1. Chapter 4 States of Consciousness

2. MODULE 1 - Sleep and Dreams
What are the different states of consciousness?
What happens when we sleep, and what are the meanings and functions of dreams?
What are the major sleep disorders, and how can they be treated?

3. Introduction
Consciousness: Awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings being experienced at a given moment
Types
Waking consciousness – awake and aware
Altered states of consciousness – include sleeping, dreaming, drug use, hypnosis

4. The Stages of Sleep Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
State of transition between wakefulness and sleep
Rapid, low-amplitude brain waves
Stage 1
Slower and more regular wave pattern compared to stage 1
Momentary interruptions of sleep spindles
Stage 2
Slow brain waves with higher peaks and lower valleys of waves than stage 2
Stage 3
Deepest stage, least responsive to outside stimulation
Difficult to wake up
Stage 4

5. Figure 2: Brain-Wave Patterns

6. REM Sleep: The Paradox of Sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep: Sleep occupying 20% of an adult’s sleeping time, characterized by:
Increased heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate
Erections
Eye movements
Experience of dreaming more likely
Major muscles of the body are paralyzed
5 stages of sleep

7. Figure 3: Typical Sleep Cycle

8. REM Sleep: The Paradox of Sleep
Rebound effect - REM-deprived sleepers spend significantly more time in REM sleep than normal on subsequent sleeping
Sleep debt
May play a role in learning and memory
Allows us to rethink and restore information and emotional experiences

9. Why do We Sleep, and How Much Sleep is Necessary?
Sleep is a requirement for normal human functioning
Exact reason for sleep is unknown
Explanations
Evolutionary theory – energy conservation
Restoration and replenishment for brain and body
Physical growth and brain development

10. Why do We Sleep, and How Much Sleep is Necessary?
Most people sleep between 7–8 hours per night
Varies among individuals
Sleep patterns differ between men and women
Sleep deprivation experiments
Participants feel weary, irritable, unable to concentrate, loss of creativity, decline in logical reasoning ability
But no lasting effects – rebound after a few days of regular sleep

11. The Function and Meaning of Dreams
Unconscious wish fulfillment theory
Dreams represent unconscious wishes that dreamers desire to see fulfilled
Theory by Sigmund Freud
Manifest content of the dream - information one remembers and reports (storyline)
Latent content – underlying wishes
Dreams typically represent unconscious wishes and that particular objects and events in a dream are symbolic

12. Symbols of Intercourse:
Male Symbols:
Bullets
Snakes
Sticks
Fire
Umbrellas
Hoses
Knives
Guns
Trains and planes
Female Symbols:
Ovens
Boxes
Tunnels
Caves
Bottles
Ships
Apples
Peaches
Grapefruits
Symbols of Intercourse:
Climbing stairs
Crossing a bridge
Riding an elevator
Flying in an airplane
Walking down a hallway
Entering a room
Traveling through a tunnel

13. The Function and Meaning of Dreams
Dreams-for-survival theory
Dreams permit us to reconsider and reprocess information that is critical for our daily survival
Dreaming as a mechanism to process information
Dreams are seen as consistent with everyday living, rather than being disguised wishes (as Freud suggested)
Activation-synthesis theory
Brain produces random electrical energy during REM sleep as a result of changes in the production of particular neurotransmitters
The energy stimulates memories stored in the brain
Refined by the activation information modulation (AIM) theory
Dreams initiated in the pons, which sends random signals to the cortex

14. Sleep Disturbances: Slumbering Problems
Insomnia
A condition in which people experience difficulty in sleeping
Common in women, older adults, who are thin or under depressed
Sleep apnea
A condition in which a person has difficulty breathing while sleeping
The lack of oxygen becomes great enough to trigger a waking response
May play a role in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Night terrors
Sudden awakenings from non-REM sleep that are accompanied by extreme fear, panic, and strong physiological arousal
may be so frightening that a sleeper awakens with a shriek

15. Sleep Disturbances: Slumbering Problems
Narcolepsy
Uncontrollable sleeping that occurs for short periods while a person is awake
Go directly from wakefulness to REM sleep, skipping the other stages
Sleep talking
Sleep walking

16. Circadian Rhythms: Life Cycles
Biological processes that occur regularly on approximately a 24-hour cycle
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - Controls circadian rhythms
Seasonal affective disorder - Severe depression which increases during the winter and decreases during the rest of the year
Moods also follow patterns - people tend to
Be happier in the morning
Be happier in seasons with longer days
Be less happy in seasons where the days are shorter

17. Daydreams: Dreams Without Sleep
Fantasies that people construct while awake
Part of waking consciousness
Time spent in daydreaming varies from individual to individual
Content of daydreams and dreams show many parallels
Brain areas and processes involved in daydreaming and dreams during sleep are related

18. MODULE 2 - Hypnosis and Meditation
What is hypnosis, and are hypnotized people in a different state of consciousness?
What are the effects of meditation?

