Unit 2 Lecture Notes PDF

Types of Cones will be on test Unit 2 Lecture Notes Consciousness Lecture 4 Consciousness takes time - Perception takes time - What you experience now is a psychological representation of something that happened in the past - It feels continuou...

Types of Cones will be on test Unit 2 Lecture Notes Consciousness Lecture 4 Consciousness takes time - Perception takes time - What you experience now is a psychological representation of something that happened in the past - It feels continuous and perfect, however it is delayed and subject to error * Neural explanation - Sensation: neural activity in response to a stimulus * Psychological explanation - Perception: psychological interpretation of the sensation * The BIG Problem of Psychology - Unanswered question about where neural activity becomes conscious experience Consciousness- The perception of your own mental life at different levels of awareness Major Features of Consciousness 1. Qualitativeness - The feeling of what it is like to be you 2. Subjectivity - Everyone has their own experience which cannot be experienced by anyone else 3. Unity - Single and unified experience Altered States of Consciousness Susan Balckmore ( Philosopher ) - Earned her PhD in Parapsychology, and is a significant contributor to the understanding of consciousness - “We don’t think of consciousness because it doesn't feel like anything special - Understand consciousness by “pushing it” off of normal; Can compare normal consciousness or altered Perceptual time dilation - Perception of time during extreme stress or excitement - Time dilation: Time appears slow because cognition speeds up Sleep & Dreams Very Important - 25%-33% of your life - College students average about 7 hours Sleep Deprivation - Poor concentration - Poor self-control - Exhaustion, fatigue, lethargy - Hallucinations ( after long periods without sleep ) Sleep regulation *Circadian rhythms - Body temp - Alertness - Bowel movements - Hormones *Circadian pacemaker - Suprachiasmatic nucleus - Works with pineal gland - Low light: Produce melatonin → sleepy -Bright light: Stop producing melatonin → awake *Sleep homeostasis: A balance of sleep and wakefulness Types of Sleep NREM ( Non-Rapid Eye Movement ) - 1st stage: Relaxed wakefulness, (some) awareness of the environment - 2nd stage: Light sleep. No awareness of the environment. Perceptual responsiveness - 3rd stage: “Slow wave” sleep. Difficult to awaken - 4th stage: Disorientation and shock if awakened. Deepest sleep REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) - 5th stage: Eyes move4, muscles spasm, increased heart rate, blood pressure and respiration Dreams Poorly understood phenomenon Apex Dreaming - Fantastical events Ordinary dreaming - Regular, mundane events All dreams tend to make sense  - Brain areas associated with disbelief are not part of activations - No capacity to create new memories, except when just about to wake up ( hippocampus ) Theories of Dreaming Wish-fulfillment Theory - Sigmund Freud - “Royal Road to the Unconscious” - Dreams are symbolic *Desires, beliefs, and fears Cognitive Theory - Dreaming appears random, but it’s your mind consolidating memories ( producing better memory ) Physiological Function Theory - Randomly stimulation the brain in order to keep it healthy - Removes naturally-occuring plaque Dreams reflect the worlds in which we live Young people tend to dream about - Affressionand fear themes - Social acceptance - Social navigation - Studying and grades - Sexualn themes Cultural variations - Rural societies: animals - Gender segregated societies: same-sex characters Idle thoughts (day dreams) are about the same Hypnosis/Meditation Hypnosis- is a common altered state of consciousness characterized by sleepy attentiveness - Somewhere between stage 1 and stage 2 of sleep Induction - By trained person - By accident Susceptible to suggestion - Singular attentional focus Hypnosis is more about what you believe it to be, but it is not mind control *Ghandi and Oakley (2005) *All participants underwent hypnosis procedure  - Hypnosis group: Told that procedure was hypnosis - Relaxation group: Told that the procedure was relaxation *Independent Variable: - Name of Exercise ( Hypnosis for Relaxation ) *Dependent Variable - Suggestibility *Hypnosis group was more susceptible than relaxation group, despite both groups having the same procedure - Hypnosis depends a lot on whether people believe they are being hypnotized Meditation Self-induced state - Similar to hypnosis; between stages 1 and 2 of sleep Relaxed focus - Awareness of the present; nothing else matters - Thoughts may be allowed (mindfulness) or suppressed (mantra) - Calm Not-thinking - Place attention on a specific thing - Controlled breathing Brain imaging studies - Long-term meditation → altered brain functioning - Unusual neurological activity, kind of like sleeping on demand - Thicker cortical regions associated with attention and emotion regulation Correlational evidence - It is known if meditation causes these changes, or if other factors account for brain changes - People who engage in this practice also tend to live healthier lifestyles (i.e. diet, lower stress,and other items) Psychoactive Drugs Any substance which directly affects mental life or consciousness in some way, and is not typically vital for survival Four Categories of Drugs Opiates: Pain fillers, narcotics - Morphine, heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl - Highly addictive Depressants: Relaxers, induces sleep-like effects - Alcohol, rohypnol (roofies) Simulants: Feeling of increased energy - Cocaine, amphetamines caffeine, MDMA (ecstasy, molly), nicotine Psychedelics: Distortions of perceptions - Also called hallucinogens - LSD, psilocybin (mushrooms), peyote, ketamine, cannabis In closing … You know what it is like for you - East subjective evidence I don’t know what it is like for you - Difficult objective evidence It’s related to neurons, and it seems likely that it is just neurons - However, I could be wrong The solution to the big problem will likely be underwhelming and stupid - We will solve the problem before we realize it, and we will find that nothing changed because we’ve solved it