1 / 36

Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind. Forms of Consciousness. Conscious vs. Unconscious Activity: The Dual-Track Mind. Conscious “high” track: our minds take deliberate actions we know we are doing Examples: problem solving, naming an object, defining a word.

marv
Download Presentation

Chapter 3

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Chapter 3 Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind

  2. Forms of Consciousness

  3. Conscious vs. Unconscious Activity: The Dual-Track Mind Conscious “high” track: our minds take deliberate actions we know we are doing Examples: problem solving, naming an object, defining a word Unconscious “low” track: our minds perform automaticactions, oftenwithout being aware of them Examples: walking, acquiring phobias, processing sensory details Example in the book (borrowed from the Sensation and Perception topic): Automatic processing: Conscious “high” track says, “I saw a bird!” Unconsciously, we see:

  4. Unusual Consequences of Having a Dual-Track Mind Selective Attention • Selective Inattention • Inattentional blindness • Change blindness

  5. Inattentional Blindness • Various experiments show that when our attention is focused, we miss seeing what others may think is obvious to see (such as a gorilla).

  6. Change Blindness The Switch Two-thirds of people didn’t notice when the person they were giving directions to was replaced by a similar-looking person.

  7. Daily Rhythms and Sleep The circadian(“about a day”) rhythm refers to the body’s natural 24-hour cycle, roughly matched to the day/night cycle of light and dark. • What changes during the 24 hours? • Over the 24 hour cycle, the following factors vary, rising and falling over the course of the day and night: • body temperature • arousal/energy • mental sharpness

  8. Sleep Stages and Sleep Cycles: What is Measured?

  9. Falling Asleep:From Alert to Alpha Eyes Closed

  10. Non-REM Sleep Stages Getting deeper into sleep…but not dreaming yet NREM-1 NREM-2 NREM-3

  11. REM Sleep • This is sometimes known as “paradoxical sleep”; the brain and body are active but the body is immobile. • Heart rate rises and breathing becomes rapid. • Genitals are aroused (not caused by dream content) and stay this way after REM is over. • “Sleep paralysis” occurs when the brainstem blocks the motor cortex’s messages and the muscles don’t move.

  12. Stages of Sleep: The 90 Minute Cycles Through 8 Hours of Sleep The length of REM sleep increases the longer you remain asleep. With age, there are more awakenings and less deep sleep. NREM-1 NREM-2 NREM-3

  13. Why do we sleep?What determines the quantity and rhythm of sleep? • Age: in general, newborns need 16 hours of sleep, while adults need 8 hours or less • Individual (genetic) variation: some people function best with 6 hours of sleep, others with 9 hours or more • Culture: North Americans sleep less than others, and less than they used to • This rhythm is also affected by light, which suppresses the soporific (sleep inducing) hormone melatonin.

  14. Why do we sleep?What does sleep do for us? • Sleep protectedour ancestors from predators. • Sleep restores and repairsthe brain and body. • Sleep builds and strengthens memories. • Sleep facilitatescreativeproblem solving. • Sleep is the time when growth hormones are active.

  15. Effects of Sleep Loss/ Deprivation Research shows that inadequate sleep can make you more likely to: • lose brainpower. • gain weight. • get sick. • be irritable. • feel old.

  16. Sleep Loss/Deprivation=Accident Risk Accident Frequency Sleep loss results in more accidents, probably caused by impaired attention andslower reaction time.

  17. Sleep Disorders • Night terrors refer to sudden scared-looking behavior, with rapid heartbeat and breathing. • Sleepwalking and sleeptalking run in families, so there is a possible genetic basis. • Insomnia: persistent inability to fall asleep or stay asleep • Narcolepsy(“numb seizure”): sleep attacks, even a collapse into REM/paralyzed sleep, at inopportune times • Sleep apnea(“with no breath”): repeated awakening after breathing stops; time in bed is not restorative sleep These behaviors, mostly affect children, and occur in NONREM-3 sleep. They are not considered dreaming.

  18. Dreams • What We Dream About • Dreams often include some negative event or emotion, especially failure dreams (being pursued, attacked, rejected, or having bad luck). • Dreams do NOT often include sexuality. • We may incorporate real-world sounds and other stimuli into dreams. • Dreams also include images from recent, traumatic, or frequent experiences. the stream of images, actions, and feelings, experienced while in REM sleep Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud believed there was often a hidden “latent content” (conflicts, worries, and urges) underneath the “manifest content” (the plot, actions, and images recalled) of dreams.

  19. Theories about Functions of Dreams Dreams provide a “psychic safety valve”; they often express otherwise unacceptable feeligs, and contain both manifest (remembered) content and a latent content (hidden meaning). Dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories. Regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways. REM sleep triggers impulses that evoke random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories. Dream content reflects the dreamers’ cognitive development—his or her knowledge and understanding.

