PSYC CHAPTER 3 CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE TWO TRACK MIND P 84 92 Brain States Consciousness Defining consciousness o Consciousness our awareness of ourselves and our environment o Some states occur spontaneously daydreaming drowsiness dreaming starvation Physiologically hallucinations orgasm food or oxygen Psychologically sensory deprivation hypnosis meditation The Biology of Consciousness o Cognitive neuroscience study of connection between brain activity and cognitive processes e g perception thinking language and memory o Evidence of consciousness even when lack ability to communicate o Dual Processing The Two Track Mind Dual processing we evaluate our environment both consciously and unconsciously Unconsciously color motion form depth Conscious pretty bird Blind sight respond to visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it Functioning visual action track they know how to interact with an object Can see and recognize objects but difficulty pointing toward or grasping Functioning visual perception track Unconscious works in parallel you can do them simultaneously Conscious sequential and deliberate have to choose what to focus your consciousness attention on o Selective Attention focus conscious awareness on a particular stimulus Cocktail party effect can ignore all other incoming information but become aware of own name Implies that some of that other stuff in the environment is getting through at an unconscious level And Accidents When engaged in task blink less Cost involved in shifting attention No significant difference in accident risk between handheld and hands free devices Selective Inattention Inattentional blindness failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere Change blindness failing to notice changes in the environment
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