Consciousness

CONSCIOUSNESS Chapter 6

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is a construct Concept that requires a belief in something

that cannot be seen or touched but according to evidence it is present

When we think of something we did a while back we seem to be bystanders watching ourselves

Consciousness is when we combine millions of brief memory images with current images of the world

LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Subconscious Example: You are at a party and you get a vague

feeling that people are acting strange towards you

Once you get home you wonder why you did not have a good time - This is when your subconscious picks up the earlier clues

Unconscious When we do things that we have no true or

direct knowledge about Example: Children

A boy keeps undoing the bolts on his brother’s bicycle but when caught he cannot explain why he did it

DBRI

UNSEEN FORCES

All creatures are controlled by bodily rhythms and cycles, forces that none can see or feel

Best known cycle – the females monthly cycle Males deny it but they experience a few days

every month that they are listless, slightly depressed

Seasonal Changes Summer and Winter Changes Birds migrating south for the winter

BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS

All of us are under the control of biological clocks Free-Running Cycles – cycles that occur on

“their” time Internal Temperature Kidneys

Entrainment – altering free-running cycles Sleep wake cycle Babies

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS

Behavior changes that occur every 24 hours Circa – about Dian – a day Morning Glories

Most people have a time when the lowest point is met (low temperature, low blood pressure, weakness, etc.) Between 3am – 5am

THE NATURE OF SLEEP AND DREAMS

Twilight State – when we first lie down and the activity in the brain begins to slow down

REM Sleep Rapid Eye Movement – eyes are moving in

different directions and your body is paralyzed

Dreams last anywhere from 5 to 40 minutes REM cycle occurs every 90 minutes and is

not a deep sleep

THE NATURE OF SLEEP AND DREAMS

NREM Non-Rapid Eye Movement Brain is still active by providing partial

thoughts, images and stories but they lack organization

Deep Sleep is important in adolescents because growth hormones are secreted during deep sleep

THE NATURE OF SLEEP AND DREAMS

Purpose of Dreaming 1. Way to deal with problems 2. Help work out unsolved problems 3. Revise and update the brain to get rid of

too much unnecessary “files”

PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS

70% of our dreams are about people we know

40% of females dream about the sea or bodies of water while only 27% of males do

Strange dreams do not mean something is wrong with you

Psychologists do not believe that dreams result from a special message from another world or your own unconscious world

50% of our dreams are in color and 50% are in black and white Researchers do not understand why

PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS

Nightmares 5% of the population have them as often as once

a week Triggered when people have missed REM

for a day, drinking too much alcohol, or not getting enough sleep

The first time we go to sleep after depriving ourselves of REM the length and number of dreams increase to make up for the loss

Myth: Nightmares are not caused by eating something strange

PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS

Night Terrors Horrible dreams that are vivid and real Breathing rate goes upward quickly, person

feels choked, heart rate takes off These are fairly common in very young children

who have a maturing brain The child will most likely grow out of them

LENGTH OF SLEEP

Our bodies seek between seven and eight hours of sleep a night

Teenagers need between eight and nine hours of sleep

Too much sleep – not good for our bodies After 11 hours the brain is drowsy and we

are less alert Long sleepers tend to die earlier than short

sleepers Most likely due to inactivity not just lack of sleep

WALKING AND TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP

Random electrical impulses hit the parts of the brain controlling specific areas that direct your speech and movements

Myth: Waking sleep walkers is dangerous Truth: You should wake them but make sure

they are sitting or lying down

SLEEP DISTURBANCE

Insomnia - 10% of adult Americans have trouble sleeping 2 most common causes of insomnia

Getting out of the normal circadian cycle Taking drugs and alcohol

Narcolepsy – go into REM anywhere, anytime

Sleep Apnea – person stops breathing hundreds of times during sleep (usually the person is unaware)

HYPNOSIS

Relaxed state with a heightened ability to focus on specific things while ignoring the usual distractions

Nature of Hypnosis Being able to “forget” about things

A Special State? Not related to sleep because the person is

fully conscious Trance – the deeper the trance the more likely

someone is relaxed and will cooperate

HYPNOSIS

Uses of Hypnosis Cures – the person has to be willing or have a

desire to change People claim that hypnotists can make

someone do something that he or she cannot control – not true because you do not have to do anything

When things are repeated over and over we tend to follow or believe what is being said Example: You go to school and several people tell you

that you don’t look well today. You will start believing them even though you felt fine earlier