Chapter 6 Flashcards
Consciousness What is it?
Moment to moment awareness of ourselves and environment
Components of consciousness
Subjective & private Others cannot directly know our reality (and vice versa) Dynamic Ever-changing Self-reflective Mind is aware of its own consciousness
How do we decide if computers are conscious?
Ask a bunch of people and computers and question and have to know which was computer answers and which was human answers?
How do we Measuring Consciousness
How do we operationally define inner states?
1) Self-reports
Direct but not verifiable
2) Physiological
E.g., EEG ( not what your conscious of but how conscious states vary )
Are objective but cannot indicate what person is experiencing subjectively
3) Behavioural
Performance on tasks (e.g., rouge test - are you self aware? look in a mirror do you know its you?)
Need to infer state of mind (cant observe state mind have to observe it through environment and behavior but then you hit mind body problem)
Rouge test?
When you look in a mirror you know you are looking at yourself
but where did that realization come from? … only primates can do,
What are the Psychodynamic view – 3 Levels
1) Conscious (high tract)
Mental events we are currently aware of
(reading this slide)
2) Preconscious
Outside of current awareness; easily recalled
(what you had for supper last night)
3) Unconscious (low tract)
Not brought into conscious awareness under ordinary circumstances
(unacceptable urges; traumatic memories- tied to anxiety, pain)
Cognitive View: Controlled vs Automatic Processing
1) Controlled (short term memory)
Effortful - Voluntary use of attention, conscious effort
Difficult or new tasks
Slower but more flexible than automatic
2) Automatic (can get in the way when we experience new things)
Little or no conscious processing- Routine, well-learned
Fast but can inhibit finding ‘new’ solutions
Facilitates ‘divided attention
“cant hit the ball and think at the same time”
Explain Divided Attention
–How many things do you do at once? can only do one high tract activity at once but can do many low tract activities at once (walking and chewing gum)
–We can ‘divide’ attention
Otherwise every action would require full attention
–Is adaptive but has limits
Difficult if tasks require similar resources
Impact other actions - e.g., using cell phone & driving
Describe Emotional Unconscious
- –Unconscious processes influence emotions and motivations
- –Are influenced by events we are unaware of
- –Mood can be affected by positive or negative words subliminally presented
subliminal advertising- inserted pictures of popcorn and coke into the frames of movies and sales increased! – was a lie no one could replicate it
can you brain wash? (americans saying they hated america)
CIA experiments results proved that you cant brainwash people
you want people to do something: put it in their face, obvious and conscious! not subliminal
Modular Mind
Mind consists of separate but interacting information processing modules
- -Sensation, perception, memory, problem solving, emotion
- -Process information in parallel
Experience of consciousness is integrated output of modules
at any time massive amounts of info is being processed, are awareness is the integration of the parallel bits
Circadian Rhythms
circa - around
dian- day
circadian rythms are regulated by the brains suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) located in hypothalamus –> function like a biological clock
Rhythmic daily cycles (wakefulness, sleep)
phase relationships: between daily cycles
Why are there these cycles? endogenously–> internal clock? or exdongenous–> cues? driven?
Helotrophic plants .. follow sun across the sky.. if put in dark do they still follow the cycle.. and they did .. problem? didn’t time the cycle.. if still 24 hours it could be something else! Need to know the link of the cycle
–> new experiment the cycle was timed after dark for a certain time the period wasnt 24 hours anymore, slightly longer or slightly shorter. hard to explain exdogenous. Suggests there is a clock.
—> blinded monkey peroid slightly longer then 24 hours if consistant predict when monkey wakes up on christmas years away. Longer but consistant! Endrogenous!
Why is time efficient? can predict! early bird gets the worm. why birds make sound before sun comes up.. they anticipate
example: Bees anticipated when breakfast would be ready—> advantageous
animal that doesn’t have rhythmic behavior- cats
Circannual- hibernation, change hair coulor
humans; Putting on weight end of summer and fall
circalunar (29 days) - development of fetus
How are circadian rhythms monitored?