  20. Theories Explaining Hypnosis Social Influence Theory Hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative people who go along with the “subject” role they have agreed to play. Divided Consciousness Theory Hypnosis is a special state of dissociated (divided) consciousness of our dual-track mind.

  21. What Hypnosis Cannot Do: Benefits of Hypnosis for Some People: • blocking awareness of pain, even enough for surgery without anesthesia • reducing obesity, anxiety, and hypertension • improving concentration and performance • work when people refuse to cooperate • bestow ‘superhuman’ abilities or strength • accurately boost recall of forgotten events (it is more likely to implant false recall)

  22. Altering Consciousness Drugs Dependence/Addiction • Psychoactive drugs are particularly dangerous when a person develops an addiction or becomes dependenton the substance. • Factors related to addiction: • tolerance • withdrawal • impact on daily life of substance use • physical and psychological dependence Psychoactive drugs are chemicals introduced into the body which alter perceptions, mood, and other elements of conscious experience.

  23. Tolerance Tolerance of a drug refers to the diminished psychoactive effects after repeated use. Tolerance feeds addiction because users take increasing amounts of a drug to get the desired effect.

  24. Tolerance and Withdrawal • Drug users may experience withdrawal (painful symptoms of the body readjusting to the absence of the drug). • Withdrawal worsens addiction because users want to resume taking the drug to end withdrawal symptoms.

  25. Dependence In psychological dependence, a person’s resources for coping with daily life wither as a drug becomes “needed” to relax, socialize, or sleep. In physical dependence, the body has been altered in ways that create cravings for the drug (e.g. to end withdrawal symptoms).

  26. Dependence on a substance (or activity?) • Tolerance: the need to use more to receive the desired effect • Withdrawal: the distress experienced when the “high” subsides • Using more than intended • Persistent, failed attempts to regulate use • Much time spent preoccupied with the substance, obtaining it, and recovering • Important activities reduced because of use • Continued use despite aversive consequences

  27. Depressants are chemicals that reduce neural activity and other body functions. Depressants Examples: • alcohol • opiates

  28. Effects of Alcohol Use Chronic Use: Brain damage Impact on functioning • Slow neural processing, reduced sympathetic nervous system activity, and slower thought and physical reaction • Reduced memory formation caused by disrupted REM sleep and reduced synapse formation • Impaired self-control, impaired judgment, self-monitoring, and inhibition; increased accidents and aggression

  29. Opiates: Highly Addictive Depressants • Opiates depress nervous system activity; this reduces anxiety, and especially reduces pain. • High doses of opiates produce euphoria. • Opiates work at receptor sites for the body’s natural pain reducers (endorphins). Opiates are chemicals such as morphine and heroin that are made from the opium poppy.

  30. Stimulants are drugs which intensify neural activity and bodily functions. Stimulants Some physical effects of stimulants: dilated pupils, increased breathing and heart rate, increased blood sugar, decreased appetite Examples of stimulants: • Caffeine • Nicotine • Amphetamines, Methamphetamine • Cocaine

  31. Caffeine • Adds energy • Disrupts sleep for 3-4 hours • Can lead to withdrawal symptoms if used daily and excessively: • headaches • irritability • fatigue • difficulty concentrating • depression

  32. Nicotine The main effect of nicotine use is PHYSICAL ADDICTION.

  33. What happens next? • Euphoria crashes into a state worse than before taking the drug, with agitation, depression, and pain. • Users develop tolerance; over time, withdrawal symptoms of cocaine use get worse, and users take more just to feel normal. • Cycles of overdose and withdrawal can sometimes bring convulsions, violence, heart attack, and death. Cocaine • Cocaine blocks reuptake (and thus increases levels at the synapse of: • dopamine (feels rewarding). • serotonin (lifts mood). • norepinephrine (provides energy). • Effect on consciousness: Euphoria!!! At least for 45 minutes…

  34. Methamphetamine • Methamphetamine triggers the sustained release of dopamine, sometimes leading to eight hours of euphoria and energy. • What happens next: irritability, insomnia, seizures, hypertension, violence, depression • “Meth” addiction can become all-consuming. From 1998 to 2002: Extreme Makeover, Meth Edition

  35. Hallucinogens Marijuana/THC: What Happens Next? • Impaired motor coordination, perceptual ability, and reaction time • THC accumulates in the body, increasing the effects of next use • Over time, the brain shrinks in areas processing memory and emotion • Smoke inhalation damage LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) • LSD and similar drugs interfere with serotonin transmission. • This causes hallucinations--images and other “sensations” that didn’t come in through the senses. Marijuana/THC (delta-9-TetraHydroCannabinol) • Marijuana binds with brain cannabinoid receptors. • Effect on consciousness: • amplifies sensations • disinhibits impulses • euphoric mood • lack of ability to sense satiety

  36. Prevalence of Drug Use in the United States Nicotine Use as of 2011: 26 percent of high school dropouts smoke; 6 percent of people with graduate degrees smoke

More Related