chapter 12 states of consciousness

Question 1

2 states of consciousness

Answer 1

• normal waking consciousness

- altered states of consciousness

Question 2

changes in psychological state

Answer 2

• time orientation
• level of awareness
• controlled and automatic responses
• emotional awareness
• content limitations
• perceptual and cognitive distortions
• self control

Question 3

consciousness

Answer 3

• awareness of our thoughts, feelings and perceptions (internal events) and our surroundings (external stimuli) at any given moment

Question 4

sense of self

Answer 4

• developed through awareness of what you are doing, why you are doing it
• awareness that others are observing and reacting to it

Question 5

psychological constructs

Answer 5

• used to understand or explain things that cannot be directly observed
• used for consciousness because we are unable to see it or measure it.

Question 6

state of consciousness

Answer 6

• level of awareness of internal events and external surroundings

Question 7

normal waking consciousness

Answer 7

• occupies middle of continuum
• being awake and aware of objects and events in external world and internal world
• organised and clear thoughts

Question 8

altered states of consciousness

Answer 8

• exists on both the lower part (during reduced awareness) and the upper part (during heightened awareness)
• difficult to complete controlled processes
• deviates from NWC, difference in alertness and responsiveness to external and internal stimuli

Question 9

properties of consciousness

Answer 9

• continuous
• ever changing
• highly personal experience
• selective
• active

Question 10

continuous

Answer 10

• never empty

- thoughts are never isolated and can easily flow from one topic to another without interruption

Question 11

ever changing

Answer 11

• rarely travels along one line of thought

- constantly changes as we become aware as there is incoming new information

Question 12

highly personal experience

Answer 12

• relies on our thoughts, feelings and perceptions

Question 13

selective

Answer 13

• usually we can choose to focus on some things and ignore others

Question 14

active

Answer 14

• consciousness has purpose to allow us to function in our world

Question 15

meditation

Answer 15

• example of ASC
• uses mental exercises to become highly focused on a single thought to the exclusion of others
• with practice, prevents the ever changing stream of thoughts from entering consciousness

Question 16

awareness

Answer 16

• how conscious or aware you are of internal (within the body) and external (within environment) events

Question 17

attention

Answer 17

• relates to the information that you are actively processing (consciously or outside your consciousness)

Question 18

things that attract attention

Answer 18

• novel stimuli (something new)
• changes in stimulation (such as the volume increasing)
• personal - something that is personally meaningful (such as our name being called out)

Question 19

3 types of attention

Answer 19

• selective attention
• selective inattention
• divided attention

Question 20

selective attention

Answer 20

• limitations placed on how much we can focus at any given moment on one stimuli or event to the exclusion of others

Question 21

selective inattention

Answer 21

• we attend to (or do not attend to) information that may be relevant but emotionally upsetting

Question 22

divided attention

Answer 22

• refers to capacity to attend to and perform 2 or more activities at the same time

Question 23

automatic processes

Answer 23

• requires very little awareness and mental effort to be performed
• generally dont interfere with other automatic or controlled processes
• can allow for divided attention (can allow for two things to be done at once)
  e. g. texting

Question 24

controlled processes

Answer 24

• requires conscious awareness
• unable to complete another controlled process at the same time as they both require full attention
• requires selective attention
  e. g. sending a text for the first time

Question 25

content limitations

Answer 25

NWC - generally more limited and restricted ASC - disorganised and senseless or to the other extreme, extremely narrow as you concentrate intently on one thing - mental defences are lowered and content of thoughts may be more broader and deeper

Question 26

perception

Answer 26

- process of organising sensory input and giving it meaning NWC - clear and rational ASC - different (such as perception of colour can be duller r brighter)

Question 27

cognition

Answer 27

- mental activities such as thinking, problem solving, reasoning NWC - brain actively stores information in memory and retrieves it for use in thinking ASC - tendency to be distorted and have disorganised thoughts - memory of events may not be accurate

Question 28

emotional awareness

Answer 28

NWC - aware of feelings and range of emotions ASC - emotions can be heightened and more intense - emotions can be dulled, feeling emotionally numbed e.g. in a state of shock following crisis or personal tragedy

Question 29

self control

Answer 29

NWC - ability to maintain self control - tend to be reserved and avoid doing risky or embarrassing things ASC - reduced self control - follow instructions with little resistance and thought about consequences - but sometimes greater self control

Question 30

time orientation

Answer 30

NWC - good awareness of passage of time if you think 10 mins have passed, it probably has ASC - different speed if you think you have slept for only an hour and instead you have slept for three.