Study Psych Final PDF

CONSCIOUSNESS AND ALTERED STATES - Consciousness is the personal experience of the world, your body, your thoughts, moment by moment - Controlled processing is a type of processing that requires effort and attention, writing an essay is an example of this - Automatic processing is a...

CONSCIOUSNESS AND ALTERED STATES - Consciousness is the personal experience of the world, your body, your thoughts, moment by moment - Controlled processing is a type of processing that requires effort and attention, writing an essay is an example of this - Automatic processing is a type of processing that requires little to no thought to happen, brushing your teeth is an example of automatic processing - Divided attention is the ability to perform more than one activity at the same time. Listening to music while studying is an example of this, however it can be difficult to perform when the tasks require the same cognitive resources - Humans need about 7-10 hours of sleep nightly, but is can vary on many factors such as age, health, genetics, and more - The circadian rhythm is the term for the repeated changes that happen to the body every 24 hours and is regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - The SCN is located in the hypothalamus and is commonly referred to as the body’s biological clock - The pineal gland secretes melatonin which is essential for the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle - Awake and alert is a stage of ‘sleep’ where there are beta waves in the brain that occur at more than 13 waves per second - At calm wakefulness there are alpha waves present which happen at about 8-12 waves per second - Stage 1 sleep is with the presence of theta waves which occur at about 4-7 waves per second, there are also myoclonic jerks present at this time along with hypnagogic imagery which is the dreamlike imagery that happens right before you sleep - Stage 2 sleep is present with sleep spindles which are short bursts of neural activity, there are also k-complexes which is a large waveform that occurs randomly - Stage 3 and 4 sleep are quite similar as they both contain delta waves that occur at about 1-2 waves per second, the only difference is that there are less than 50% of delta waves in stage 3 and more than 50% of delta waves in stage 4, the feeling of deep sleep occurs in this stage but as we progress with age, the time spent in deep sleep lessens - Stage 5 (REM) is rapid eye movement, the darting of the eyelids during sleep, the rest of the stages (1-4) are considered NREM or non REM sleep, during REM sleep the brain is the most active and the most vivid dreaming occurs here, about 20% of sleep is spent in REM, if the body is deprived of REM it will spend more time in REM the following night - We sleep because it allows for energy conservation, it is something that we have adapted to avoid predation (being attacked or harmed), and it is restorative, meaning it allows for the body to heal - Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized in difficulty falling and staying asleep, this includes taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, waking too early in the morning, waking in the night and having trouble falling back asleep, factors such as age, drug use, exercise, mental status, and bedtime routines can contribute to insomnia - Behavioral treatments include having a consistent wake schedule, only going to bed when tired, only using bed for sleep, exercising regularly, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the evenings. Pharmacological treatments of insomnia can lead to rebound insomnia which is a worsening of sleep difficulties after the withdrawal of sleep aids - Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by the irregular control of sleep-wake cycles and is possibly caused by insufficient hypocretin-producing neurons in the hypothalamus. Symptoms include sleep attacks (uncontrolled episode of falling asleep), cataplexy (strong sudden loss of voluntary muscle movement), hypnagogic (sleep onset) and hypnopompic (sleep offset) hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and disturbed nighttime sleep - Sleep apnea is a sleep disordere characterized by the blockage of the airway during sleep that results in daytime sleepiness. It creates health problems such as night sweats, weight gain, hearing loss, irregular heartbeat, and raises the risk of death. Common treatments are weight loss, and a CPAP mask - Night terrors are a sleep disorder that occurs in small children, the child will wake up in stages 3 or 4 sleep and scream, sweat, may be confused, then they fall back into a deep sleep. It goes away as the child gets older - Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder when a person is walking while fully asleep, it is also known as somnambulism. It is usually harmless (unless if they do something that they are unaware of that harms them or someone around them) if they do it is perfectly safe to wake them up. More common in children and the person is often unaware they did it - Most people dream, only 0.38% of people (in lab studies) actually do not have dreams. Dreams are more thematically negative than positive. Women dream of men and women equally, while men tend to dream of more men. Dream content often reflects the thoughts or concerns that occupy the dreamer's mind before or