PSY101 Notes Set 2

PSY 101 Notes

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness

refers to the different levels of awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings creating images in one’s mind following one’s thought process unique emotional experiences

Continuum of Consciousness

refers to a wide range of experiences from being acutely aware and alert to being totally unaware and unresponsive ranges from controlled processes to unconscious

controlled process

automatic process

day dreaming

altered states

sleep & dreams

Unconscious

Controlled Processes

activities that require full awareness, alertness and concentration to reach some goal Automatic Processes

activities that require little awareness, take minimal attention and do not interfere with ongoing activities

Daydreaming

is an activity that requires low-level of awareness involves fantasizing or daydreaming while awake

Altered State

results from meditation, psychoactive drugs, hypnosis or sleep deprivation, to produce an awareness that differs from normal consciousness

Sleep and Dreams

sleep consists of 5 different stages as well as different levels of physiological arousal dreaming is a unique state of consciousness in which we are asleep but experiences a variety of astonishing visual, auditory and tactile images and often in color

Unconscious

cognitive unconscious consists of mental and emotional processes that we are unaware of but that bias and influence our conscious feelings, thoughts and behavior

Sleep

consists of 5 different levels of awareness and consciousness

Rhythm of Sleeping and Waking

Biological Clock

are internal timing devices that are genetically set to regulate various physiological responses for different periods of time Circadian Rhythm

refers to a biological clock that is genetically programmed to regulate physiological responses within a time period of 24-25 hours the waking-sleeping time is located in a group of cells in the Suprachiasmatic (group of cells that make up the hypothalamus)

Stages of Sleep

Alpha stage – characterized by feeling relaxed and drowsy and usually with the eyes closed

Non-REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep (80% of sleep):

Stage 1 sleep is transition from wakefulness to sleep and lasts from 1 – 7 minutes. You gradually lose responsiveness to stimuli and experience drifting thoughts.

Stage 2 – marks the beginning of what we now know as sleep. There are traces of high frequency burst of brain activity called sleep spindles. Your muscle tension, heart rate, respiration and body temperature gradually decrease and become difficult for you to be awakened.

Stages 3 and 4 – about 30-45 minutes.. refers to as deep sleep or delta sleep and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity.

Stage 5 – also known as REM stage. Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Brain waves during this stage increase to levels experienced when a person is awake. Also heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, male develop erections and the body loses some of the ability to regulate its temperature. This is the time when most dreams occur, and if awoken during REM sleep, a person can remember the dream. Most people experience three to five intervals of REM sleep each night.

DREAMS AND THEORIES OF DREAMS

Sleep Problems

1. Insomnia o difficulties of going to sleep or staying asleep through the night/sleep continuously. o Overloading of stresses/worries

How to arrest insomnia? Create a regular sleeping time.

Go to bed when you are sleepy. Bedroom is only for sleeping Lights off. Darkness induces sleepiness.

2. Sleep apnea o Characterized by shallow or pauses in breathing when you sleep

3. Narcolepsy o Characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (ESD) in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school.

Sleep Disturbances:

1. Night Terror – waking up and screaming (stage 3 and 4) 2. Nightmare – more vivid (during REM) 3. Sleep Walking

DRUGS

Psychoactive Drugs – consciousness, moods, behavior

Depressants – depresses Central Nervous System

Stimulants – increase arousal, CNS functions actively

Hallucinogens – change perceptual experiences Depressants:

1. Alcohol

Q2. Barbiturates

1. Nembutol

Q3. Minor tranquilizers

1. Miltoun
2. Valium

Q4. Opiates

1. Codeine
2. Heroin
3. Morphine

Stimulants:

Q1. Amphitamines

1. Benzidrine
2. Dexedrine
3. Methedrine
4. Cocaine
5. Nicotine
6. Caffeine

Hallucinogens

1. LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide)
2. Mescaline
3. Psilocybin
4. PCB (Pheniclidine)

BAC – Blood Alcohol Content: 1/10 of 1% of alcohol for every mg of blood (0.20 – incapacitated; 0.40 - dead).

Alcoholism – inability to stop drinking; you can’t get through the day without drinking

MEMORY

Repressed memories – would lead to psychological disorders

Memory: the ability to retain info over 4 processes: encoding (forming), storing and retrieving Memories are not copies but representatives of the world that vary in accuracy and are subjected to error and bias.

3 Memory Processes:

1. Encoding – refers to making mental representation of information so that it can be placed into our memories 2. Storing – is the process of placing encoded information into relatively permanent mental storage for later recall. 3. Retrieving – is the process of getting or recalling information that has been placed into short term and long-term storage.

3 types of memory:

1. Sensory memory – refers to an initial process that retrieves and holds environmental information in its raw form for a brief period of time, from an instant to several seconds 2. Short-term memory – a.k.a. working memory, refers to another process that can hold only a limited amount of info – an average of 7 items – 2 to 30 seconds. 3. Long-term memory – refers to the process of storing almost unlimited amount of info over long periods of time.

2 kinds of sensory memory:

1. Ichonic memory – holds visual info for about a quarter of a second (or more) 2. Echoic memory – holds auditory info for about 1 or 2 seconds

Function of sensory memory:

1. Prevents being overwhelmed 2. Gives decision time 3. Provide stability, playback and recognition