Consciousness

1. Consciousness Chapter 6

2. 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

3. 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

4. DBRI

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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”

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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

18. 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