Chapter 5 Consciousness Consciousness a person s subjective experience of the world and the mind Conscious and Unconscious The Mind s Eye Open and Closed how things seem to the conscious person Phenomenology Problem of other minds consciousness of others fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the o People judge minds according to the capacity for Experience ability to feel pain pleasure hunger consciousness anger fear Agency ability for self control planning memory or thought Mind body problem the issue of how the mind is related to the mind and body o Descartes believed mind and body were separate o Electrical activity in brain of volunteers started before conscious wish to raise hand and before hand is raised Consciousness has 4 basic properties quality of being directed toward an object resistance to division ability to integrate info From all body s o Intentionality o Unity senses into one coherent whole o Selectivity capacity to include some objects but not others people wearing headphones hear different Dichotic listening messages in each ear while they filter out others nearby names Cocktail party phenomenon people tune in 1 message even o Transience tendency to change Levels of consciousness o Minimal consciousness low level of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior know and are able to report mental state person s attention is drawn to self as object o Full consciousness o Self consciousness Infants develops about 18 months people are asked to report their what the person is thinking about repeatedly Experience sampling technique Current concerns Daydreaming consciousness experiences at particular times of thoughts comes to mind consciousness with greater frequency following suppression Mental control Thought suppression Rebound effects of thought suppression conscious avoidance of thought attempt to change consciousness states of mind state of consciousness in which a seemingly purposeless flow tendency of a thought to return to Repression Dynamic unconscious ironic errors occur because the mental an active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden a mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and Ironic processes of mental control process that monitors errors can itself produce them memories the person s deepest instincts and desires and the person s inner struggle to control these forces memories from consciousness and keeps them in the unconscious Freudian slips for unconscious mind all mental processes that give rise to person s thoughts choices emotions and behaviors even though they are not experienced by the person Subliminal perception person cannot consciously report perceiving thought or behavior is influenced by stimuli that a speech errors and lapses of consciousness that gave evidence Cognitive unconscious Sleep and Dreaming Good Night Mind Altered state of consciousness significantly from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind a form of experience that departs o Hypnagogic state o Hypnic jerk o Hypnopompic state presleep consciousness sudden quiver or sensation of dropping post sleep consciousness naturally occurring 24 hour sleep wake cycle stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high Circadian rhythm REM sleep level of brain activity Sleep disorders Electrooculograph EOG instrument that measures eye movements difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep disorder in which the person stop breathing for brief o Insomnia o Sleep apnea o Somnambulism o Narcolepsy periods while asleep middle of waking activities arousal o Sleep paralysis o Night terrors sleep walking disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the the experience of waking unable to move abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional 5 characteristics of dream consciousness that make it different than waking Intense emotion Illogical thoughts state 1 2 3 Sensation is fully formed and meaningful 4 Uncritical acceptance 5 Difficulty remembering Manifest content Latent content a dream s apparent topic or superficial meaning a dream s true underlying meaning Activation synthesis model to make sense of random neural activity that occurs during sleep dreams are produced when the brain attempts Drugs and Consciousness Artificial Inspiration the tendency for a larger drug dose to be required over time chemicals that influence consciousness or behavior by Psychoactive drugs Drug tolerance altering the brain s chemical message system to achieve same effect Physical dependence unpleasant symptoms accompany withdrawal withdrawal symptoms are gone absence of actual and presence or absence of placebo stimulus Physiological dependence Balanced placebo design behavior is observed following presence or when pain convulsions hallucinations or other strong desire to return to drug even after physical Types of Psychoactive drugs o Depressants system substances that reduce activity of the central nervous Expectancy theory Alcohol people s expectations people to respond in simple ways to complex situations alcohol hampers attention leading alcohol s effects can be produced by Alcohol myopia Barbituates Benzodiazephines and Toxic Inhalants o Stimulants heightening arousal and activity levels substances that excite the central nervous system Caffeine amphetamines nicotine cocaine and ecstasy highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve o Narcotics pain cause visual and auditory hallucinations o Hallucinogens drugs that alter sensation and perception and often LSD mescaline psilocyloin PCP and ketamine o Marijuana called tetrahydrocannibinol THC a plant whose leaves and buds contain a psychoactive drug Gateway drug subsequent use of more harmful drugs a drug whose use increases the risk of the Hypnosis Open to Suggestion Hypnosis a social interaction in which one person hypnotist makes suggestions that lead to a change in another person s subject subjective experience of the world Posthypnotic amnesia suggestions to forget Stroop task failure to retrieve memories follwing hypnotic yellow blue red
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