—Circadian rhythms regulated by suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN)
—SCN neurons link to pineal gland, which secretes melatonin
—Neurons in SCN active during daytime
Inhibits melatonin secretion
Raises body temperature and alertness
—Inactive at night
Allows melatonin secretion to increase
Melatonin promotes relaxation and sleepiness
Temperatures drop
hands of clock- rhythmic
Disruptions of circadian rhythms
Jet Lag
Shiftwork
Changing to Daylight Savings
Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD)
Jet leg
ex. bees were fed at certain times in the day then move them from parid to new york, Do bees get up paris time? thats a clock mechanism endogenous or new york time—> jet leg!! exdodenous responding to light
our clock resets by days, disadvantage to hockey teams like vancouver canucks always playing east.. didn’t do so well, far more jet legged. Have people to help reset the clock faster in athletes
Shift work
Can you sleep during the day,
go forwards
daylight savings
worse day to be on road – right after time change
seasonal affect disorder
Daylight, prevalence to places further north
SCN only exposed to light 2 points in the day sunset and sunset, SAD sufferers are particularly sensitive to light
Stages of Sleep
BARC
Cycle through stages roughly every 90 minutes
1) Brain activity, other physiological responses change
2) Beta waves occur when awake and alert (15-30 cps)
3) Alpha waves occur when relaxed and drowsy (8-12 cps)
every 90 minutes we hit a gate where we are more suspecatable to sleep
when you fall asleep, alpha waves
describe Stages 1-4 of Sleep
Stage 1 (falling asleep at the wheel) Light sleep Theta waves (3.5-7.5 cps) Lasts few minutes May experience ‘body jerks’
Stage 2 (cease to respond to environmental stimuli)
Sleep deepens - muscles more relaxed - harder to awaken
Sleep spindles (1-2 second
bursts of rapid brain activity) - way to differentiate between stage 1 and stage 2
Stage 3
Sleep deepens aka slow wave sleep
Regular appearance of delta waves (0.5-2 cps)
high altitude low frequency
Stage 4 (hard to wake up and completely disoriented)
Sleep deepens aka slow wave sleep
Delta waves dominate pattern
Stage 4 and Stage 3 together - called “slow- wave sleep”
What happens after stage 4 of sleep?
After stage 4 period, go ‘back through earlier stages
Stage 3, then Stage 2, but not another Stage 1
Instead, a new stage appears
REM sleep
Rapid eye movements under eye lid (hence the name!)
High arousal
Frequent dreaming
EEG looked like you were awake, however ——-trunk and limb “paralyzed” – paradox
—when wake people up form this stage of sleep: likely to report they were dreaming
What happens during REM stage of sleep?
Physiological Changes Heart-rate increases Breathing more rapid and irregular Brain-wave activity increases ‘REM sleep paralysis’ Difficult for voluntary muscles to contract
Sleep cycle changes
Stage 4 & then Stage 3 no longer occur
REM periods become longer
–Get your best sleep in the early hours of your -
–sleep spend more time in REM later on in your sleep period
— REM get crazy dreams
Sleep wave patterns as you sleep
Changing brain activity
REM resembles Stage 1
Waves become slower and larger
What are the brain structures involved in sleep
- -brain uses more sugar and oxygen over night then in day.
- -Reticular activated system: continuations sensory input, during sleep it cuts it off, but brain is still active however can not feel it.
Falling Asleep
Regulated by basal forebrain & regions of brainstem
REM Sleep
- Regulated by brainstem (reticular formation) - Limbic system (feeding fighting and sexual behaviour) activity increases - Association areas near visual cortex active - Motor cortex active but signals blocked - Decreased activity in prefrontal cortex (lower areas)
when brain is woken up still has a bit of disconnect from sensory input and is trying to make sense of what is going on
Why Do We Sleep?
Restoration Model (common belief) Sleep recharges bodies Sleep allows recovery from mental & physical fatigue
—> Evidence is mildly supporting
Sleep about 10 minutes longer on days we exercise
Adenosine (cellular waste product) get adenosine from ATP when used by-product is adenosine, when levels of adenosine feel tired, may play role in decreasing alertness
caffeine is adenosine antagonist, relieves you of fatigue
lecture answers: We sleep because its adaptive, we arnt adaptive to be awake at night. If active at night we would be prone to accidents and easy for predators that can see very well. We wouldnt be good at hunting , expend more calories then we could take in–> in efficient better to conserve calories –example: hybernation, let our body temperatures drop to conserve calories
some species even freeze at night!
Why do we sleep cont.
1) Evolutionary/circadian models
Is adaptive
Evolved sleep-wake pattern that increased chances of survival
Mechanism for conserving energy (metabolic rate 10-25% slower during sleep)
2) Restoration & evolutionary theories
Contribute to Two-factor model of sleep
amount you sleep is dependent on your niche, cats have high calorie meals they sleep a lot, cattle don’t sleep much because they eat low calorie grass
REM wake up quickly to raise the alarm. being paralyzed would be good to keep you from falling out o f tree, if group is at different stages one is bound to notice predator
Sleep Disorders
1) Insomnia
Chronic difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep, or experiencing restful sleep
Most common sleep disorder (10 - 40% of population)
don’t wanna use melatonin because it hasn’t been tested because it isn’t a drug could have side effects
drugs suppress REM sleep
best way to eliminate insomnia Address sleep hygiene , dont make sleep place work place, watch caffeine intake — 5 hours, prepare for sleep: dont watch tv before sleep
2) Pseudoinsomniacs (never feel rested)
Complain of insomnia - but sleep normally
Individuals truly believe they have insomnia
Research in sleep labs show most sleep normally
National Sleep Foundation
Canadian Sleep Society
Insomnia
Multiple causes
Biological, psychological, environmental
Several treatments
Stimulus control
Based on learning principles
Associate stimuli in sleep environment only with sleep (dont sleep with screen in room)