19. Hypnosis: A Trance-Forming Experience
Trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others
Despite their compliance when hypnotized, people do not lose all will of their own
They will not perform antisocial behaviors, and they will not carry out self-destructive acts
People will not reveal hidden truths about themselves, and they are capable of lying.
Susceptibility to hypnosis varies greatly
5% to 20% of the population cannot be hypnotized at all
Some 15% are very easily hypnotized
Most people fall somewhere in between

20. Hypnosis: A Trance-Forming Experience
Due to changes in electrical activity in the brain, hypnosis is a state of consciousness different from normal waking
Hypnosis represents a state of divided consciousness
In one stream of consciousness, hypnotized people are following the commands of the hypnotist
Yet on another level of consciousness, they are acting as “hidden observers,” aware of what is happening to them

21. Hypnosis: Four Step Process
Person is made comfortable in a quiet environment
Hypnotist explains what is going to happen
Person is asked to concentrate on a specific object or image
Hypnotist makes suggestions that the person interprets as being produced by hypnosis

22. Hypnosis: A Trance-Forming Experience
The Value of Hypnosis
Controlling pain
Reducing smoking
Treating psychological disorders
Assisting in law enforcement
Improving athletic performance

23. Meditation: Regulating Our Own State of Consciousness
Learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness
The key to the procedure is concentrating on a particular stimulus so thoroughly that the meditator becomes unaware of any outside stimulation and reaches a different state of consciousness
Long-term practice improves health because of the biological changes it produces
Decrease of oxygen usage
Reduced heart rate and blood pressure
Change in brain wave patterns
Different cultural practices and meditation

24. MODULE 3 - Drug Use: The Highs and Lows of Consciousness
What are the major classifications of drugs, and what are their effects?

25. Introduction
Psychoactive drugs: Influence a person’s emotions, perceptions, and behavior
Addictive drugs: Produce a biological or psychological dependence in the user
Withdrawal from them leads to a craving for the drug that may be nearly irresistible
Physiological drug dependence: the body becomes so accustomed to functioning in the presence of a drug that it cannot function without it
Psychological dependence: people believe that they need the drug to respond to daily life stressors

26. Introduction Reasons for drug intake
Perceived pleasure of the experience itself
Escape that a drug-induced high affords from daily pressures of life
Peer pressure
Genetic factors predispose people to be susceptible to drugs

27. Stimulants: Drug Highs
Drugs that have an arousal effect on the central nervous system
Cause a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension
Caffeine – several reactions, people can build up a biological dependence
Nicotine – found in cigarettes, people can develop a dependence

28. Stimulants: Drug Highs
Amphetamines – ‘speed,’ several effects
Bring about a sense of energy and alertness, talkativeness, heightened confidence, and a mood “high”
Increase concentration and reduce fatigue
Cocaine – rapidly absorbed, takes effect almost immediately
Produces feelings of profound psychological well-being, increased confidence, and alertness
Acts on dopamine
Can rewire the brain, create psychological and physical addiction
Mental and physical deterioration

29. Figure 4: Drugs and Their Effects

30. Depressants: Drug Lows
Drugs that slow down the nervous system
Alcohol
Initial effects: increases sense of sociability and well-being
Release of tension and stress, feelings of happiness, and loss of inhibitions
Depressive effects
Emotionally and physically unstable
Poor judgment and may act aggressively
Memory impairment
Diminished brain processing
Slurred speech
Cultural and ethnic differences in alcohol consumption
Thai vs. Western teenagers

31. Figure 6: Effects of Alcohol: Benchmarks

32. Barbiturates and Rohypnol
Barbiturates – examples, Nembutal, Seconal, phenobarbital
Induce sleep or reduce stress
Produce a sense of relaxation
Produce altered thinking, faulty judgment, and sluggishness when consumed at higher levels
Psychologically and physically addictive
Can be deadly if combined with alcohol
Rohypnol - Date rape drug
No memory of the assault

33. Narcotics: Relieving Pain and Anxiety
Drugs that increase relaxation and relieve pain and anxiety
Examples
Morphine
Heroin

34. Hallucinogens: Psychedelic Drugs
Produce hallucinations, or change in the perceptual process
Marijuana
Feelings of euphoria and general well-being
Sensory experiences seem more vivid and intense, and a person’s sense of self-importance seems to grow
Memory may be impaired

35. Hallucinogens: Psychedelic Drugs
MDMA (ecstasy)
Causing an alteration in brain-cell activity and perception
Feelings of increased energy, euphoria, empathy and connection with others
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD or acid)
Produces vivid hallucinations