Today we will...

• Discuss the different states of consciousness.

Individual Warm-up - Memory Refresher – Fill in the BlankWord Bank – proactive, priming, retroactive, anterograde,

retrograde

1. __________ interference happens when new information makes it harder to remember previously learned material.

2. To retrieve a specific memory, you often need to find one of the strands that lead to it. For example, you visit your old elementary school and as you walk down the hall you remember you friend Carol who you were in the 3rd grade with. This process of using strands to get to a memory is called __________

3. Tommy was in a car accident and he had a brain injury that damaged his hippocampus. Since his accident, he can’t form any new memories. This loss of memory for things that have happened after his injury occurred is called __________ amnesia.

4. Suppose your best friend has a new cell phone number, but you keep calling the old number instead. When something you learned earlier gets in the way of new, it is called __________ interference.

5. Rory was injured in the war when his vehicle ran over an explosive device. Since his brain injury, he cannot remember things that happened for years before his accident. This is called __________ amnesia

Questions to Consider

• What is the relationship between consciousness and arousal? How are different states of arousal, such as sleep or coma, related to consciousness?

• How do people with problems such as "blindsight" help us to understand the nature of consciousness?

PsychodynamicFreud: Levels of Consciousness• Freud's theory lays the

foundation for personality development.

• His theory attempts to explain individual differences by examining the major constructs of personality as influenced by unconscious mental thoughts, feelings and behavior.

Levels of Consciousness

• Freud believed that there are three levels of consciousness: 1. the conscious level, 2. preconscious level,

and 3. the unconscious

level. • Freud described these

levels of consciousness using the analogy of an iceberg.

The Conscious Level • The first level of awareness

is the conscious level. It is the part of the iceberg above the water's surface. – the smallest part of the

iceberg and you can readily see it.

• The conscious level is composed of thoughts, feelings and actions that you are presently aware of at any given moment. – For example, you are

presently aware of the words in the text you're reading.

The Preconscious Level • This is the part of the

iceberg immediately below the surface of the water and is larger than the above conscious level.

• The preconscious level is where we temporarily store thoughts, wishes, and feelings before they are brought into conscious awareness. – includes memories and

feelings which are readily retrievable for conscious awareness.

The Unconscious Level • The third, and largest level of

consciousness, is the unconscious level. – It is the largest part of the

iceberg. • According to Freud, this level

is responsible for storing your most primitive and instinctual motives. – Although you are not

aware of the thoughts and feelings stored at the unconscious level, they exert the greatest influence on your behavior.

Unconscious Destruction• According to Freud,

information in the unconscious level is difficult to retrieve.

• However, like the part of the iceberg that's hard to see, it has the potential to destroy normal psychological functioning.

• Freud believed that psychological disorders originate from repressed memories and instincts stored in the unconscious level.

Summary Question

• The poets and philosophers before me discovered the unconscious; what I discovered was the scientific method by which the unconscious can be studied.

» Sigmund Freud

• In light of what you already know about our current level of sophistication regarding the scientific method and our current level of knowledge about the unconscious, how would your respond to Freud’s statement.

Contemporary (Cognitive) view of Consciousness

• Consciousness has three important functions:

1.Restricts our attention.

2.Provides a place where sensation combines with memory, emotions, motives and other psychological processes.

3.Allows manipulating our environment, rather than just responding to the environment

Two Main Divisions

• Preconscious– Memories are not currently in one’s

consciousness, but they can be recalled into consciousness voluntarily or after something calls attention to them.

• Unconscious– Refers to cognition occurring without

awareness.– Priming is an example of unconscious

processing.

Sleeping and Dreaming• There are four stages

of non-REM sleep. After being in stage 4, you go back up through the stages to get to REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. – So, you go through

stage 1, 2, 3, 4, and then back up through stages 3 and 2. Instead of going back to 1, REM sleep occurs.

REM Sleep

• First cycle of REM sleep about 10 minutes

• By the end of the night, REM may be up to 60 minutes.

• Usually dream about 90 minutes.

• As REM sleep increases during the night, stage 3 & 4 sleep decrease.

