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Chapter 6
intro, consciousness, etc.
29
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
02/28/2011

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Cards

Term
consciousness
Definition

an awareness of ones surroundings and of what is in ones mind at a given moment

 

Term
wakefulness
Definition
refers to the degree of alertness, whether or not you are awake or asleep
Term
awareness
Definition
refers to the monitoring of information from the environment and from ones own thoughts
Term
minimal consciousness 
Definition

coma-eyes closed and the person unresponsive and unarousable

 

vegetative state-a state of minimal consciousness in which the eyes might be open, but the person is otherwise responsive (wakefulness without awareness)

Term
moderate consciousness/preconscious
Definition

refers to the material that is potentially accessible but not currently available to awareness

 

 

-sleeping & dreaming

Term
full consciousness
Definition
bored/drowsy/flow (ability to rise to challenging tasks), mindfulness (heightened awareness in the moment)
Term
attention
Definition

focusing and consciousness

-how we direct the spotlight of awareness

Term
selective attention
Definition
ability to zone out what you're not focusing your awareness on (specific focus on certain features in the environment, while ignoring others)
Term
inattentional blindess
Definition

phenomena when we fail to notice unexpected objects in our surrounding

 

ex. gorilla suits walking through when people were supposed to count the bball team doing something, you don't notice certain other things when focusing hard on one thing

Term
sustained attention
Definition
the ability to maintain focused awareness on a target
Term
two essential features of sleep
Definition

1. there is a perceptual wall between the conscious mind and the outside world

 

2. the sleeping state can be immediately reversed

Term
circadian rhythms
Definition
the variations in the physiological process that cycle within approx a 24 hour period
Term
REM
Definition
Rapid Eye Movement-quick movements of the eye that occur during sleep (thought to mark phases of dreaming)
Term
beta waves
Definition
when we are awake, brain activity is characterized by rapid low energy waves
Term
alpha waves
Definition
when we are awake, but relaxed and drowsy our brain activity switches to slower and slightly higher energy waves
Term
No-REM
Definition
2nd major form of sleep-few eye movements (those that do occur are slower)
Term
what type of energy waves in stage 1?
Definition
theta waves
Term
theta waves
Definition
slower in energy than alpha waves
Term
stage 1 of sleep
Definition
light sleep and not much stimulation is needed to awaken, no longer responsive to outside world
Term
stage 2 of sleep
Definition
theta waves show short period of really fast/higher energy sleep spindles
Term
stage 3 of sleep
Definition
theta waves with some higher energy delta waves 
Term
stage 4 of sleep
Definition
back to sleep spindles and k-complexes, then the theta waves, when we return to stage 1 we enter REM sleep before the whole process starts again
Term
how many different cycles do adults move through of REM/non-REM a night?
Definition
4-6 diff cycles, each lasts around 90 min
Term
3 major restorative processes of sleep (functions)
Definition

1. neural growth

2. memory consolidation

3. protection against cellular damage

Term
sleep apnea
Definition
a temporary blockage of the airway, person actually stops breathing for short amounts of time
Term
hypersomnia
Definition
exists when a person sleeps more than 10 hours a day for 2 weeks or more, involves strong urges to nap throughout the day
Term
dreams
Definition
succession of images, thoughts, feelings we experience during sleep
Term
Theories of dream interpretation
Definition

psychoanalytic theory; different levels of our conscoiusness-manifest level (surface) vs. true meaning in latent level

 

biological theory (activation, input, mode)

 

cognitive theory: some of the standard processes that we use during our waking life operate during dreaming

Term
drugs that affect our state of consciousness
Definition
psychoactive drugs, stimulants (caffeine, cocaine, ecstasy), depressents (alcohol), hallucinogens
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