Chapter 3 Consciousness and the two-track mindDaniel Wegner (psychologist)People believe their consciousness is controlling their actions when it isn’tConsciousnessA fundamental yet slippery conceptIt reflects what’s happening, but doesn’t let/make the car goDefinition: Our awareness of ourselves and our environmentCan be altered by hypnosis and drugsWe flit between various states of consciousnessSleeping, walking, day-dreaming, meditatingStates of consciousnessSome occur spontaneously: daydreaming, drowsiness, dreamingSome are physiologically induced: hallucinations, orgasm, food/oxygen starvationSome are psychologically induced: sensory deprivation, hypnosis, meditationThe brain & consciousnessMarvin Minsky (neuroscientist)The mind is what the brain doesCognitive neuroscience- the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition and mental processes (perception, thinking, memory, language)Dual processing- the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracksHigh road (conscious) & low road (unconscious)Visual perception track- enables us unconsciously “to create the mental furniture that allows us to think about the world”- to recognize things + plan future actions.Visual action track- guides our conscious, moment-to-moment actionsWe are consciously aware of cognitive processingConsciousness allows us to exert voluntary control and communicate our mental states to othersConsciousness sometimes arrives late to the decision-making partyUnconsciousness is the sub-processing of infoIt occurs simultaneously on multiple parallel tracksSerial conscious processingSlower than parallel processingSolving new problems, which require our focused attentionConsciousness is nature’s way of keeping us from thinking and doing everything at onceSelective attention- the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulusConscious awareness focuses on a very limited aspect of all that you experienceCocktail-party effect- your ability to attend to only one voice among manySelective attention is seen in accidents where drivers are talking on the phone while driving. They cannot fully focus on both- which leads to crashes (pg. 89)Inattentional blindness- failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewherePeople in an experiment fail to see the monkey who stops in front of them because they are focusing on throwing the ballChange blindness- failing to notice changes in the environmentChange deafness (person speaking changes and you can’t tell)Choice blindness (experiment where photos selected by participants were changes, but they did not notice)Pop-out: draw our eye and demand our attentionSleeps and dreamsBrain’s auditory cortex responds to sound stimuli even during sleepWhen we sleep, as when we are awake, we process most information outside our conscious awarenessBiological rhythms & sleepWe have a 24 hr biological clockWe have a 90 min sleep cycle (each 90 min we pass through a different stage of sleep)Circadian rhythm- the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for ex. Of temp and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hr cycleThinking is sharpest + memory most accurate when we are at our daily peak in the circadian arousalBright light at night helps delay sleep, thus resetting the biological clock when we stay up lateSuprachiasmicnucleus (SCN)- causes the brain’s pineal gland to decrease production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin in the morning and increase it in the eveningAt night SCN quiets down, allowing the pineal gland to release melatonin into the bloodstreamShifts in schedule can reset our biological clockCircadian rhythm 24-hr cycle regulates our daily schedule of sleeping + wakingSleep stagesSleep has its own biological rhythmAbout every 90 min, we pass through a cycle of 5 distinct sleep stagesAserinskyDiscovered REM sleepREM sleep- rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, b/c the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. Helps fix the day’s experience into permanent memory.Alpha waves- the relatively slow waves of a relaxed, awake stateSleep- periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness- as distinct from unconsciousness from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernationHallucinations- false sensory experiences such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulusDelta waves- the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleepDuring the awake, relaxed phase- alpha waves are presentDuring stage 1- you may experience hallucinations or falling/floatingDuring stage 2- occurs 20 min after stage 1; spindles are present- burst of rhythmic brain-wave activity; sleep-talking, you spend about half of your night hereDuring stage 3- transition to stage 4; some delta waves are present; hard to awakenDuring stage 4- hard to awaken; sleep walking can occur; your body is internally aroused but externally calm;During REM- heart raises + breathing; eye-movementBrain waves become rapid and saw-toothedREM periods increase as the night progresses, and stage 4 decreasesSleep cycle repeats itself about every 90 minAs the night wears on, deep stage 4 sleep gets briefer, then disappearsThe REM and stage 2 sleep get longerBy morning, 20-25% of our average night’s sleep-some 100 min- has been REM sleepWhy do we sleep?The idea that everyone needs 8 hours of sleep is untrueYou become terribly drowsy If you don’t sleepSleep strengthens memory, increases concentration, boosts mood, moderates hunger + obesity, fortifies the immune system, and lessens risk of fatal accidents.Each night, add an hr to your sleepSleep deprivation entails: difficulty studying, diminished productivity, tendency to make mistakes, irritability, and fatigueSleep deprivation increases hunger- arousing hormone ghrelin and decreases its hunger-suppressing partner, leptinSleep deprivation can suppress immune cells that fight of viral infections + cancer, alters metabolic + hormonal functioning in ways that mimic aging + cause hypertension and memory impairmentTo manage your life with enough sleep to awaken naturally and well rested it to be alert, productive, happy, healthy, and safeSleep functions:Sleep protectsYour better off asleep, our of harms waySleep helps us recuperateHelps restore + repair brain tissue (free radicals cause damage)Sleep is for making memoriesFor