Altered States of Consciousness

1. Altered States of Consciousness What the??????

2. Guided Meditation • Sit back and relax…… NOW! • RELAXING TIME IS OVER!

3. Characteristic of an ASC • Distortions of Perception & Cognition • Vivid or dulled, drugs can cause hallucination • Cant think straight, hard to make decisions • Disturbed sense of time • Teleportation home from that party • Changes in emotional awareness - more emotional…. I love you guys…slur • Changes in self control • Hypnosis more suggestible, • control pain response, • or maybe do something really stupid

4. Examples of ASC’s • Sleep/Dreams • Daydreaming • Meditative state • Alcohol induced state • Other psychoactive drugs

5. Daydreaming • Shift in attention from external to internal stimuli (thoughts feelings and emotions) • More likely to occur when still • More likely when alone • More likely when tired • Possibly allow us to fulfil fantasies (freud) • Assist with problem solving – try out alternatives

6. Meditative states • studies show decreased blood flow to the parietal lobes which control our sense of space • Often attention selectively focused on one thing • Brain wave patterns often resemble early stages of sleep • Can help relieve pain • Stress management • Benefits that rest alone can not give

7. Alcohol induced states • Alcohol is a psychoactive drug – change consciousness perception and mood • Alcohol is a depressant – blocks or retards neural transmission • Excessive acute use can cause death • Drunk people show all elements of ASC

8. Hypothetical construct • A phenomena that is believed to exist but cannot be directly measured • We cannot directly measure consciousness • Instead using a range of other measures we can hypothesise about what state of consciousness might be experienced

9. How can you study consciousness? • EEG

10. How can you study consciousness? • Heart rate • Body temp • GSR - sweating