During REM

1. Motor output is inhibited2. Genitals aroused, even if dream not sexual3. Everyone appears to dream but often dreams not

remembered.– Vivid & story-like dreams occur

4. Hormones are released that influence the thinking process and counteract fatigue, irritability, and inattention

5. Sleep paralysis – the sleeper is unable to move any of the body’s voluntary muscles, except those controlling the eyes.

6. Body replenishes itself physically in several ways. – For example, the pituitary gland releases growth

hormones, and body tissues are restored

B. Theories of Dreaming 1. Sigmund Freud viewed dreams as wish fulfillment in which

the manifest content (the actual content) is a censored version of the latent content (true meaning)– Freud believed that when people were in conflict, if he

could uncover or get to the latent content, then he could identify the person's problem and resolve their conflict.

2. Activation-synthesis theory states that the dream story results from the brains trying to interpret meaningless, periodic, random neural firings occurring during REM. Activity comes from the pons.

3. Problem solving/information processing theory states that dreams are caused by peoples reviewing problems they faced during waking hours– Reverse Learning - The brain sorts the information,

tosses out the things we don’t need, solidifies experiences to keep.

Dream Interpretation

• All people dream; some remember their dreams, at least from time to time. Many psychologists believe that dreams have underlying symbolic meaning, and provide clues to the workings of the unconscious mind.

• Other psychologists believe that dreams are the brain's way of processing and consolidating information while we sleep. In any case, it's interesting to remember your dreams, talk about them, or even analyze them to see what they might mea

Example

• Think of a dream you had recently, one where you still remember the details - write it down.

• http://www.dreammoods.com/

• Did you agree with the web site's interpretation of your dream? Why or why not?

• In general, do you believe that our dreams have symbolic meaning? How do you tend to use the information from dreams in your daily life?

Sleep DisordersImportant to Remember

• Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), Night Terrors, Sleepwalking, Seasonal Affective Disorder

• Impact everyday life, such as in driving, in industrial accidents, or even in family relationships.

• Being less alert and attentive, and more inclined to irritability and altering moods can affect relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. – In fact, major industrial catastrophes, such as the Three

Mile Island incident, have been attributed to human error that occurred during a time when the body is at its sleepiest.

– The 7% rise in automobile accidents the day after Daylight Savings Time "springs forward," and the congressional request for the research project "NASA Ames Fatigue/Jet Lag Program" are also indicators of the serious problems arising from sleeplessness and sleep disorders.

The Big Four1. Insomnia – Most common!!!

– Involves insufficient sleep, inability to fall asleep, frequent arousals, or early awakenings.

2. Sleep Apnea– A respiratory disorder in which the person intermittently

stops breathing several times while asleep.

3. Night Terrors– Occur mainly in children and involve deep sleep

episodes that produce vivid and terrifying images that are usually forgotten upon awakening.

4. Narcolepsy– Produces sudden daytime sleep attacks and is usually

accompanied by cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle control)

C. Hypnotic Ability and Susceptibility

• An induced state of awareness, characterized by heightened suggestibility, deep relaxation, and highly focused attention.

1. Openness to suggestion is key.2. 20% of people are highly hypnotizable; 10%

difficult/impossible 3. Correlates to rich fantasy life, imagination,

ability to focus attention and ignore distraction 4. Expectancy plays a role

C. Hypnotic Ability and Susceptibility

Inaccurate memories are common Can sometimes boost recall False recollections can occur Memories are often constructed Normal rules of memory formation, storage,

and retrieval apply

H. Uses of Hypnosis

1. Control undesired symptoms and behaviors

2. Used for pain control

3. treatment of headaches, asthma, warts, stress-related skin disorders, self-control problems such as smoking, weight control, and nail biting

Why should meditation promote feelings of well-being and relaxation?

• Induced by focusing on a repetitive behavior, assuming certain body positions, and minimizing external stimulation. It produces relaxation and sense of well-being.

• Researchers have reported that the physiological effects of meditation are related to lowered activity of the sympathetic nervous system, the branch of the autonomic nervous system that functions as the arousal center during emergency or stressful situations.

• The most common bodily change reported is hypometabolism, which is characterized by decreases in the body's metabolic rate as reflected by lowered oxygen consumption, in heart and respiration rates, and in carbon dioxide production.