CHAPTER 2; NORMAL WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS AND ALTERED STAES OF CONSCIOUSNESS Flashcards
What is consciousness?
being aware of your own thoughts, feelings, perceptions and surroundings at any given moment.
What is State of Consciousness (SOC)?
your level of awareness of internal events (thoughts, feelings and perceptions) and external surroundings. You experience a range of different states of consciousness throughout the day.
What is Stream of Consciousness?
an analogy, by William James, that explained consciousness as an ever-changing stream of thoughts that can shift smoothly and effortlessly from one moment to the next, just like water flowing down a stream.
What is Normal Waking Consciousness (NWC)?
the states of consciousness that we experience when we are awake and aware of our own thoughts, feelings and perceptions from internal events and surrounding environment.
What is Awareness?
how conscious (aware) you are of internal and/or external events. Your level of awareness can vary during NWC.
What is Continuum of Awareness?
the levels of awareness that we can experience, from deep unconsciousness to heightened awareness, on a continuous scale including NWS and ASC.
What is Selective Attention?
refers to the limitations placed on how much we can focus on something at any given moment. It is usually difficult to attend to more than one event at the same time, especially if this requires a great deal of mental effort.
What is Divided Attention?
refers to our capacity to perform two or more activities at the same time. This is generally only possible if the tasks can be performed with very little mental effort.
What is Perception?
the process of involving the way the brain organises and interprets sensory information.
What is Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)?
any state of consciousness that deviates from NWC, in terms of marked differences in level of awareness, perceptions, memories, thinking, emotions, behaviours and ones sense of time, place and self-control. It can be deliberately induced or naturally.
What is Daydreaming?
our private thoughts, feelings and imagined scenarios that occur when we shift our attention to internal thoughts while ignoring the external world. Daydreams tend to be visualised thoughts that are usually positive and pleasurable. They occur naturally and often and mostly considered an ASC.
What are Psychoactive Drugs?
chemical substances that affect the nervous system and brain activity. As a result, they impact on our consciousness by altering thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviours.
What is Meditation?
a deliberately induced ASC where the individual uses focussed attention to concentrate on single thought or ‘mantra’ in order to ignore other stimuli and achieve a relaxed state.
What is Level of Awareness?
relates to how conscious or aware you are of internal (within your body) and/or external (within your environment) events. A number of levels of awareness exist during normal waking consciousness.
What are Content Limitations?
refers to the fact that we tend to “limit” the content of our thoughts and feelings when we are alert and awake in NWC.