after they fall asleep. - The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung) is a book published by Sigmund Freud in 1899 that develops Freud’s Dream Protection Theory. This theory is that dreams fulfill “wish fulfillment” of unconscious desires and prevents these unconscious thoughts from running our sleep. They need interpretation and in order to do so there is the need for manifest and latent content. Manifest content content is the the facts and details about the dream, while latent content is the underlying meaning about the dream. There are problems regarding this theory as people with brain conditions that do not allow them to dream are able to sleep soundly and dreams are often thematically nightmarish and involve no sexual themes - Activation synthesis theory is a theory says dreams happen when brain activity starts in the pons, and the brain tries to make it into a story. REM sleep happens when acetylcholine levels in the pons go up, and serotonin and norepinephrine levels go down - An out-of-body experience is an altered state of consciousness in which an individual feels consciousness leaving their body and occurs in about 10% of the population, individuals who report feeling this also tend to report other strange experiences such as hallucinations, lucid dreaming, perpetual disorders. This usually happens alongside near death experiences - Deja vu is an altered state of consciousness in which an individual has a feeling of reliving an experience that is new and last approximately 10-30 seconds. This may be due to an excess level of dopamine in the temporal lobe, people with small temporal lobe seizures will often report deja vu prior to the seizure. It can also be a resemblance of poorly remembered past events - Hyponosis is an altered state of consciousness when set of techniques that give people suggestions to change how they see, think, feel, or act. Hypnosis works on people who are already suggestible; it doesn’t make them suggestible - Psychoactive drugs are substances that contain chemicals similar to those found in our brains that alter consciousness by changing chemical processes in neurons, how it effects us depend on the type of drug and the dose - The blood brain barrier is a physiological mechanism that alters the permeability of the brain’s capillaries so that some substances are prevented from entering the brain tissues while other substances are allowed to enter freely - When a drug causes big, repeated problems in someone's life it is a diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD) - Due to the body trying to maintain homeostasis, extended use of the drug will cause tolerance which means that an individual will have to use more of the drug to get the same effect that they felt when they were using it initially - Withdrawl is the unpleasant effects of reducing or stopping the drug that was concumed habitually - Depressants are a class of drug that suppress nervous system activity (depresses nervous system activity). Alcohol is an example of a depressant drug, it increases GABA and decreases glutamate. At low doses, the brain's control centers are less active, It reduces self-control, at higher doses more regions of the brain are suppressed. Alcohol myopia is shortsighted thinking caused by being unable to focus on as much information as a sober person. Another form of depressants are barbituates and tranquilizers, they are also more commonly known as sleeping pills, they increase GABA and are very addictive. At high doses they lead to depression, a loss of motor control, and memory impairements - Stimulants are another class of drug that increase activity in nervous system activity (stimulate the nervous system). Amphetamines are a type of stimulant that decreases sleep, fatigue, appetite, and depression. They increase productions of dopamine and norepinephrine. Injections can lead to massive spikes in blood pressure causing a stroke. If used heavily and/or through continuous use, schizoprenia- like hallucinations can occur because the brain’s dopamine levels are beyond normal, this is called amphetamine psychosis. Methamphetamine is another type of stimulant that in taken by smoking, it is easy to produce because of accessible ingredients. It is stronger than regular amphetamines which increases the probability of overdose and dependence. Can cause aggression, paranoia, acne, and “meth mouth”. Cocaine is another form of stimulant, it can be injected, snorted, or inhaled and comes from the south american plant erthroxylum coca. It has painkilling properties and creates excitement and euphoria. It blocks the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine. It also has (relatively) mils withdrawal symptoms. - Opiates are a drugs that bind to opiod/endorphin receptors and produce painkilling and euphoric effects. It is derived from the opium poppy and leads to an increased level in dopamine which produces the euphoria. Common examples of opiates are morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, oxy-contin. - hallucinogens/psychedelics are drugs that alter your sense of perception. This can cause paranoia, violence, and anxiety in some people. A common hallucinogen is cannabis which can be consumed in bunch of forms. Comes from teh leaves of the hemp plant and its primary ingredient is THC. it stimulates cannabinoid receptors.