Psychology: Cocktail Party Effect

Cocktail Party Effect

• The brain can attend to one person or voice amidst background noise.
• This phenomenon is also known as inattentional blindness.

Sleep

• Sleep is a natural, periodic, near-loss of consciousness that does not include being in a coma, under anesthesia, or hibernation.
• Brain waves are active during both wakefulness and sleep.
• Circadian rhythms are regular body rhythms that occur every 24 hours, including the wake/sleep cycle.
• Age can alter circadian rhythms, with high school and college students more awake at night and older adults more productive in the morning.

Sleep Cycle/Stages of Sleep

• The sleep cycle repeats every 90 minutes.
• There are two main stages of sleep: NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
• NREM sleep includes stages 1-3, where sleep becomes progressively deeper.
• REM sleep is when vivid dreams occur.

Healthy Sleep Habits

• Establish a regular sleep schedule.
• Create a comfortable sleep environment.
• Avoid stimulants in the evening, large meals before bedtime, and naps after 3 pm.
• Engage in relaxing activities before bed, keep the room cool and dark, and exercise regularly.

Sleep Disorders

• Insomnia: recurring difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
• Narcolepsy: uncontrollable sleep attacks or excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Night Terrors: high arousal, increased heart rate, and the appearance of being terrified, typically in young children.
• Sleep Apnea: temporarily stopping breathing during sleep, causing oxygen deficiency and waking up.

Dreaming

• Dreams are a physiologically and psychologically conscious state during sleep, including a sequence of emotional images.
• Oneirology is the study of dreams, combining neuroscience and psychology.
• Dreams process information from the day and store it in long-term memory, which is important for babies' cognitive development.
• Nightmares usually occur during REM sleep and can indicate unresolved issues.

Sigmund Freud

• His theory is that dreams tap into our unconscious wishes and desires.
• "The Interpretation of Dreams" is one of his famous books.
• Manifest content is the storyline we remember from our dreams, while latent content is the underlying meaning.

Dream Theories

• Freud's Wish-Fulfillment Theory: dreams express our deepest wishes and unacceptable feelings.
• Information Processing Theory: dreams help our brains process and make sense of the day's events and store them into long-term memories.
• Activation-Synthesis Theory: dreams are what our minds do to make sense of random information during sleep.

Hypnosis

• A state of consciousness where suggestion is used to change sensation, perception, cognition, emotion, or behavior.
• Hypnosis is effective in treating stress, anxiety, and pain.
• Social Influence Theory: hypnotized people react to suggestions primarily due to social pressures.
• Dissociation Theory: during hypnosis, individuals voluntarily have split-consciousness, detaching from their surroundings.

Psychoactive Drugs

• A chemical substance that alters psychological processes such as thinking, perception, and emotion.
• Psychopharmacology is the field of study that examines how drugs change psychological processes and states.

Specific Drugs

• Marijuana: relieves stress, causes euphoria, and increases auditory and visual perceptions; chronic use disrupts memory function, attention, and learning ability.
• LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide): causes hallucinations, distorted perceptions, dilated pupils, and high blood pressure; may cause anxiety and depression.
• Ecstasy: produces feelings of high energy, euphoria, closeness to others, and hallucinations; damages serotonin production, leading to mood and cognition issues.

Addiction

• Tolerance: a condition where a diminishing effect requires a larger dose of the substance.
• Withdrawal: a syndrome that develops after excessive and prolonged consumption, causing uncomfortable symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and mood alterations.

Learn about the Cocktail Party Effect, a phenomenon where the brain focuses on one voice amidst background noise, and its relation to inattentional blindness and experimental psychology.