Chapter 3: Conciousness Flashcards
(37 cards)
What is Consciousness?
Our awareness of our selves and our environment
What is cognitive neuroscience
It’s the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity likens with cognition, thinking, memory, and language
What word describes “the focusing of consciousness awareness on a particular stimulus”?
Selective Attention
Describe Inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
Change blindness is…
Failing to notice changes in the environment
Define dual processing
The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks
What is blindsight
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing
Define parallel processing
The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously:the brain’s natural mode of information processing many functions
What is sleep?
Periodic, natural loss of consciousness
What does circadian rhythm do?
Regulates bodily rhythms that occur on 24-hour cycle
Describe REM sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep which is he stage where dreams occur
How many stages of sleep are there?
NREM 1
NREM 2
NREM 3
NREM 4
What is NREM 1
The slowing of breathing and irregular brain waves.
One can also experience hallucinations: “sensation of falling”
What is NREM 2
It’s when one is clearly asleep but can be awakened easily occurs with rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity
(About 20 minutes)
What is NREM 3?
This is considered deep sleep. Brain activity shows slow large waves. It’s hard to be awaken from this state of sleep
Final step of the sleep cycle?
REM
Why do we need sleep?
- Protection
- Recuperation
- Restoration and Rebuilding of fading memories
- Feeds creative thinking
- Supports growth
Effects of sleep loss
- Depression
- Function below peak
- Gain Weight
- suppresses immune system
- slows reactions
- increased errors on visual attention
What are different type of sleeping disorders? What do they do?
- Insomnia- problems falling asleep/ staying asleep
- Narcolepsy- sudden attacks of overwhelming sleepiness
- Sleep Apnea- stop breathing while asleep
- Night Terrors: high arousal and appearance of being terrified ( occurs during NREM 3)
- Sleep Talking/Walking: childhood disorders
Describe REM Dreams?
vivid, emotional, & bizarre
Why do people dream?
- satisfy own wishes
- to file away memories
- develop & preserve neural pathways
- make sense of neural static
- reflect cognitive development
What was Freud’s dream theory?
- Dreams preserve sleep & provide
- expression of unacceptable feelings
- contain remembered content
- contain hidden message
Dream Theory: Information Processing
Sort out day’s events & consolidate memories
Dream Theories: Physiological Function:
- brain stimulation from REM sleep
* help develop & preserve neural pathways
