting that occurs during
REM sleep.

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Dreams as Interpreted Brain Activity

Activation-synthesis theory.

Dreaming results from the cortical synthesis and

interpretation of neural signals triggered by activity in
the lower part of the brain.
At same time, brain regions that handle logical thought
and sensation from the external world shut down.
The brain produces random electrical energy during
REM sleep that stimulates memories lodged in various
portions of the brain which are put together to make a
logical story line
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Neurocognitive Theory of
Dreaming
Waking and dreaming cognition has
continuity, so dreams are not generated
from miscellaneous brain firing but reflect
our interests, personality and individual
concerns
Dreaming is like thinking under conditions
of reduced sensory input and the absence
of voluntary control
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Sleep Disorders
Sleep disorders are serious and
consistent sleep disturbances that
interfere with daytime functioning and
cause subjective distress

Dyssomnias disruptions in amount, quality,

or timing of sleep
Parasomnias arousal or activiation during
sleep or sleep transitions

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Sleep Disorders: Dysomnias

Insomnia regular inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or
feel adequately rested by sleep
Sleep apnea - breathing briefly stops during sleep,
causing the person to choke and gasp and momentarily
waken.
Narcolepsy - a sleep disorder involving sudden and
unpredictable daytime attacks of sleepiness or lapses
into REM sleep.
Staying up late and not allowing oneself enough sleep.

2/3 of Americans get fewer than recommended 8 hours

From my observations and experience, I would guess that about
75% of college students get fewer than 8 hours of sleep!
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Sleep Disorders: Parasomnias

Commonly arise during NREM stages 3
and 4, more common in children,
decrease with age, genetic link, various
stimuli trigger, not fully understood

Sleep terrors
Sleepsex
Sleepwalking
Sleep-related eating disorder
REM sleep behavior disorder
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Hypnosis
A cooperative social interaction in which
the hypnotized person responds to the
hypnotists suggestions with changes in
perception, memory, and behavior
Helpful for pain control, increasing athletic
performance, and enhancing
psychological treatments

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Meditation
Any one of a number of sustained
concentration techniques that focus
attention and heighten awareness

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Psychoactive Drugs
Psychoactive drugs

Substances capable of influencing perception,

mood, cognition, or behavior
Types
Depressants slow down activity in the CNS
Opiates (narcotics) relieve pain and anxiety
Stimulants speed up activity in the CNS
Psychedelic drugs (hallucinogens) disrupt normal
thought and perceptual processes
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The Physiology of Drug Effects

Psychoactive drugs work by acting on brain
neurotransmitters. These drugs can:

increase or decrease the release of neurotransmitters,

prevent reabsorption of excess neurotransmitters by
the cells that have released them,
block the effects of neurotransmitters on receiving
cells, or
bind to receptors that would ordinarily be triggered by a
neurotransmitter or a neuromodulator.

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The Psychology of Drug Effects

Reactions to psychoactive drugs depend on:

Physical factors such as body weight, metabolism,

initial state of emotional arousal and physical
tolerance.
Experience or the number of times a person has used
a drug.
Environmental factors such as where and with whom
one is drinking.
Mental set or expectations for drugs effects.

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Addictive Drugs
Addictive drugs produce a biological and/or
psychological dependence in the user

Biologically based: body becomes so

accustomed to the presence of the drug that it
cannot tolerate the drugs absence
Psychologically based: people believe they
need the drug to cope with daily living
Approximately 23 million Americans age 12 and
older abuse or are dependent on psychoactive
drugs (National Survey on Drug Abuse and
Health).
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Depressants
Depressants slow down the nervous system and reduce
heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension

Alcohol and various prescription drugs are legal

depressants

Illegal depressants: most depressants used on the

street are prescription drugs being used by someone
other than to whom the drug was prescribed

Effects include anxiety reduction, mood swings, slowed

mental and physical functioning, slurred speech, and
disorientation

Withdrawal symptoms include weakness, restlessness,

nausea, vomiting, headaches, depression, anxiety,
hallucinations, seizures, and sometimes death

About 17 million Americans have problems with alcohol

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Opiates (Narcotics)
Opiates (narcotics) reduce pain and anxiety

Legal narcotics are all prescription drugs such as

morphine and codeine
The most common illegal narcotic is heroin
prescription narcotics are frequently abused by by
someone other than to whom the drug was prescribed
Effects include difficulty in concentration, slowed
speech, decreased physical activity, and euphoria
Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, vomiting,
diarrhea, cold-like symptoms, tremors, panic, chills,
sweating, and cramps
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Stimulants
Stimulants speed up the CNS and cause rises in
heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension

Caffeine and nicotine are legal stimulants

Illegal stimulants include cocaine and amphetamines
(speed)

Effects include mood elevation, heightened energy

and alertness, anxiety, irritability, and insomnia

Withdrawal symptoms include apathy, fatigue, depression,

suicidal thoughts, agitation, and irritability

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Cocaines Effect on the Brain

Cocaine blocks the brains
reabsorption (reuptake) of the
neurotransmitters dopamine
and norepinephrine, so levels
of these substances rise.

Results in an overstimulation
of certain brain circuits and a
brief euphoric high.
When drug wears off, depletion
of dopamine may cause user
to crash.

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Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is highly addictive and can cause
extensive brain damage and tissue loss.
Destroys the neurotransmitter Dopamine in the brain
Behavioral effects of losing dopamine receptors and
transporters involve memory and motor skill and
social skill problems.
Depression, emotional instability, and impulsive and
violent behavior are also common.

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Psychedelic Drugs (Hallucinogens)

Hallucinogens produce changes in
perception

There are no legal hallucinogens, although there

are prescribed drugs that can sometimes have
hallucinogenic side effects
Illegal hallucinogens include marijuana, MDMA
(ecstasy), and LSD
Effects include euphoria, relaxed inhibitions,
heightened energy, perceptual distortions,
magnified feelings, panic, and paranoia
Withdrawal symptoms include hyperactivity,
insomnia, depression, and anxiety
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