©Prentice Hall Understanding Psychology 6th Edition Charles G. Morris and Albert A.Maisto PowerPoint Presentation by H. Lynn Bradman Metropolitan Community College

©Prentice Hall Chapter 4 States of Consciousness

©Prentice Hall What is Consciousness? To make sense of our complex environment, we choose what to absorb from the myriad happenings around us and filter out the rest. This process applies to both external stimuli such as sounds, sights, and smells, and internal sensations such as heat, cold, pressure, and pain.

©Prentice Hall What is Consciousness? Our thoughts, memories, emotions, and needs are subjected to this selective process. We also perform familiar tasks, such as signing our names, without deliberate attention. Many psychologists believe that important mental processes go on outside normal waking consciousness.

©Prentice Hall Defining Consciousness Awareness of mental processes: –Decision making, remembering, concentrating, daydreaming, sleeping Waking consciousness: –Thoughts, feelings, perceptions when awake and alert

©Prentice Hall Defining Consciousness Altered states of consciousness: –Sleep, daydreaming, dreaming, hypnosis, meditation, intoxication

©Prentice Hall Sleep Evolutionary psychologists see sleep as an adaptation allowing organisms to conserve and restore energy.

©Prentice Hall Circadian Cycles Circadian cycles are an ancient and a fundamental adaptation to the 24-hour solar cycle of light and dark The human biological clock is actually a tiny cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus that responds to levels of proteins in the body.

©Prentice Hall Circadian Cycles Over the course of a day, metabolism, stomach acidity, alertness, body temperature, blood pressure, and the level of most hormones vary predictably. But not all body cycles follow the same pattern.

©Prentice Hall Circadian Rhythms Epinephrine (which causes the body to go on alert) reaches a peak in the late morning hours and declines until around midnight. By contrast, levels of melatonin (which promotes sleep) surge at night and drop off during the day. Normally, the rhythms and chemistry of all these different cycles interact smoothly, so that a shift in one brings about a corresponding shift in others.

©Prentice Hall Body Temperature Body temperature is related to one’s level of alertness and sleep/wake cycle. An increase in body temperature equals greater alertness. A decrease in body temperature equals reduced alertness and motivation.

©Prentice Hall The Rhythms of Sleep Normal sleep consists of several stages.

©Prentice Hall Stages of Sleep During Stage I, the pulse slows, muscles relax, and the eyes move from side-to-side. The sleeper is easily awakened from Stage I sleep.

©Prentice Hall Stages of Sleep In Stages 2 and 3 the sleeper is hard to awaken and does not respond to noise or light. Heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature continue to drop.

©Prentice Hall Stages of Sleep During Stage 4 sleep, heart and breathing rates, blood pressure, and body temperature are at their lowest points of the night. About an hour after first falling asleep, the sleeper begins to ascend through the stages back to Stage1 This process takes about 40 minutes.

©Prentice Hall REM Sleep At this stage in the sleep cycle, heart rate and blood pressure increase, the muscles become more relaxed than at any other time in the cycle, and the eyes move rapidly under closed eyelids. It is this rapid eye movement (REM) that gives this stage of sleep its name.

©Prentice Hall REM Sleep REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep Measures of brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure, and other physiological functions closely resemble those recorded during waking consciousness.

©Prentice Hall REM Sleep The person in this stage appears to be deeply asleep and is incapable of moving; The body's voluntary muscles are essentially paralyzed. Some research suggests that REM sleep is also the stage when most dreaming occurs, though dreams take place during NREM sleep as well.

©Prentice Hall

©Prentice Hall

©Prentice Hall

©Prentice Hall Sleep Disorders Sleeptalking and sleepwalking usually occur during Stage 4. –Both are more common among children than adults. –About 20 percent of children have at least one episode of either sleepwalking or sleeptalking.

©Prentice Hall Sleep Disorders Night (sleep) terrors: –A disorder affecting 1-6% of children between 4 and 12 years old. –Children wake up screaming, are difficult to comfort, and remember very little of the dream.

©Prentice Hall Sleep Disorders Insomnia: –Difficulty falling asleep or remaining asleep Sleep apnea: –An individual falls asleep and ceases breathing Narcolepsy: –Characterized by sleep at inappropriate times and sudden loss of muscle tone during moments of excitement

©Prentice Hall Dreams

©Prentice Hall What Are Dreams? Dreams are visual or auditory experiences that occur primarily during REM periods of sleep. Less vivid experiences that resemble conscious thinking tend to occur during NREM sleep.

©Prentice Hall Why Do We Dream? Several theories have been developed to explain the nature and content of dreams.

©Prentice Hall Freud’s Dream Theory Manifest content: –The dream as remembered by the dreamer. Latent content: –The real meaning of the dream; Known only to the unconscious. Dream work: –The process of turning latent content into manifest content.

©Prentice Hall Dreams and Information Processing Another recent hypothesis suggests that dreams arise out of the mind's reprocessing of information absorbed during the day; This information is important to the survival of the organism. According to this theory, then, dreaming strengthens our memories of important information.

