Unit Four- Consciousness

[Chapter 5]

The Many Meanings of Consciousness• Study of consciousness poses a challenge to

psychologists since it can’t be seen or touched– Psychological construct: concept or theory devised in

order to help make sense of other observations– Other examples: intelligence, motivation, anxiety

• Consciousness as Awareness– Sensory awareness of surroundings (environment)– Selective attention, self-control, inner awareness

• Sigmund Freud’s Divisions of Conscious Mind– Conscious: material of which we are currently aware– Preconscious: can be called into conscious mind– Unconscious: material unavailable to awareness

• Repression: auto ejection of anxiety-causing thoughts

• Consciousness as the Sense of Self– Distinguishing what is us from what is not

• Consciousness as the Waking State– Natural state of mental being aware, as opposed to

sleep, hypnotic or meditative state, or being “high”

The Science of Sleep• We spend approx. 1/3 of our lives asleep

– Without sleep, we struggle, possibly die– How much is enough? Eight hours? More than that?– Circadian rhythm: anything that runs on a 24hr cycle

• Experiments have shown that without cues humans actually seem to operated on a 25 hour cycle. Weird.

• A typical night’s sleep has many stages– Stages are determined by shifts in brainwave activity

• NREM: the first four stage involve progressively deeper sleep—slower brain waves—and are not marked by rapid eye movement and simple dreaming

• REM: stage 5, similar brainwaves as in stage 1, marked by rapid eye movement & vivid dreaming

– We progress through stages many times in one night

• The benefits of a good night’s sleep– Serves to rest and rejuvenate the body & recover

from stress, consolidate learning & memories• REM sleep seems especially important to learning

– Sleep deprivation: insufficient sleep over many days can have dramatic effects on attention & learning

What is the Stuff of Dreams?• Psychologists have long debated the purpose

and scientific value of an individual’s dreams– Introspective in nature: open to interpretation– Freud: The road to the unconscious mind

• Many different theories as to why we dream and what our dreams may mean– Psychoanalytic theory: primal urges that have been

repressed disguise themselves in our dreams– Dreams serve to help consolidate memory and

learning , solve problems of the previous day– Dreaming serves to keep us asleep during REM cycle

• Dreaming in the Waking State: Fantasy– We’re also capable of breaking from reality in waking

state though imagination & selective attention• Sexual & aggressive fantasies normal for young people• Combining these two daydreams: not so healthy• Research is unclear as to the purpose of fantasy

Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

- Langston Hughes

Hypnosis: I Put a “Spell” on You• Hypnosis: condition in which people appear

highly suggestible & behave as though in trance– Started from the ideas of Franz Anton Mesmer– Freud, others used hypnosis for diagnosis, treatment– Involves the narrowing of attention, hypnotic trance

• Involves relaxation, but brainwaves differ from sleep• Some people easier to hypnotize: prone to fantasy, know

expectations of trance, willing to be hypnotized– Changes in consciousness attributed to hypnosis

• Passivity, narrowed attention, highly detailed/false memories, suggestibility, playing unusual roles, perceptual distortions, post-hypnotic amnesia, post-hypnotic suggestion

• Modern psychology has accepted hypnosis for a number of applications, rejected others– Used for pain and anxiety relief, as an anesthetic, to

help treat addictive behaviors, treatment of phobias• Intense debate over its use in recovering memories• Skeptics: suggestion & expectations…placebo effect?

– Text provides theories as to how hypnosis works (pp. 204-5)

Meditation & Biofeedback: Letting Go & Taking Control• Meditation: various ways of focusing one’s

consciousness to alter one’s relationship with the outside world– May involve focusing one’s attention on rituals,

exercises, passive observation to alter consciousness• Transcendental meditation (TM) involves repetition of

mantras (words or sounds that aide in achieving meditative state)

– Suspension of problem solving, planning, awareness are all characteristic of meditative state

– Physical effects: less stress, more relaxation

• Biofeedback: using real-time biological information on a specific bodily function in order to gain control over that function– Involves some type of display of biological feedback

(changing colors, frequency of sounds, etc)– Rats, humans have learned to influence heart rate,

brain waves, tension, blood pressure, and pain

Drugs: Changing Your Mind• Psychoactive substance: drug that has psych.

effects (i.e. stimulation, perceptual distortions)– Depressant: lowers activity of nervous system

• Alcohol, opiates (opium, heroin, codeine), barbiturates– Stimulant: increases activity of nervous system

• Amphetamines, Adderall, cocaine, nicotine, caffeine– Hallucinogenic: creates sensory/perceptual distortion

• Marijuana, LSD (acid), hashish, mescaline, ecstasy– Some drugs work by mimicking neurotransmitters,

other cause excessive release or limit their reuptake• All drugs impact brain’s “reward center” in the limbic

system, causing excessive dopamine (pleasure) release

• Drug use & abuse evident throughout history– Biological, cultural, social, psychological influences

• Some use drugs for recreation, others seeking deeper spiritual/ psychological insight, some use for social acceptance or defiance, also therapeutic treatment

– Each society has deemed what is inappropriate/illegal• 80’s War on Drugs vs. today’s pharmaceutical marketing• U.S. counter-culture movement: Leary’s Psychedelic

Experience and Huxley’s Doors of Perception

Addiction & Rehabilitation• Continued drug use can lead to complications

– Substance abuse: user continues to use substance after realizing that use is creating problems in their life

– Dependence: adaption of brain chemistry creates a physical need for drug & withdrawal symptoms • Considered more serious than substance abuse• Self-medication Theory: drugs used in order to ease

physical & mental stress issues w/o medical supervision• Tolerance: effect of drug lessens over time, result in

user needing more of drug to achieve the same effect– Addiction: biological disease of the brain resulting in

compulsive use of substance• Genetic, psychosocial, environmental influences• Comparison between addiction & dependence???

• Treatment attempts to cure dependence/addiction– Only an est. 10% of those who need treatment seek it– Treatment programs have been shown to effective in

helping users toward successful recovery (eventually)• Stages: Detoxification, treatment, relapse prevention• Drug therapy: medication to lessen withdrawal• Behavioral therapy: target attitudes toward drugs, self