Cognitive Psychology and Consciousness Quiz

DNA is a quantum computer that localizes a non-local, omnipresent consciousness or spirit into spacetime energy, information, and matter. (Deepak Chopra)
Consciousness is the moment-to-moment subjective experience of the world, bodies, and mental sensations.
It's interdisciplinary, encompassing physics, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and computer science.
It's measured through self-reports, physiological measures (e.g., EEG), and behavioral measures.

Humans are "information processors."
The "mind" is the computer's software.
The brain is the computer's hardware.
This is an oversimplification and not all cognitive psychologists agree with this interpretation.

Mental activities that happen automatically requiring minimal conscious control.
Examples include driving, riding a bike.
A part of this includes: Voluntary use of attention, slow but flexible processing

Average person needs 7-10 hours of sleep per night.
Sleep needs depend on factors (age, health, quality of sleep, genetics).
Sleep deprivation can cause difficulties learning, poor attention, lethargy, and weight gain.
Sleep deprivation is associated with negative health consequences

Awake and Alert: Beta waves (greater than 13 waves per second).
Calm wakefulness: Alpha waves (8-12 waves per second).
Stage 1: Theta waves (4-7 waves per second), myoclonic jerks, hypnagogic imagery
Stage 2: Sleep spindles (short bursts of neural activity), K-complexes (large waveforms occurring intermittently)
Stages 3 & 4: Delta waves (1-2 waves per second), "Deep sleep" crucial for feeling rested, time in deep sleep declines with age.
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep: Darting of eyes, vivid dreaming, increased brain activity, approximately 20% of sleep, and often rebounds when lost.

Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early. Factors like age, drug use, exercise, mental status, and bedtime routines potentially contribute.
Narcolepsy: Irregular control of sleep-wake cycles. Symptoms include sleep attacks, cataplexy, hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Airway blockage during sleep resulting in daytime fatigue.
Night Terrors: Sudden waking characterized by screaming, perspiration, and confusion, typically occurring in stages 3 and 4 sleep (not REM).
Sleepwalking (Somnambulism): Walking while asleep occurring during deep sleep stages.
Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder (SUD): User experiencing significant and recurring impairments in their life due to drug(s).
Tolerance: Reduction in drug effect with repeated use, requiring increased amounts to achieve the same impact.
Withdrawal: Unpleasant effects from reducing or stopping drug use.

Psychoactive drugs: Chemicals found naturally in brains altering consciousness through chemical changes in neurons, affecting thoughts, feelings, and actions. Drug effects hinge on type and dose.
Depressants: Drugs decrease nervous system activity. Alcohol increases GABA, decreases glutamate, and can lead to loss of inhibitions at lower doses, followed by impaired coordination and judgment. At higher doses, these effects become severe and associated with motor coordination deficits.
Stimulants: Drugs increase nervous system activity. Amphetamines reduce sleep, appetite, and fatigue, while also increasing dopamine and norepinephrine levels. This high stimulation could lead to stroke, and more extreme use can lead to Schizophrenia like symptoms called Amphetamine Psychosis. Methamphetamine, in particular, presents risks from inhalation via smoking, as well as high accessibility and potency. MDMA (Ecstasy) is another stimulant with similar increased dopamine and norepinephrine risks and effects.
Opiates: Drugs binding to opioid receptors, causing analgesic and euphoric effects, derived from opium poppy. They increase dopamine leading to euphoria but can lead to strong cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Psychedelics/Hallucinogens: Cause hallucinations, alter perceptions, and mood. Cannabis is an example. Its effects vary strongly based on the form of consumption and vary widely and are often unpredictable.

OBE (Out-of-Body Experience): Sensation of consciousness leaving the body, usually associated with other unusual experiences (hallucinations, distortions). Often associated with near-death experiences.
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): Vivid experiences reported during near-death situations, often characterised by ineffability, feelings of peace, hearing others, seeing a tunnel, and altered-body experiences.
Hypnosis: Techniques to suggest alteration in perception, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in people due to their ability to be influenced.
Regression Therapy: Hypnotic technique to remember events from childhood, often problematic due to the impossibility of verification. Past-Life Regression Therapy regresses to events from previous lives, often unreliable due to dependent beliefs and fact-checking limitations.
Déjà Vu: Feeling of reliving a new experience. Potentially due to excess dopamine levels in temporal lobe or pre-seizure conditions.