STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chapter 5

PSYCH IN THE NEWS Why would an esteemed university president jeopardize his family’s comfortable upper- middle class life to grow marijuana?

PSYCH IN THE NEWS What is so alluring about marijuana or drugs in general?

PSYCH IN THE NEWS Is marijuana as dangerous as some allege? Does it have the benefits its advocates claim?

PSYCH IN THE NEWS Why do some people try to deliberately alter their ordinary state of consciousness?

PSYCH IN THE NEWS What are 3 things you are interested in learning about regarding states of consciousness?

WHICH STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS? Fully Aware (Waking Conscious) Fully Aware (Waking Conscious) Hypnotized Hypnotized Asleep Dreaming Asleep Dreaming Day Dreaming Day Dreaming Hallucinating Hallucinating Meditative Meditative Intoxicated Intoxicated

States of Consciousness WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? Can be altered deliberately or unintentionally

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS ► Periodic, fairly regular ups and downs in a biological system ► Knowledge of them can lead to them can lead to more effective more effective timing of daily timing of daily activities. activities.

FOR EXAMPLE

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS _________________________: Biological rhythm that occurs approximately every 24 hours _________________________: Biological rhythm that occurs approximately every 24 hours Regulated by the release Regulated by the release of __________________

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS Examples Include Examples Include Body TemperatureBody Temperature Menstrual CycleMenstrual Cycle THE BEST KNOWN CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IS THE ________________________ _

QUESTION Since your circadian rhythms can be affected by your environment… …What would happen if you were removed from all sunlight, clocks, environmental sounds, and all other time cues? Would you still follow a 24 hour sleep- wake cycle?

ANSWER Some people alter their “day” by several hours Some people alter their “day” by several hours MOST people, however, continue to follow a ___________ day (or very close to it) MOST people, however, continue to follow a ___________ day (or very close to it)

DETAILED RESULTS Early research in the 1960s and 1970s had concluded that the natural “free-running” circadian period of human beings was around 25 hours, not the expected 24 hours. However, later research showed that these experiments were flawed, and that even the presence of electric lighting was enough to skew the results. It is now clear that, although individual circadian periods do vary - ranging between 23.5 and 24.5 hours in humans - they have a mean of around 24.2 hours, just slightly more than the Earth’s rotation. About 25% of people have a circadian period which is slightly less than the 24-hour day, and 75% have a circadian period slightly more than 24 hours. Roosters know when to crow, even when removed from sunlight, based on circadian rhythms!

How Do Scientists Know? Cave Studies

Stefania Follini spent 4 months in a New Mexico cave, 30 feet underground. Her only companions were a computer and 2 friendly mice. In the absence of clocks, natural light, or changes in temperature, she tended to stay awake for hours and then sleep for 10. Because her days were longer than usual, when she emerged she thought she had been in the cave for only 2 months.

HMMM? Our biological rhythms follow a routine, BUT it IS possible to throw your biological clock out of sync! Our biological rhythms follow a routine, BUT it IS possible to throw your biological clock out of sync! _____________________________: Causes jet lag which _____________________________: Causes jet lag which affects energy levels, mental skills, and coordination

Recap

Recap 1) __________ are biological rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle 2) What chemical controls our circadian rhythms? 3) The best-known circadian rhythm is the __________. 4) What have cave studies shown (with the exception of Stefania Follini)? 5) Is it possible to desynchronize your circadian rhythms? Describe at least one way.

LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING PICTURES…WHICH STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AM I? WAKING CONSCIOUS STATE? WAKING CONSCIOUS STATE? ALTERED STATE? (DELIBERATELY) ALTERED STATE? (DELIBERATELY) SLEEP STATE? SLEEP STATE? HOW CAN YOU TELL?