©Prentice Hall Dreams and Waking Life Another theory maintains that dreams are an extension of the conscious concerns of daily life in altered (but not disguised) form. Research has shown that what people dream about is generally similar to what they think about and do while awake.

©Prentice Hall Dreams and Neural Activity New research has indicated that the limbic system, which is involved with emotions, motivations, and memories, is "wildly" active during dreams. Also involved are the visual and auditory areas of the forebrain that process sensory information.

©Prentice Hall Dreams and Neural Activity Areas of the forebrain involved in working memory, attention, logic, and self-monitoring are relatively inactive during dreams. This would explain the highly emotional texture of dreams, as well as bizarre imagery, and the loss of critical insight, logic, and self- reflection.

©Prentice Hall Dreams and Neural Activity This uncensored mixture of desires, fears, and memories comes very close to the psychoanalytic concept of unconscious wishes. This suggests that Freud may have come closer to the meaning of dreams than many contemporary psychologists have acknowledged.

©Prentice Hall Drug-Altered Consciousness

©Prentice Hall Drug Use in Other Societies and Times Although many of the psychoactive drugs available today have been used for thousands of years, the motivation for using drugs is different today. Traditionally, these drugs were used in religious rituals, as nutrient beverages, or as culturally approved stimulants. Today, most psychoactive drug use is recreational, divorced from religious or family traditions.

©Prentice Hall Substance Use Terms Substance abuse: –A pattern of use that diminishes one’s ability to fulfill one’s responsibilities. Substance dependence: –The compulsive use of a substance that often results in tolerance or withdrawal.

©Prentice Hall Substance Use Terms Tolerance: –Occurs when higher drug doses are needed to produce original effects Withdrawal: –The unpleasant symptoms that follow discontinuation of substance

©Prentice Hall Sources of Drug-Altered Consciousness Depressants: –Slow down behavior and cognition Stimulants: –Excite sympathetic nervous system and produce feelings of optimism and boundless energy Hallucinogens: –Distort visual and auditory perception

©Prentice Hall Depressants Alcohol Barbiturates Opiates

©Prentice Hall Short-term Effects of Alcohol Initially affects frontal lobe, reducing inhibitions, impairing reason and judgment. With continued drinking, the cerebellum (balance) and spinal cord and medulla (breathing, body temperature, and heart rate) are affected.

©Prentice Hall Short-term Effects of Alcohol Visual acuity and depth perception are also affected. Smell and taste become distorted. Memory storage is affected.

©Prentice Hall Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Memory loss Decreased sexual drive or impotence Menstrual problems Liver and kidney damage Possibly develop korsakoff’s syndrome memory loss

©Prentice Hall Barbiturates Typical effects: –Depressed reflexes, impaired motor functioning, tension reduction –Can cause amnesia –In small doses, they can enhance memory (so- called “truth serum”)

©Prentice Hall Opiates Opium, heroin, morphine Typical effects: –Euphoria, drowsiness, “rush” of pleasure, little impairment of psychological functions

©Prentice Hall

©Prentice Hall Stimulants Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines: –Chemically similar to epinephrine Typical effects: –Increased alertness, excitation, euphoria, increased pulse rate and blood pressure, sleeplessness

©Prentice Hall

©Prentice Hall Hallucinogens LSD, PCP, and mescaline Typical effects: –Illusions, hallucinations, distortions in time perception, loss of contact with reality –No apparent withdrawal effects –Tolerance can develop quickly –Flashbacks

©Prentice Hall Marijuana Typical effects: –Euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, increased appetite, possible disorientation, expands blood vessels in the eyes (bloodshot)

©Prentice Hall Adverse Effects of Marijuana Respiratory system risks: –Cancer, pulmonary disease, and chronic bronchitis Nervous system risks: –Increased symptoms of mental illness, personality changes, and altered judgment and coordination THC is stored in brain tissue for up to 45 days

©Prentice Hall Adverse Effects of Marijuana Reproductive system risks: –abnormal sperm and fetal abnormalities THC is stored in sex organ tissue for up to 45 days

©Prentice Hall Explaining Abuse and Addiction Several factors make it more likely that a person will abuse drugs. The factors include a possible genetic predisposition, the person's expectations, the social setting, and cultural beliefs and values.

©Prentice Hall Meditation and Hypnosis At one time Western scientists viewed meditation and hypnosis with great skepticism. However, research has shown that both techniques can produce alterations in consciousness that can be measured through such sophisticated methods as brain imaging.

©Prentice Hall Meditation A method of concentration and reflection that reduces sympathetic nervous system activity. Meditation not only lowers the rate of metabolism but also reduces heart and respiratory rates. Brain activity during meditation resembles that experienced during relaxed wakefulness, and the accompanying decrease in blood lactate reduces stress.

©Prentice Hall Hypnosis A trancelike state in which susceptibility to suggestion is heightened. People's susceptibility to hypnosis depends on how suggestible they are.

©Prentice Hall Hypnosis Hypnosis has several practical applications: –It eases the pain of certain medical conditions –Hypnosis can help people stop smoking and break other habits.