consciousness
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Consciousness. Chapter 6. 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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
CONSCIOUSNESS Chapter 6
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
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
DBRI
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
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
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
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
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
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”
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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