1. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: background
Difficult to define
Our awareness of ourselves and our environment
Relates to the function of the mind: thoughts, feelings, perceptions, etc.
Cognitive Perspective

2. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: background
Two types
Normal States
Altered States

3. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Consciousness: background
Five levels - waking conscious
All working at same time (parallel processing)
Information processed at all levels

4. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
Freud saw consciousness like an iceberg: only a little bit is visible & most is hidden

5. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
1) Conscious state
State of active awareness
Tasks needing full attention (learning new skill; complex task)
Relatively slow; limited capacity

6. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
2) Preconscious state
Stores information not currently being used
Can be recalled easily
Example:
Phone number, address, person’s birthday, memories, information, etc.

7. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
3) Subconscious state
Examples
Information & mental processes to perform routine activities
“Muscle memory” & Automaticity
Unaware of this information; can be instantly if attention directed toward it
Cocktail party effect: subconsciously aware of other conversations

8. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
3) Subconscious state
Related term:
Humphrey’s Law/The Centipede's Dilemma
For tasks in subconscious: conscious thought about the task impairs performance
“We mess up if we think about what we’re doing”
Need to add to study guide

9. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
A centipede was happy – quite! Until a toad in fun Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?" Which threw her mind in such a pitch, She laid bewildered in the ditch Considering how to run.

10. Unit VIII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
4) Unconscious state
Stores memories we are unaware of
Retrieved only with difficulty
Freud; psychoanalytical
Examples:
Repressed memories
Events that happened long ago (Language learned in high school, 6th birthday party)

11. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
4) Unconscious state
Unconscious as a state is different than the concept of “unconscious,” as being passed out.

12. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Waking Consciousness – levels
States of Waking Consciousness: 5 levels
5) Non-conscious state
Automatic functions
Examples:
Heartbeat, breathing, etc.

13. Conscious
Preconscious
Subconscious
Unconscious
Non-conscious

14. Conscious:
Conversation about turkeys
Pre-conscious:
Story about turkeys, retrieved from pre-conscious
And then I said, “who notices the color of turkeys… oops, I think that was my exit…
Subconscious:
Driving, automaticity – not paying attention, misses exit.
Unconscious:
Painful memory about turkey eating sister
Non-conscious:
Breathing, heartbeat, etc.

15. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Definition:
Regular, internal cycle
Biological cycle, influence mental cycles
“Biological clock”

16. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Three main types:
Exogenous
Endogenous
Free running rhythms

17. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
1) Exogenous
Influenced fully by external stimuli
If external stimuli removed, cycle would end
Examples:
Migration, hibernation

18. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
2) Endogenous
Internal cycle
Influenced by external stimuli, but not caused by it
Most of the ones we’ll be talking about are this type

19. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
2) Endogenous
Entrainment:
Aligning cycle to external stimuli
Usually light & dark
After: Jet lag or daylight savings time

20. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
3) Free running rhythms
What happens to sleep cycle when external stimulus taken away
Not based on 24 hour clock

21. • To investigate the nature of biological rhythms, experimenters have enticed subjects to spend up to 6 months in underground environments totally cut off from external cues. The subject is placed in an underground facility, an apartment without windows, television, or any other external cues. The subject has a supply of books, and a newspaper is supplied once a day while the subject is still sleeping. The lights are controlled by the experimenter and are turned off at 11:00 P.M. and on at 7:00 A.M. Body temperature is monitored with a thermometer in the subject’s rectum, urine is collected at regular intervals and the activity and sleep of the subject is continuously monitored. • Results: Subject shows a regular 24 hour cycle in sleep and activity, body temperature, and all other monitored variables. (Circadian Rhythms)

22. • Now: Give subject control over the lighting in the apartment
• Now: Give subject control over the lighting in the apartment. Newspapers are given to the subject when he/she wakes up. What happens? Sleep, activity, and body temperature cycle as before but instead of showing a 24 hour rhythm the subject now shows a 25 hour rhythm (this is the free running rhythm). Each day, the subject wakes up one hour later -- after 25 days, today’s newspaper will arrive in the lab before yesterday’s paper has been given to the subject. • Odd things happen to the perception of time: Naps perceived as short by the subject were actually 8 hours long. Average sleep times may also change -- in one experiment, the subject’s average sleep time was 19 hours. In some cases, subjects may sleep as short as 4 hours and others as long as 18 hours -- some daytimes continue for as long as 30 hours. And while all this is going on in the sleep/wake cycle, the body temperature rhythm chugs along at a 25 hour cycle. • “The subject’s confusion and skepticism were often dramatic when, after two or three weeks by private count of ‘days,’ the supervising scientist entered to announce that the agreed-upon month was finished --but could not convince the subject until he produced a stack of ‘future’ newspapers to prove it.”

23. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Endogenous Biological Rhythms: types
1) Annual biorhythms
Occurs annually
More with animals
Example:
Migration

24. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Endogenous Biological Rhythms: types
2) Infradian biorhythms
Period of more than a 24-hour cycle
Example:
Menstrual cycle

25. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Endogenous Biological Rhythms: types
3) Circadian biorhythms
Occur on 24-hour cycle
Usually influenced by light
Example:
Wakefulness, body temperature

26. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Endogenous Biological Rhythms: types
3) Circadian biorhythms, continued
Wakefulness influenced by light
Light -> retina -> hypothalamus -> pineal gland: decrease level of melatonin
Melatonin – sleep inducing hormone?
Recent discovery: signal to trigger nighttime behaviors?
Which in humans is sleep
Link

27. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Endogenous Biological Rhythms: types
4) Ultradian biorhythms
Period of less than 24-hour cycle
Example:
Cycle of sleep

28. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Biological Rhythms: other concepts
Circadian desynchronization
Disruption of Circadian rhythms
Disrupts sleep cycle
Example:
Jetlag, shift work, daylight savings time

29. Unit VII: States of Consciousness: Biological Rhythms (biorhythms)
Biological Rhythms: other concepts
Everyone’s biological rhythms are different
Why some people need more sleep than others, why some people are “morning people,” etc.