Consciousness Expanding the Boundaries of Psychological Inquiry 02 06 2013 Sleep Paralysis our body becomes paralyzed while we are sleeping People awaken cognitively but their brain and muscles are still impaired Consciousness perspectives Our subjective experience of the world our bodies and our mental Circadian Rhythms cyclical changes that occur on a roughly 24 hour basis Biological processes like hormone release body temperature Regulated by the biological clock SCN of the hypothalamus Triggers our sense of fatigue via increasing melatonin o Melatonin makes us feel tired o Melatonin is released in the afternoon because we sleep at night and so in order to make sure we are sleepy when darkness falls we release melatonin o How much light the retina is receiving tells the body how much melatonin it should send Jet Lag clock to reset The more time zones passed through the longer it takes the body s Get rid of it by taking a nap is not good The best thing to do to get rid of jet lag is to go outside Your eyes will get information knowing its light outside by sending the info to your brain Late Work Shifts Sleep Increase risk of injuries fatal accidents health problems How much we need to sleep is done by age Newborns 16 hours College Students 9 hours Most people 7 10 hours People with mutation 6 hours or less Sleep Deprivation One night edginess irritability poor concentration the next day Multiple nights often experience depression difficulties in learning and attending slowed reaction times More than 4 days of severe deprivation can hear voices or see things Stages of Sleep Non REM Sleep We cycle through 5 stages of sleep in 90 minutes Non REM happens in stages 1 4 o No eye movements less dreams REM sleep o Stage 5 vivid dreams quick eye movements Awake a lot of brain activity when we sleep activity goes down Stage 1 Very drowsy transition quickly to stage 2 theta waves Stage 2 Brain waves and heart rate slow down body temperature decreases muscles relax sleep spindles and K complexes o Sleep spindles and K complexes are short surges of electrical Stages 3 and 4 Large amplitude delta waves become more activity frequent o Alcohol can keep us from deep sleep Non REM Dreams o Shorter o More thought like o Repetitive o Concerned with daily tasks REM Sleep Stage of sleep during which o The brain is most active o Vivid dreaming most often occurs Also called paradoxical sleep REM Dreams o More dreams o Emotional illogical o Prone to plot shifts o Biologically crucial Sleep Disorders Widespread and costly problem o 35 billion year cost o 30 50 of population experiences at some point Most common is insomnia 0 15 of people o Difficulty going to staying asleep or early waking o High rates with depression pain medical conditions Sleep Hygiene Drugs Psychoactive Drugs substances containing chemicals similar to those found naturally in our brains that alter consciousness by changing chemical process in neurons Abuse Versus Dependence A Fine Line Substance Abuse people qualify for this diagnosis when they experience recurrent problems associated with a drug Substance Dependence a more serious pattern of use leading to clinically significant impairment distress or both o Withdrawal o Tolerance o Physical and psychological dependence Explanations for Drug Use and Abuse Sociocultural Influences cultures encourage and discourage the use of alcohol and other drugs o Muslims do not let people drink alcohol o Italy loves wine Personality Learning and Expectancies o Tension reduction hypothesis for example a glass of red wine after a long day of work will make you feel more calm Genetic Influences o Drug and alcohol abuse genetic disorder runs in families Depressants Depress the effects of the central nervous system mimicking of GABA Examples Alcohol o Alcohol o Sedative Hypnotics o Females experience effects more heavily o Research shows that we expect to happen when drinking also plays a role in social behavior Placebo effect Sedative Hypnotics o Often prescribed to assist with anxiety or insomnia o Three classes Barbiturates Non barbiturates Benzodiazepines highly addictive o Benzos like Valium are in most widespread use and can be Stimulants Increase activity in the central nervous system including heart rate respiration and blood pressure Include o Nicotine o Cocaine o Amphetamines Sometimes users Everyday users Recreational users Narcotics Relieve pain and induce sleep derived from the opium poppy Include o Heroin o Morphine o Codeine Psychedelics hallucinogenic Include Most abusers are the ones who were prescribed the medication Cause dramatic alterations of perception mood and thought o LSD o Mescaline o PCP o Ecstasy properties of both psychedelic and stimulant Mimics effect of Dopamine and suppress Serotonin Marijuana Some classify as a hallucinogen others do not Most frequently used illegal drug in the United States Human Development How and Why We Change Developmental Psychology 02 06 2013 The study of how behavior changes over the life span Clarifying the Nature Nurture Debate Genes and environment can intersect in complex ways o Gene environment interactions Risk of skin cancer if your pale and you spend a lot of time in the sun o Nature via nurture When people with certain genetic predisposition seek out economic help Peoples personalities will eventually show who they hang out with and what activities they do Expose yourself to activities that bring out your personalities o Gene expression Not all genes turned on at the same time When in particular environment we can turn on those genes Male pattern baldness these gene expression changes the way people look Only turned on when exposed to high levels of testosterone Cognitive Development remember The study of how children learn think reason communicate and Cognitive Landmarks of Early Development Physical reasoning o Physical reasoning in infants involves Basic apparently innate knowledge Refinement of knowledge based on experience Concepts and Categories o Conceptual development requires children to acquire knowledge of How things look How they are used In what contexts they appear Self concept and the concept of other o Self recognition becomes increasingly sophisticated as children move from understanding they are physically distinct entities to understanding that others have minds distinct from their own Theory of mind Numbers and mathematics o Numerical development requires a complex understanding of counting rules and the nature
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